Notes on a native son by James Baldwin

¶ … Rage in "Notes from a Native Son"

It is true that rage is central to the piece written by Baldwin, though in his rage, there are many other emotions and even poetry. Baldwin, in some ways, has rage at everything, meaning the world. The piece begins with the day that his father has died. There are several events that happening locally and nationally that in a way, reinforce the rage he feels about his father's death. His father's death comes at a moment in history when the United States, specifically African-Americans, are expressing rage at the conditions of their existence as second class citizens under the mainstream, White America way or society.

There is a lot of Baldwin's rage directed at his father for dying and for not being proud of being black. (87) Baldwin expresses a wish and a regret that his father would have had pride and self-esteem in himself that stemmed from his blackness (literally, as his father had very dark skin, and culturally, as in having pride in his black culture and heritage). He additionally expresses rage at how poor a father he perceived him to be during his life. He wishes that his father would have been more a father that he and his siblings needed; he wishes that his father would have been more like him, or that he could have known his father well enough to tell if they were similar to each other. Thus, he has rage toward his father for dying and toward his father because of the type (or lack thereof) of father that he was.

Baldwin also has rage toward white America and the perceptions of blacks as well as the treatment of black people. He recounts how his father was humiliated and limited because of his blackness and how the white people that came to their home were bill collectors and others who even when they believed to have good intentions, still condescended to the Baldwin family based on their skin color. (92 -- 93) There is rage toward white America in that because of the prejudice many black were not able to fulfill their potential or even live simple lives unimpeded. This is the kind of rage that is expressed in his poetry, such as "Dream Deferred." It is not so much that he has specific hate, at least not expressed here, but that he has rage because he knows more of the strength and beauty of his own people that is denied and undervalued by the white majority of that time.