Analysis Of My Dungeon Shook, By James Baldwin

Throughout his essay, Baldwin makes numerous use of italicize words or sentences to state a strong fact that he agrees with or deems important to readers. By italicizing that “Negroes want to be treated like men”, Baldwin clearly states his position. The extent, to which he uses this writing technique, signifies that he not only speaks for himself but also for his Community, Harlem. Aside from using italics Baldwin makes use of lengthy sentences, that are sustain with breaks such as hyphens and dashes, and a tone of sarcasm to affirm his position in the matter. He goes into hesitations when writing the lengthy sentences by including the dashes, which suggests that he is not only sustaining his position but also indicating that he has an experienced idea of what he is expressing. Baldwin`s degree of sarcasm in the opening paragraphs, is used to give an idea of how poorly their environment is but more over to show the insignificance that their environment has on others and their lack of attempt to “rehabilitate” it.

James Baldwin was a prominent African American writer, social critic, and racial justice advocate in the 1960’s and 70’s. In his 1963 Talk to Teachers he aimed to persuade an audience of teachers that education must exist to challenge systems and structures of power and that when it does not, it only serves to reinforce them and amplify their injustice. He specifically focuses on racial hierarchies and white supremacy in the United States. He achieves his persuasive purpose through the strategic use of first, second, and third person pronouns and the use of evocative language, and emphasizes the actionability of his message with anaphora.

Baldwin describes the whites as believing the blacks are inferior to them and that the white presumptions of black people have defined the place of blacks in society for many years. He states that “[his nephew was] born into a

The text continues with Baldwin warning his nephew about the struggle he is going to endure for just being born black and nothing else. Also telling him that he must survive for his children and his children’s children. He warns him, telling him that this country will set him up for failure and that they will try to control where he could go, what he could do, and how he could do it. He continues to articulate that he must stay true to himself because no matter how much he tries to resemble white people they will never accept him. He later states how corrupt the white mind is, for example, he says, “They are, in effect, still trapped in a history which they do not understand; and until they understand it, they cannot be released from it. They have had to believe for so many years, and for innumerable reasons, that black men are inferior to white men. Many of them, indeed, know better, as you will discover, people find it very difficult to act on what they

Obviously, again my primary motivation for writing my Rhetorical Analysis of Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” is that this is a requirement for my English Composition Class. My heartfelt motivation for writing my Rhetorical Analysis is the respect I have for Martin Luther King’s intelligence and commitment that he displayed for the equality of the African American population. In analyzing “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, I developed an even stronger understanding of the dedication Mr. King had for the disadvantaged poor black population and the injustice that victimized them on a daily basis.

Baldwin determines that violence and racial separatism are not acceptable solutions for achieving “power”. Baldwin believes that black people will only be able to achieve lasting influence in America if they love and accept white people. In contrast, writing 52 years after Baldwin, Coats tells his own son to “struggle” but not

James Baldwin in “Notes of a Native Son” writes about the death of his father and his struggle in America during segregation. He also reveals that he didn’t have a very good relationship with his ill father. Throughout the essay there is a repetition of bitterness. Also, Baldwin’s experiences reveal his purpose for writing the essay. One passage that is especially revealing is on page 222 which says, “When he died I had been away from home for a little over a year. In that year I had had time to become aware of the meaning of all my father’s bitter warnings, had discovered the secret of his proudly pursed lips and rigid carriage: I had discovered the weight of white people in the world. I saw that this had been for my ancestors and now would be for me an awful thing to live with and that the bitterness which had helped to kill my father could also kill me.” This passage reveals how Baldwin’s relationship with his father, and his father’s warnings help demonstrate how hatred can cause negative effects on African Americans.

King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” discusses the topic of segregation and just and unjust laws, whereas Baldwin in his “Notes of a Native Son” places an emphasis on relationships, particularly the relationship between his father and him. Additionally, Baldwin discusses the impact of racism on the lives of African Americans during that time. Although these essays are dated back over fifty years ago; the topics discussed in them are still very common today.

Baldwin, however, describes his father as being a very black-like “African tribal chieftain” (64) who was proud of his heritage despite the chains it locked upon him. He is shown to be one with good intentions, but one who never achieved the positive outcome intended. His ultimate downfall was his paranoia such that “the disease of his mind allowed the disease of his body to destroy him” (66). Baldwin relates the story of a white teacher with good intentions and his father’s objection to her involvement in their lives because of his lack of trust for any white woman. His father’s paranoia even extended to Baldwin’s white high school friends. These friends, although they could be kind, “would do anything to keep a Negro down” (68), and they believed that the “best thing to do was to have as little to do with them as possible” (68). Thus, Baldwin leaves the reader with the image of his father as an unreasonable man who struggled to blockade white America from his life and the lives of his children to the greatest extent of his power. Baldwin then turns his story to focus on his own experience in the world his father loathed and on his realization that he was very much like his father.

“The country is celebrating one hundred years of freedom one hundred years too soon.” (Baldwin, 10) The Fire Next Time, written by James Baldwin in 1963 brings up the segregation in mid-20th century America with emphasis on the impact of history and politics. Although Baldwin’s main focus was not politics it is nonetheless an important aspect of the racial segregation because it was how the laws were interpreted that constituted the crime. Even though the law was not on the black populations side Baldwin was hopeful for the future and through politics and history he believed that “we can make America whet America must become,” a state that sees people of all races as equal; and the best way of

1. The Emancipation Proclamation is a document issued by Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, that declared "all persons held as slaves" within rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free." Essentially freeing all the slaves in the south (not all slaves in general). Baldwin wrote My Dungeon Shook 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. This was during the time of Martin Luther King Jr's I Have a Dream speech after the March on Washington as well as a turbulent time for African Americans fighting for civil rights. This is important because Baldwin tells his nephew to look outside to observe that injustice and white supremacy is still rampant, “they have had to believe for so many years, and for innumerable reasons,

     Indeed Baldwin’s letter expressed public awareness but it also consisted of personal elements that only his nephew was intended to understand. “You can only be destroyed by believing that you really are what the white world calls a nigger” (Baldwin 243). This statement illustrates the pain that Baldwin feels deep inside. When a person calls someone a nigger it lowers their self-worth and causes them thoughts of despair. The white society can be hurtful to African Americans by underestimating what they say. When someone is constantly being called a nigger they start to believe that they really are what they have always been called. When a person believes they are a nigger they lower their goals and ostracism thinking that they are not accepted and they will never be. Situations like this are hard to grasp unless one lives them like Baldwin did. The fact that

In the short story “Sonny’s Blues,” James Baldwin describes how racism limits African American’s possibilities, causing them to be physically and emotionally entrapped. This containment creates suffering, and Baldwin argues that the only way to cope with it is through music. James Baldwin argues that the lack of possibilities caused by racism traps African Americans in Harlem. The narrator is explaining how he grew up in Harlem and how it hasn’t changed. The narrator talks about Sonny’s struggles and that he sees the struggles Sonny went though in the same kids that he currently teaches.

There have been many cases of social injustice on a number of occasions in the expansive history of the United States. The oppressions of the early movements for women’s suffrage and the relocation and encampment of Native Americans are two of many occurrences. Around the middle of the 20th century, a movement for equality and civil liberties for African Americans among citizens began. In this essay, Notes of a Native son James Baldwin, a black man living in this time, recalls experiences from within the heart of said movement. Baldwin conveys a sense of immediacy throughout his passage by making his writing approachable and estimating an enormous amount of ethos.

I thought a lot about My Dungeon Shook/A Letter to My Nephew after reading and discussing it in class. We brainstormed about the piece so much in class, but yet there is never enough that can be said about this multidimensional letter. It is heartrenching, yet optimistic all at the same time. Baldwin addresses the hardships that the black race has faced, but shines a light on the importance of his people. Although Baldwin states, “I know how black it looks today for you. It looked black that day too”, he ensures his nephew that being “black” “does not testify to your inferiority.” The fact that Baldwin uses the word black to paint the tone and also refer to race is something that stuck with me all weekend. It saddens me that the word “black”,