Comparing Baldwin's Allegory Of The Cave And Education

In the letter My Dungeon Shook by James Baldwin, written to Baldwin's nephew, he addresses his audiences' of both black and white Americans to achieve his purpose of exposing the societal structure of America and its effect on its citizens. This, in turn, promotes the advancement of equality for black Americans. Consequently, Baldwin aims to enlighten white Americans of their blindness to racism and entrapment in the established American hierarchy, bringing to light how engagement in this ignorance perpetuates black Americans' disadvantage in society. As a source of societal change for black Americans, Baldwin advocates love and acceptance toward white Americans. Moreover, he demonstrates the threat of adopting white Americans'

The differences, according to Baldwin, between northern and southern Whites’ on race were northerners ignored the evidence of poverty endured in many public housing areas; whereas, southerners understood and continued to watch over Negroes. Both groups felt a sense of superiority over African-Americans. Baldwin suggests the country’s view of race could only change if the north takes responsibility and changes so in fact the south would follow.

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.

In his essay A Talk to Teachers, James Baldwin speaks on the low standards of education and unfair treatment of African Americans during the 1960’s. He aims his arguments towards New York City school teachers in 1963 and uses a very serious tone. Baldwin uses a plethora of rhetorical strategies that advance his position and help provoke the audience to action such as an appeal to his character and logic, sentence structure and overall tone.

“In a moment someone will get up and turn on the light. Then the old folks will remember the children and they wont talk anymore that day. And when light fills the room, the child is filled with darkness. He knows that every time this happens, he’s moved just a little closer to that darkness outside. The darkness outside is what the old folks had been talking about. It’s what they come from. It’s what they endure” (Baldwin, 82). I believe the narrator is raising the issue of racism against African Americans, children and adults. When they are in the comfort of their own homes at night, they have nothing to be afraid of; the color of their skin is not an issue of concern. But when their room is filled with light from the sun, it is another day they have to go out in a white world and face the consequences of having colored skin. The old folks have warned the younger generation, they will come across difficult challenges in day-to-day activities because the darkness of their skin. The younger generation can only be warned before they experience racism themselves and understand they will endeavor it for the rest of their lives every time they walk outside into a white ruled

In James Baldwin's narrative essay A Talk to Teachers (1963) he explains that a society cannot survive when the people lose consciousness and that negro children especially need to be raised and taught with a consciousness since their history is mighty oppressive and discriminatory. Baldwin supports his claim by narrating a kind of story or painting a picture of a negro child being raised in the mid 1900's and the oppression of mind that comes with it if they are not taught to be conscious, he explains that this lack often leads to criminality. Baldwin narrates this story or picture in order to show teachers - the negro one' in particular - that teaching the children early on to have an inner voice is the most important thing for society to

Baldwin’s worrisome letter to his nephew paints a picture of the diminishing and unfulfilling life that a young black man will have to experience during the time period. Paradoxically, surviving in this unjust world involves unreciprocated acceptance towards white people and unfaltering reasoning that extends beyond the zeitgeist that is disturbed by religion. His advice to start is to, “take no one’s word for anything, including mine, but trust your experiences” (Baldwin 3).

      Lack of education made it hard for Baldwin to fathom reality, his innocence became ignorance, and it was not until he was placed in the “read world” that he saw what caused his father to be so bitter for so many years. The discrimination he was faced with made him “colder and more murderous than ever.” (p.58) He was no longer naïve, and he carried hatred in his heart.

In My Dungeon Shook, a letter of advice to his nephew, Baldwin encourages black individuals’ acceptance of whites because true liberation in America is dependent on the mutual cooperation between the oppressor (whites) and the oppressed (blacks). In this, though containing good intentions, Baldwin’s argument for the need of mutual cooperation is guised as a symbiotic relationship between blacks and whites. Rather, his encouragement of black acceptance of their white counterparts requires black compromise and exoneration of white complicity, which, altogether perpetuates the parasitic power of whiteness. Though he refers to the unjust societal expectations of black people in America, Baldwin contends that whites, like blacks, are enslaved;

In Go Tell it on the Mountain, James Baldwin reveals the problems that plague the American society; however, in various essays he offers potential solutions. White people are inherently racist, and that racism stems from insecurity and ignorance about society. Black people in America are forced to deal with a life filled with oppression and discrimination. Baldwin describes the experience of a black person in America as living in a society “which spelled out with brutal clarity, and in as many ways as possible, that you were a worthless human being” (“The Fire Next

James Baldwin was an American novelist, essayist, playwright, and poet. In the essay ''If Black English Isn't a language, then tell me what is?'' James Baldwin asserts an argument as how Language is like the ID of people, it can identify, as well as define people. Due to the characteristics it has, it can be defined as a persuasive essay. It attempts to persuade the readers to be on the writer's side, or accept the point of view of the author. This significant essay was written in the 1970s. It indicates how language is not merely used for communication, but can be used to classify people with different social backgrounds and class. Baldwin used examples like how people in England talk make sense to their own people and not everyone else. He used this example to illustrate his thought of why Black English is not recognized as a real language. In addition, he thought that the white man never meant to teach the Blacks English. That is also the reason why he thinks black children are lost, and can't be taught by people who despise them. The inability of the salves to interact with each other made them create black English. Which was their own means of communication. Baldwin's article has a lot to say about the impact that language has on African American people and his positive approach is supported with strong historical events, and the author's anger behind this writing makes it stronger. However, the assumption about education makes the article weak, because it is not well

Baldwin wrote about topics such as, racism, poverty, and homosexuality in order to push the boundaries and force people to think in a different way. I don’t think we’re past discrimination and inequality. I don’t think this nation even knows how to accept people who look different than the set of standards white people have chosen in their

In Plato’s allegory of The Cave, Plato believed that unless we become educated we are basically prisoners of our surroundings and will only learn our own version of true reality. As in The Cave the prisoners only knew what they saw which was actually a distorted shadow of others…… I compare this to an animals that spends their whole live in a cage, some will say how sad, but really if they don’t know anything different how do they know what they are missing….UNTIL they are let out and learn about everything that is around them! Plato’s allegory of The Cave is reflected very well in the movie Metropolis, which by the way I have watched many times.

‘A Talk to Teachers’ by James Baldwin published on December 21, 1963 is a very brave and direct message to teachers on how they are contributing to the prejudice in society during that time period. Baldwin’s tone in this essay shifts frequently however, the constant tone that enhances his purpose of this essay is urgency. Baldwin’s urgency to make teachers change the prejudice view on “negros” and the false history that is being taught about African Americans. For he refers to it as “any negro who is born in this country and undergoes the American educational system runs the risk of being schizophrenic.”

The Allegory of the Cave or also known as, Myth of the Cave, is a good example of explaining the feature of the way people think. It is a concept that demonstrates how humans are fearful of change and what they don’t know. Plato says that men are living in an underground cave and it is a situation. The Allegory of the Cave is Plato's explanation of the education of the soul toward enlightenment. Plato talks about being free, everyday life, knowledge, and essentially what he wrote to be true. I think that he was very unique with his writings because there are so many ways to look at the world and his way was just one. He was educated highly and is recognized as a philosopher to this day.