Race relations have been an ongoing problem in the United States for many years now. Although African-Americans have had just as many rights as Caucasian Americans for around fifty to sixty years now, some African-Americans are still treated poorly by grudge-holding white folks. Fortunately, the treatment isn’t nearly as bad as what it was back in the early 1900’s to the 1960’s. In Notes of a Native Son (1955), James Baldwin tells about an experience he had back in the 1950’s. Baldwin does an excellent job of using rhetorical devices to delve into the severity of the poor treatment African-Americans occurred in the 1950’s.
Baldwin jumps right into explaining the severity by using an extended metaphor comparing being African-American to having an illness. Baldwin says, “I first contracted some dread, chronic disease, the unfailing symptom of which is a kind of blind fever, a pounding in the skull and fire in the bowels… There is not a Negro alive who does not have this rage in his blood — one has the choice, merely, of living with it consciously or surrendering to it. As for me, this fever has recurred in me, and does, and will until the day I die.” Using that extended metaphor allows Baldwin to show the audience the rage he acquired from the poor treatment. Whether Baldwin chose to live or surrender to the rage is his choice. Either way, it took an extensive amount of self-control to not surrender to the rage. Although this does not specifically show the poor treatment Baldwin experienced throughout his life, this extended metaphor shows the rage and emotions he experienced when being treated poorly.
Repetition of a word or phrase is another way to show how severe the situation is. Back in the biblical times, repetition was used to show just how important a certain word or phrase. Baldwin may or may not have know that, but he sure used repetition of a phrase in his essay. This essay says, “We don’t serve Negroes here,” many times. It’s important for Baldwin to do this. That single phrase is what sets off the rage inside of Baldwin throughout the essay. When the waitress tells Baldwin that the diner doesn’t serve Negroes, Baldwin, as stated in the extended metaphor used earlier, surrendered to the rage. Giving into the power, Baldwin picks the up the pitcher of water off the table and throws it at the waitress who promptly ducks and dodges the pitcher. The repetition of the phrase is extremely important to the story. The severity of the treatment he encountered and the rage all stemmed from that single statement. Words hurt.
Alluding to an event is a great way to add onto the details and help the reader get a better feel for the setting. Helping a reader to get a better feel for the setting gets the reader involved more in the plot and forces them to use prior knowledge to distinguish the time period. Baldwin does a good job of alluding to the 1950’s when he says, “This was the time of what was called the ‘brown-out,’ when all the lights in all American cities were very dim.” Using “brown-out” alludes to when the African-Americans were treated poorly in the 1950’s. When one thinks of the 1950’s, they more than likely start to think about the things they learned in history class about the poor treatment of AA’s. Remembering this brings back prior knowledge and it can be used to set the setting of what Baldwin went through during his life.
Showing the severity and immediacy of a situation heightens the chance that the audience feels bad for the writer. Although it probably wasn’t Baldwin trying to get the readers to feel bad for him, he accomplished this. The main reason for writing Notes of a Native Son was to show the experiences Baldwin encountered and how he dealt with them no matter how poor his reaction to the action. Using extended metaphors, repetition of phrases, and allusion, Baldwin does a good job of showing the audience what he went through and how he reacted to the given situations.
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