In the essay entitled, " Notes of a Native Son," by James Baldwin, the author and his father did not have the greatest relationship. He really did not know his father very well. They both shared different fashions and has the vice of stubborn pride. No one, including his father, really knew how old his father was. However, his mother did and was born in the slavery era, and he was the first free generation.
The author was innocent and didn't see the difference between blacks and whites at that time. He had white friends, however his father would tell him that they weren't really his friends and would do anything to keep him down. However, he did admit that some were nice but none were to be treated. His father would advise him to have as little to do with them as possible.
Baldwin and his father were not very close and wouldn't really listen to him. While his father was still alive to Baldwin it was is if he was dead. There was no real communication. But when his father physically died, he realized that he should have listened to him more and talked to him.
Their relationship was like the way it was in those times between the blacks and whites. There was no real relationship between both. Baldwin now wishes to ask his father questions that only the future can answer now.
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2 comments:
I agree. The blacks and whites will always have their differences but from what I have learned in this story, is to continue in serving the "Lord" and to appreciate the things that are in front of us because once it is gone, it is gone forever. Like you have said, the narrator wished he had known his father because he wished he knew the answer to all of these things.
I really enjoy your blog because I agree with your opinion about Notes of a Native Son. His father was not positively involved in Baldwin life. Like u stated on your blog, his father never approved of Baldwin White friends and always had negative remarks about them. Time passed by and Baldwin realized too late that he was in error about his ways towards his father.
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