"Overcoming Frightening Experiences"

In the essay “Notes of a Native Son” by James Baldwin he describes the relationship between him and his father and relates it to the relationship between black and white America. Baldwin talks about how his relationship with his father was frightening. He also mentions how being in a society where African Americans were hated was frightening. After reading the essay I understood why he related those two relationships and why were they both frightening.

Baldwin was frightened of his dad’s bitterness. He was always frightened of his dad because every day he was bitter. This bitterness was caused by the hating of white people throughout his whole life. Before Baldwin’s father dies his tells him to never trust white people because they would do anything to bring down a Negro. This relates to the relationship between black and white America. Baldwin later on experiences this when he goes to New Jersey. While in New Jersey he experiences segregation. He talks about an experience he had which was that he got chased by a mob of white people and he got frightened. He explains how it was a frightening experience to face segregation. Once he lived through all this himself he became a bitter person towards white people just the way his father was.

Baldwin relates these two relationships because they were both frightening. Everything that was going on inside his household and outside of his household was frightening for him. He makes a really good relationship between both because for him they were both a frightening experience that became hard to overcome.