''Notes of a Native Son''
Baldwin was influenced by many contemporaries and wrote about many issues of race in America and Europe. In ''Notes of a Native Son'', Baldwin discusses the stereotypical black descriptions in Uncle Tom's Cabin, Native Son, and Carmen Jones. He feels that those earlier works were often stigmatizing and didn't truly represent the black experience.
The essay has been described as an original work from an original and powerful talent. He gives a bit of an autobiography as he recollects growing up with his biological father and his own experience in Jim Crow style segregation. He writes about blacks participating in the military who were often abused.
''The Fire Next Time''
Baldwin was born in Harlem and raised in poverty. His step-father was a pastor and his upbringing would influence his writing as seen in the essay ''Fire Next Time.''
This work was first published in 1963 and it was Baldwin's plea to end what he called the ''racial nightmare''. He wished for America to view itself as a multiracial society. He saw the political reality of both races needing each other in order to survive as a nation. Despite its title, the essay itself is both hopeful and healing.
''No Name on the Street''
Baldwin uses his own experience of dealing with the assassinations of Medger Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr. as a backdrop for ''No Name on the Street''. He speaks of his blackness as he states, ''To be an Afro-American, or an American black, is to be in the situation, intolerably exaggerated, of all those who have never found themselves part of a civilization they could in no wise honorably defend--which they were compelled, indeed, endlessly to attack and condemn--and who yet spoke out of the most passionate love, hoping to make the kingdom new.''
He also revisits his early Harlem childhood and the details that contributed to his worldview along with the later events of the assassinations of his friends. He also discusses his time in Europe and his fury and despair more than any other work.
''Nothing Personal''
Baldwin begins ''Nothing Personal'' with a retelling of his and his friend's experience of profiling as they were mistaken as committing a crime. He describes the America that he has experienced as a nation that has ''nurtured violence'' against black men. He proposes that if a society permits one portion of that society to be menaced or destroyed, ''then, very soon, no one in that society is safe.''
He links this destruction to the destruction of the foundations of the nation that people are trying to save. He speaks of the ignorance of the nation and our failure to trust one another. He remembers how his parents must have felt the pain of racism and living in that darkness. The essay ends with a look to the future as Baldwin's says '' yes to life and embrace it wherever it is found.'' He calls readers to be a witness to future generations, to love and not break faith with one another. Despite its heavy tone, he speaks to the human nature of continuing to live and refusing to let the soul die even in the midst of pain and oppression.
Lesson Summary
The Price of the Ticket by James Baldwin is a compilation of some of his nonfiction works from 1948 to 1985. The topics range from autobiographical experiences that shaped Baldwin's worldview to a range of issues dealing with racism, sexuality, and religion. He revisits experiences from his Harlem childhood as well as his time in Europe. Baldwin digs deep into the emotional wounds of racism and identity in order to expose the reality of an unjust American society.
A prophet laureate and moral essayist (outlining his ideas about right and wrong), his work transcends eras and still have a meaningful message today. The Price of the Ticket includes some of his most famous works, including:
- ''Notes of a Native Son''
- ''Nobody Knows My Name''
- ''The Fire Next Time''
- ''Nothing Personal''
- ''The Devil Finds Work''
- ''No Name in the Street''
