Crawford Rummel

Professor Clark

American Literature after 1865

25 October 2017

When Baldwin wrote the story Notes of a Native Son, he intended to address many

issues that were going on in the 1940s and throughout the 20th century. The first and most

evident crux that Baldwin is trying to resolve is the issue of racial discrimination. The story

heavily focuses on the life of his father, who lived in paranoia and anger due to past happenings

in his life, especially when he was living in New Orleans. This mental issue his father had

reflected on the way he dealt with his family and people around him. This hatred washed off on

his son, whose eyes the story looked through. This transitions into another crux in the story,

which is this discrimination carries over through generations, and the recurring theme that there

is not much of an answer to it. This is most evident when he tries to eat at diners, and is

continuously refused service for the color of his skin, regardless of how he acts towards the

waiter or waitress. These issues he addresses reflect the times Baldwin lived in and how absurd

white people would treat African Americans.