child attending a lynching

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Introduction

‘Going to Meet the Man’ centers on Jesse who is a white deputy sheriff, his experience while he was still a child attending a lynching, and his tendency towards violence as an adult. The author divides the book into two major parts. In the first part, the main character is Jesse who is a white deputy sheriff in a southern town is in bed with his wife, Grace for the first time in memory suffering from impotence and insomnia (James 1328). James Baldwin found Jesse at that particular night at the time of crisis, and he shares this with the other males. It is all about the history of the Old South where the blacks were protesting in their numbers by registering as voters and as a consequence of this, a new South that is inconceivable to Jesse is almost being birthed out. The fact that Jesse could hardly accept what was going on is very precise from clues concerning what he in his capacity as the deputy sheriff will be doing the following day to break up the voter registration exercise. nonetheless, this resistance is much more demonstrated in Jesse’s paranoid reflections concerning African Americans in terms of the next course of action that he was to take in order to escape from the black world altogether.

Jesse describes to his wife Grace who was slightly a sleep an incident that happened earlier during the day at the courthouse. To put a stop to the black Americans who were singing, the sheriff arrested the ring leader and commenced beating him senselessly. Jesse proceeded with this brutality at the jail but prior to falling unconscious, the youthful black leader reminded him of an incident in their past when he was still in his tender age and defied this white person for disrespecting his grandmother in the then incident. The memory escalates the antagonism of Jesse to an even higher pitch and he wishes to exterminate the entire black American race since he and his fellow whites in the South were under a threat by the growing discontentment from the growing black revolution. Some of the scholars examine the sexual nature of this tale establishing significance in scenes of rape and castration for instance R. Whitlow.

On the other hand, some scholars such as Paul Griffith additionally emphasize on the religious themes and read sexual and racial violence via ingrained Christian tropes. The author of this text is justified in suggesting that both the oppressor and the oppressed are damaged psychologically by racism. Being a witness to a lynching exercise while he was still young is the motive behind Jesse’s numerous violent actions against the members of the black race alongside women in his adulthood. In my opinion, it is worth accepting the fact that the ideas by the author do not in any way absolve the white racist of responsibility but rather explicates such actions and additionally suggest that beliefs and identities are not inherent but are rather socially constructed.

A proof of how the author is a postmodernist and how his works reflect postmodern ideology

The author is a postmodernist going by the various themes that he has engaged into when it comes to articulating his literary works. The first pointer to this attribute of the writer is that he engages in themes that reflect the current happenings of the postmodern society. Such themes include racism and violence indicating the fact that the current society is still suffering from the wounds of racial discrimination and intolerance. The author brings out the sufferings of the African Americans in the land where they were being oppressed by the whites who were seeing them as being inferior and not productive enough to warrant them to enjoy the privileges that their fellow whites were enjoying. The second proof that James Baldwin is a postmodernist is to the effect that he articulates his works directly without much use of figurative speech or language. This is well presented out in the presentation of the scenarios and in the general setting of the material.

It is imperative to note that given the times we live in, it is almost impossible for an author to pass a message through written literature if he or she chooses to engage in figurative speech. The use of direct language throughout the text is a clear indicator in addition to the themes brought forth by the author that in deed Baldwin is a postmodern author. The third aspect to qualify the works of James Baldwin as being a postmodernist is that he tackles the realities of the current society by bringing out the evil that have invaded the social construction of the postmodern society. Such evil is well brought out in the form of violence and racial discrimination against the nonwhites something that has its roots in the past centuries though people are still holding onto it. This kind of writing that reflect on the current evils that are synonymous with the postmodern society are a true reflection and demonstration of the fact that the author is a postmodern writer. Furthermore, the simplicity of the language of the author also qualifies him as being a postmodern writer. It is critical for the current authors to employ simple language so as to be able to send the message directly to the readers as opposed to letting the readers to connect the dots as it was the case for the ancient authors such as William Shakespeare.

Topics presented

There are two major topics or themes that James Baldwin has presented in his literature as highlighted above. The first one is the theme of violence. He depicts Jesse who is the key character as someone who is violent. This is brought forth by the fact that he was brutal against the black demonstrators or protesters who were out to overturn the leadership by registering in their numbers as voters. This was the only way that could rescue them from the oppression of the whites who were the dominant group with self confessed superiority. The ring leader of the black protesters is mishandled by Jesse in an exceedingly brutal manner and this brutality is carried on even when he is put in jail. This was a clear demonstration of hatred that had characterized the society. It is on record that Jesse developed his violent character after being an eye witness to the lynching of a person when he was a young boy. This motivated him to continue being arrogant and violent towards the nonwhites. He is also reminded by the ring-leader of how he mistreated his grandmother meaning that he was also violent against women. The author is right in presenting this topic in his postmodern works in the sense that violence especially against women and the American blacks is on the rise and there is the need t highlight such antisocial practices so as to prevent them from happening.

The second theme is that of racism. The whites are being seen as superior to the blacks within the American society. The aftermath is that the black are the oppressed while the whites are the oppressors. They do not enjoy similar privileges with the blacks being undermined in the society. The consequence of this inequality is demonstrated when the whites opt for registering as voters in their masses which the only avenue they can pursue to engage the white-dominated leadership and fee themselves from the oppressors. It is critical to understand that racism is still an issue in the current society and as such, it is critical that it be captured just as James Baldwin has done in his works as a way of exposing the social evils in the current society that is supposed to embrace the doctrine of global citizenship where they respect the cultures of other races without necessarily looking down upon them by any standard.

In brief, his works reflect the postmodern ideology in the sense that they touch on contemporary issues that are still being experienced within the social circles. Such works are meant to highlight the sufferings of the various groups within the society to have them addressed once and for all. This ideology is key in exposing the society and as such, there can be the reconstruction of the social issues that are eating into the social fabric of the society to the detriment of its members.

Techniques used to classify the writer as a postmodernist

There are various techniques that I have used to classify the writer as a postmodernist. The first technique is with regards to the language or rather is choice of diction all through the text. He is direct and uses a simple language that directly drives the meaning into the mind of the reader. The second technique is with regard to the themes presented by the author. They are a true reflection of the postmodern society that has fully refused to embrace equality and global citizenship. The issues of discrimination and violence against women and other minority groups are still being experienced in the modern society. Another technique is that the author builds extensively on few themes so as to give them maximum attention.

Works Cited

James Baldwin. Postmodernism: “Going to Meet the Man” (p.1328), Toni Morrison “Recitatif” (p.1462)

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