Notes of a Native Son Literary Elements

Non-fiction; literary essay; memoir

The events described in the essays takes place both in the United States and in Europe towards the middle of the 20th century.

Throughout the essays, the narrator is James Baldwin himself

Critical, curious, rageful, resigned, sarcastic

There is no clear protagonist and antagonist in the essays

The major conflict is between African Americans and racism in North America and Europe, though Baldwin also shows how white supremacy harms everyone and prevents their full humanity.

As non-fiction, the essays do not have a clear narrative climax. However, the climax of the collection as a whole is the titular essay "Notes of a Native Son," which is also the most autobiographical piece in the collection.

At the end of "Journey to Atlanta," Baldwin's brother David calls his disappointing experiences in the South "funny," whereas the trip was a disaster and he could have easily been murdered.

"Preface to the 1984 Edition"
The "rock of ages" is a reference to an 18th-century Christian hymn.

"Autobiographical Notes"
"You taught me language and my profit on't is, I know how to curse" is a quotation from Shakespeare's The Tempest describing how oppressed people can use their oppressor's language as a weapon.

"Many Thousands Gone"
In describing the character Bigger Thomas in Native Son, Baldwin makes an allusion to the character of Satan in Milton's Paradise Lost: "[Bigger] prefers, like Lucifer, rather to rule in hell than serve in heaven"

"The Harlem Ghetto"
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” and “How can I sing the Lord’s song in a strange land” come from Luke 23:34 and Psalm 137:4 in the Bible.

"Journey to Atlanta"
Baldwin refers to the character Aziz from A Passage to India and Topsy in Uncle Tom's Cabin as two characters who know that white people do not care about them.

"Native Son"
"But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" comes from Joshua 24:15 in the Bible.

One of the most important pieces of imagery appears in one of the essays published at the end of the collection. In that essay, Baldwin recalls his experience when he was imprisoned in Paris and paints a detailed scene of his various prison cells. Additionally, when the charges against him were dropped, the judges and the lawyers began laughing at the sheer stupidity of Baldwin’s situation. The image of the laughing judges is important for Baldwin because, through their behavior, they make it clear that they do not believe something like that could ever happen to them.

Baldwin argues throughout the essays that racist stereotypes describing the habits and characters of black people reveal more about the people making the stereotypes than the people described.

"Notes of a Native Son" is filled with parallelism, as when Baldwin's father and baby sister are born at the same time, and when his father's funeral and the Harlem riots are described as parallel events.

In "Autobiographical Notes," Baldwin writes “The bookshelves groan under the weight of information.”