Essay 6

FINAL DRAFT

Madeline

Mr. Salsich

English 9

November 3, 2009

An Inner War:

An Essay about the Last Paragraph of James Baldwin's "Notes of a Native Son"

Our minds never stop thinking. Even when we sleep, we think, because we dream. In the last paragraph of James Baldwin's essay "Notes of a Native Son," the author says that our minds will never stop struggling, either, because we will always be fighting to accept or reject life's injustices. To me, this observation is very perceptive, and I can relate to Baldwin's distress at the thought of a constant internal war.

TS Baldwin's final paragraph in "Notes of a Native Son" is a powerful idea, full of wisdom and emotion, for both Mr. Baldwin himself and for me. SD The paragraph puts forth the idea that, in life, a person will always struggle internally with two enemy forces: acceptance and rebellion. CM To me, this means we will always be fighting to choose between putting up with evil or fighting it, our minds seized in fear over the choice between oppressed safety or dangerous freedom. CM Baldwin places right and wrong at the center of the conflict, for "injustice is a commonplace" when one accepts "life as it is," but when one revolts against these injustices, "hatred and despair" can arise in the soul. SD Baldwin's view of this war between good and evil shows great wisdom. CM He must be intelligent and observant, for he is able to describe what could be the essence of life itself in one short paragraph. CM However, this wisdom is tainted by grief, because beneath his description of the war between good and bad, Baldwin seems to be saying that there is no escape, no peace, from the constant battle. SD The author's last sentence is especially infected with grief and regret, saying that the idea that he must always be fighting to keep his head above the black waters of evil "made [his] heart heavy;" I know how he feels. CM Baldwin's father was gone, and only when he was gone did the son realize that his father was needed as a steady protector, and all this agonizing grief and guilt, mixed with the thought of a lifetime's war, must have left Baldwin feeling absolutely distressed. CM My heart feels heavy when I open my eyes in the morning and I see pain and waste and apathy, and, like Baldwin, I wish I had someone "beside me so that I could...[search] his [or her] face for the answers which only the future [can] give me now." CS "Notes of a Native Son" is one man's journey on the treacherous path of grief, and the powerful conclusion, spoken from sage lips, sums up what could be the meaning of life, and my spirit feels burdened for Baldwin, because he had lost his life raft that had kept him, unknowingly, afloat; he was left to fight evil alone, and I understand his despair.

Just as our minds never stop thinking, they will never stop fighting. We will never be able to choose between acceptance of or rebellion against injustice. The last paragraph of "Notes of a Native Son" is James Baldwin's moment of enlightenment. Death made Baldwin realize this struggle, the seed of all life's conflicts, and he was saddened, because his father was gone, and he would have to fight the endless inner war without his father's strength at his side.