The Black American Short Story in the 20th Century
Page 28
common brotherhoo d o f man , and jeers at the notion of equality.
The ma n wh o believe s tha t h e i s doin g nothin g bu t "hi s duty "
(199) in his devoted fight for "law and order" (205) and who feels
that h e is "fightin g t o sav e the civilize d world " (207 ) agains t th e
onslaught o f blac k animal s — and a t th e sam e tim e bein g un -
deservedly criticize d b y "th e bastard s fro m th e North " (206 ) —
misuses his official authorit y i n orde r t o ac t ou t hi s sadistic urges
upon defenseles s prisoner s an d t o degrad e blac k wome n int o th e
objects o f his lust. Jess e has inherited al l thes e contradictions, to-
gether wit h hi s perverted sexua l mores , from "hi s models" (205),
the me n o f his father's generation , wh o have taugh t hi m "what it
meant t o be a man" (205). From them, too, he has learned how to
treat a whit e woman , an d i t fits th e overal l pattern o f th e stor y
only to o wel l tha t hi s passionles s wife , wh o i s s o aptl y name d
Grace, appear s t o hi m lik e a "frai l sanctuary " (198 ) covere d b y
the moonligh t "lik e glory " (217). Her he does not dare importune
with hi s sexua l desires ; she , wh o talk s "gently " (198 ) t o he r
labouring husband , mus t not b e aske d t o "hel p hi m out " (198) ,
and wheneve r h e want s " a littl e mor e spic e tha n Grace could give
him" (199 ) h e ha s t o visi t som e blac k girl . Grac e become s th e
embodiment o f 'Souther n womanhood, ' th e pure , sexles s lad y
raised upo n a pedesta l t o serv e a s a n objec t o f glorificatio n fo r
Southern chivalric gyneolatry.
It shoul d b e obviou s by no w tha t Jesse , although convincingl y
portrayed a s an individual, is not s o much the single man, but the
"Man," th e representativ e o f a whole socia l system , th e embodi -
ment o f th e ol d orde r o f the South, and that Jesse's plight and his
psychically induce d impotenc e stan d fo r th e downfal l o f a social
system tha t ha s lost its power because of its innate contradictions,
its inhumanity , an d it s mora l corruption . Thus , a s i t were , th e
ontogenetic proces s gain s a phylogenetic dimension , th e stor y o f
an individual aberration becomes the paradigm of the pathology of
180
a whole society .
The aspect s o f thi s failur e ar e sufficientl y familia r fro m count -
less sociologica l studies : Calvi n C. Hernton's analysi s of th e "myt h
of Negr o sexua l virility " i s a s relevan t t o a n understandin g o f
"GMM" a s hi s interpretatio n o f th e ritua l o f castration , whic h
according t o him doe s not onl y represen t
... th e destructio n o f a mythical monster , but als o the partaking of that
monster .. . I n takin g the black man's genitals , th e hooded me n in white
are amputatin g tha t portio n o f themselve s whic h the y secretl y conside r
vile, filthy, and most o f all inadequate. At the same time, castration is the
acting out o f the white man's guilt for having sex with Negro women, and
of the white man's hate and envy of the Negr o male's supposed relation s
with and appeal to the white woman. And finally, through the castration
rite, whit e men hope to acquire the grotesque powers they have assigned
to the Negro phallus, which they symbolically extol by the act of destroy-
ing it.13
Also appropriat e a s a commen t o n Jesse' s behaviou r i s Lillia n
Smith's observatio n tha t "th e lynche d Negr o become s not an ob-
ject that must die bu t a receptacl e fo r ever y man' s damned-u p
hate, an d a receptacl e fo r ever y man' s forbidde n se x feelings;" 14
equally illuminatin g wit h regar d t o Baldwin' s stor y i n genera l i s
her ominou s imag e o f th e Strange Fruit. W.C . Cash's discussion o f
the Southerner' s rap e comple x i s a s pertinent t o a n understandin g
of th e disturbe d deput y sherif f a s hi s expositio n o f Souther n
gyneolatry i s t o th e portraitur e o f Grace . Thornton Stringfellow' s
notorious pamphle t " A Scriptura l Vie w o f Slavery " illustrates wh y
Jesse can tak e himsel f t o be a God-fearing man and a good Christian
and provide s the necessary backgroun d fo r a figure lik e Bi g Jim C ,
whose initials , ironicall y enough , remin d th e reade r o f Jesu s Chris t
as wel l a s o f Ji m Crow . An d Eldridg e Cleaver' s parabl e abou t th e
Omnipotent Administrato r wh o afte r hi s pac t wit h th e Supermas -
culine Menial suddenly "discovere d tha t i n th e fur y o f his scheming
he ha d blundere d an d clippe d himsel f o f hi s penis" 15 read s lik e a
commentary upo n Jesse' s syndrome . Thes e fe w reference s mus t
suffice, fo r wan t o f space , to prove tha t th e connexio n betwee n a
perverted sexualit y an d racis m i s b y n o mean s Baldwin' s privat e
invention. Admittedly , Baldwi n seem s t o b e obsesse d b y th e
discovery "tha t whit e me n wh o invente d th e nigger' s bi g blac k
prick, ar e stil l a t th e merc y o f thi s nightmare, an d ar e still, for th e
most part , doomed , i n on e wa y o r another , t o attemp t t o mak e
181
this prick thei r own,"16 bu t whereas the reduction of the complex
'American dilemma ' t o thi s aspect only makes his Blues for Mister
Charlie a heavily biased and only partly convincing play,17 it should
be evident b y no w tha t i t doe s not detrac t fro m th e power of his
story.
When, at the end of "GMM," Jesse's uncovering of his suppressed
past make s him regai n hi s potency, he can satisfy hi s wife only by
throwing of f hi s deepes t inhibitions , givin g i n t o hi s hitherto re-
pressed fantasies and assuming the role of the over-potent "nigger":
"Come on , sugar , I' m goin g t o d o yo u lik e a nigger, just lik e a
nigger, come on , sugar, and lov e me just lik e you'd love a nigger"
(218). A readin g of thi s developmen t a s a successful ac t o f auto -
therapy woul d certainly be wrong. One might argue, however, that
self-recognition i s a first ste p towards improvement an d tha t th e
acting ou t o f one' s hidden dream s has a cathartic effect . A preju-
diced whit e racis t wh o indulge s in hi s fantasies i n th e privac y o f
his marriag e be d migh t b e a lesse r risk t o society ; a man wh o is
"going t o mee t th e man," tha t is , on th e wa y t o discovering him-
self an d confrontin g hi s ow n perversions , migh t b e cure d o f his
disease; a correct diagnosis could lead to a succesful therapy .
If see n in this light, Baldwin's story neither "reduce[s] complex-
ity t o caricature," 18 a s Stern woul d have it, nor can it be summed
up i n th e flippan t statemen t o f Featherstone , "tha t wha t al l thi s
racial fus s stem s fro m i s the whit e man' s inability to get it up."19
Quite th e contrary , "GMM " probe s deepl y int o th e hidden con -
nexions between distorte d sexuality , mindless bigotry, and violent
racism; and th e ver y fac t tha t Baldwin , through th e choic e o f hi s
narrative perspective , remains sufficiently detache d t o stan d bac k
completely an d t o le t hi s protagonis t revea l himsel f a s
bot h
victimizer an d victi m make s i t a compellin g an d deepl y movin g
story abou t th e havo c worke d b y racia l prejudic e amon g th e
oppressed and the oppressors alike.
182
NOTES
1. Cf. the essay with the same title in James Baldwin, Nobody Knows My
Name: More Notes of a Native Son (New York, 1967), pp. 17-23. (Dell Book
6435)
2. Cf . the statements in Baldwin's essay "The Black Boy Looks at the White
Boy," i n Nobody Knows My Name, pp. 175 and 177 . There Baldwin says,
in 1961 : "... the things I had written wer e behind me, could not be written
again, could not be repeated. I was also realizing that all that the world could
give me a s an artist, it had, in effect, alread y given .. . I think it is the most
dangerous point in the life of any artist, his longest, most hideous turning ..."
3. Jame s Baldwin , "Sermon s an d Blues, " The New York Times Book
Review, (March 29, 1959), p. 6.
4. Cf . Joh n M . Reilly, " 'Sonny's Blues' : James Baldwin's Image of Black
Community," Negro American Literature Forum, 4 (1970) , 56-60 ; Elaine
R. Ognibene, "Black Literature Revisited : 'Sonny' s Blues,'" English Journal,
60 (1971), 36-37; M. Thomas Inge, "James Baldwin's Blues," Notes on Con-
temporary Literature, 2, No. 4 (1972), pp. 8-11; Peter Freese , Die amerika-
nische Kurzgeschichte nach 1945: Salinger, Malamud, Baldwin, Purdy, Barth
(Frankfurt, 1974) , pp . 303-308 ; Bernhar d Ostendorf , "Jame s Baldwin ,
'Sonny's Blues, ' " i n Pete r Freese , ed., Die amerikanische Short Story der
Gegenwart: Interpretationen (Berlin , 1976), pp. 194-204; Peter Freese, "Eine
Jugend i n Harlem : Jame s Baldwin s 'Sonny' s Blues ' als Ausgangstex t eine s
Kurses zu r amerikanische n Rassenfrage, " Der fremdsprachliche Unterricht,
11,2(1977), 16-26.
5. Cf . Sa m Bluefarb , "Jame s Baldwin' s 'Previou s Condition': A Problem of
Identification," Negro American Literature Forum, 3 (1969) , 26-29 ;
Peter Freese , "James Baldwin und das Syndrom des Identitätsverlustes: 'Pre-
vious Condition ' i m Lichte de s Gesamtwerkes," Literatur in Wissenschaft
und Unterricht, 4 (1972) , 73-98 ; reprinted , i n a revise d an d enlarge d
version, in Die amerikanische Kurzgeschichte nach 1945, pp. 264-301.
6. Jame s Baldwin, "Nobody Know s My Name: A Letter fro m th e South, "
in Nobody Knows My Name, p. 87.
7. Cf. , e.g. , th e chapte r "Th e Blac k Christ," i n Nanc y M. Tischler, Black
Masks: Negro Characters in Modern Southern Fiction (University Par k and
London, 1969), pp. 103-118.
8. Th e page numbers given in brackets in the text refer t o James Baldwin,
Going to Meet the Man (New York, 1967). (Dell Book 2931)
9. Fer n Marj a Eckman , The Furious Passage of James Baldwin (London,
1968), pp. 16f.
10. Jame s Baldwin , The Fire Next Time (New York , 1969) , p. 113 . (Dell
Book 2542)
11. Jame s Baldwin , "Autobiographica l Notes, " in Notes of a Native Son
183
(London, 1969), p. 4. (Corgi Book 08138)
12. Hein z Wüstenhagen, "James Baldwin s Essay s un d Romane: Versuc h
einer erste n Einschätzung," Zeitschrift fur Anglistik und Amerikanistik, 13
(1965), 128.
13. Calvi n C . Hernton , Sex and Racism (London , 1970) , pp . 10 3 an d 102 .
(Paladin Book 08032 )
14. Lillia n Smith, Killers of the Dream (New York, 1949) , p. 158.
15. Eldridg e Cleaver , Soul on Ice (Ne w York , withou t date) , p. 153 . (Del l
Book 8163 )
16. Jame s Baldwin , No Name in the Street (London , 1973) , p . 47. (Corg i
Book 09249 )
17. Cf. , fo r a mor e detaile d analysi s an d evaluation , Pete r Freese , "Jame s
Baldwin, Blues for Mister Charlie" i n Rudol f Haas , ed. , Theater und Drama
in Amerika: Von den Anfángen bis zur Gegenwart (Berlin , to b e publishe d
1977).
18. Danie l Stern , " A Special Corner on Truth," Saturday Review, 48 , No. 45
(November 6, 1965) , p. 32. (review article).
19. Josep h Featherstone , "Blue s fo r Miste r Baldwin, " The New Republic,
153 (November 27, 1965) , p. 37. (review article)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Baldwin's novels are:
Go Tell It on the Mountain. Ne w York, 1953.
Giovanni's Room. Ne w York, 1956 .
Another Country. Ne w York, 1962 .
Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone. New York, 1968 .
If Beale Street Could Talk. New York, 1974 .
Short Stories:
Going to Meet the Man. New York, 1965 .
Plays:
Blues for Mister Charlie. Ne w York, 1964 .
The Amen Corner. New York, 1965 .
Baldwin's nonfiction book s include:
Notes of a Native Son. Boston , 1955 .
Nobody Knows My Name: More Notes of a Native Son. Ne w York, 1961.
The Fire Next Time. New York, 1963.
Nothing Personal (with Richard Avedon). New York, 1964 .
A Rap on Race (with Margaret Mead). New York, 1971.
No Name in the Street. Ne w York, 1972 .
184
One Day When I Was Lost. New York, 1972.
A Dialogue (with Nikki Giovanni). Philadelphia and New York, 1973.
The Devil Finds Work. London, 1976.
185
John Wakefiel d
AMIRI BARAKA (LeROI JONES)
THE ALTERNATIVE
(1965)
Early i n his career Baraka faced th e question of whether the black
writer wa s "t o exhibi t hi s familiarit y wit h th e socia l graces" of
white literature , o r t o find a genuine mod e o f blac k expression. 1
Baraka's disapproval o f the course of black literature was based on
his conviction tha t th e blac k middle-clas s had approache d writin g
in th e wrong way. The black writer strived simply to prove himself
the cultural equal of the white, and in so doing had failed to create
a mean s o f expressin g hi s ow n cultura l an d racia l identity . A s
Baraka complained in his essay, "The Myth of a Negro Literature, "
the histor y o f blac k writin g had onl y expresse d th e socia l aspira-
tions o f th e blac k middle-class . I t was an inauthentic performanc e
of "almos t amazing mediocrity."2
Baraka's fiction tell s the stor y o f hi s struggle t o disengage him-
self fro m th e lur e o f whit e culture' s "socia l grace " — b y whic h
Baraka means, basically , th e attraction s o f wealt h an d positio n
which a supposedly superio r white culture holds for the ambitious
black.3 Baraka' s own lif e an d educatio n wa s beset b y th e mora l
ambiguities o f growin g u p i n a divide d culture : a t hom e an d a t
school, h e me t th e values of middle-clas s blac k culture , while o n
the street s o f Newar k he encountered th e values of jazz musicians,
junkies an d whores . Ou t o f thes e conflictin g an d contradictor y
materials, Baraka sought fo r a new mode of black expression. It is
a difficul t story , bu t on e mor e easil y followed , I believe , i n his
stories tha n i n hi s bette r know n essay s an d plays . Suc h a study
involves no t onl y lookin g a t th e origin s o f Baraka's expressive
theories themselves , bu t a stud y o f th e socia l force s i n hi s lif e
against which he had to fight t o realize them.
Although w e can assum e tha t Baraka's hostility to the world of
black-middle clas s values did no t emerg e a t birth , his short stories
in Tales (1967) d o trac e hi s growing alienatio n fro m th e kin d o f
social rol e fo r whic h hi s educatio n seeme d t o b e preparing him .
Amiri Baraka was bor n Everet t LeRo i Jone s i n Newark , Ne w
187
Jersey, the so n of a postal employer an d a social worker. As Baraka
views hi s lif e i n retrospec t h e seeme d destine d t o a fat e agains t
which, a s h e gre w older , h e mor e an d mor e consciousl y rebelled .
More specifically , a s th e title s o f hi s storie s indicate , "Th e Deat h
of Horati o Alger " an d "Uncl e Tom' s Cabin : Alternat e Ending, "
Baraka's fate earl y threatene d t o mak e hi m anothe r conventiona l
member o f th e blac k middle-class. 4 A s hi s educatio n continued ,
life seeme d t o hold fe w meaningfu l alternatives :
Willing for any experience, any image, any further separatio n from where
my goo d grade s wer e sur e t o lead . Frightene d o f pos t offices , lawyer' s
offices, doctor's cars, the death of clean politicians.5
Fortunately, lif e o n th e street s awa y fro m th e schoolbooks , hi s
membership o f gangs , his excursion s int o th e 3rd . War d slum s o f
Newark, opene d u p t o Baraka other possibilities. Street fight s wit h
local Italian s taugh t th e aspirin g black o f th e stor y "Th e Deat h o f
Horatio Alger " t o re-evaluate hi s dreams of whit e culture :
So that eve n sprawle d ther e i n th e snow , with m y bloo d an d pompous
isolation, I vaguel y kne w o f a glamorous worl d an d wa s mistaken int o
thinking i t coul d b e gotte n fro m books . Negroes an d Italian s bea t an d
shaped me, and my allegiance is there, (p. 45)
As the iron y shows , Baraka's education wa s not immediate .
Finding a languag e abl e t o expres s th e mora l ambiguitie s o f
growing u p i n the 1940' s lends a complexity t o Baraka's life-story,
which i s ofte n reflecte d i n hi s style : "w e ar e name d b y al l th e
things w e will neve r understand. " (p . 46) Schoo l i n th e fortie s in -
volved Baraka and othe r black s i n th e drea m o f progres s i n th e