Question: How does Baldwin through his language technique succeed in immersing his reader in the experience of his characters? Choose any section of his amazing story “Going to meet the Man”.
Baldwin’s use of language technique in “Going to meet the man” confronts the reader into the utterly disturbing experiences of his characters. The ‘simple’ lines inclusive of intense, disturbing imagery such as “the man with the knife took the nigger’s privates in his hand, one hand, still smiling, as though he were weighing them. In the cradle of the one white hand, the nigger’s privates seemed as remote as meat being weighed in the scales”, delves deep into the way people have acted in the past and their truly disturbing feelings towards their actions. By using specific adjectives that have calm and caring connotations such as ‘cradled’ and ‘smiling’, inflicts a stronger sense of being revolted by white people’s need to show power. By showing sympathy, white people are placing themselves over everyone else in the upmost disrespectful way.
Through expressing real past events within his characters, Baldwin immerses the reader into the raw truth. Baldwin’s continue use of symbolism and clear definition between ‘white’ and ‘black’ as seen in “In the cradle of the one white hand” shows the true power white people abused against others. By showing this ‘power’ it highlights the upmost brutality and lack of a consciousness on can have towards another. Baldwin uses these feelings of repulsiveness to show the absolute truth of the past. He puts the reader in the scene, not to read and learn about the past, but to experience it.
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Baldwin explores into the depths of the human mind to show how far people have come since then. These change of feelings between his characters and the readers show the progress we have made but reminding us to never go back. By highlighting his character’s ways of thinking and interpreting, the readers are immersed into the past with upmost regret and repulsiveness. However, Baldwin goes that one step further into the disturbing with including the innocent. Through analysing a children’s ways of understanding, Baldwin shows that not only did we inflict this pain on ‘black’ people, but also our own families. Through the father’s influence on his child, he has forced this little innocent boy to think like he does. The little boy’s image of his father being a ‘hero’ and his persuasive views on right and wrong stops him from rebelling and forces him into a life of hatred. This boy’s inability to question the actions of his father at this moment in time, make him join in and be a part of this history.
“At that moment Jesse loved his father more than he ever loved him. He felt that his father had carried him through a mighty test, had revealed to him a great secret which would be the key to his life forever.”
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emilydickblog 
I found the way you picked up on how ‘cradled’ and ‘smiling’ have connotations of caring, interesting! I found Baldwin’s depiction of the raw truth to be incredibly repulsive, just as he intended. The fact that I share a name with the main character also added to that immersion for me. I really did feel like I was there, not just reading a historical account of it, like you said. Baldwin’s writing is especially interesting in our current context where police officers in America are continuously murdering black people without any real consequences. I think the final point you made is especially important. No one is born racist, it’s learned.
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Emily, I think you did a wonderful job answering the question. You used such immense detail and a wide spectrum of techniques and this helped me further understand both the question you were answering as well as the text. I really liked how you answered the question in relation to confronting the reader into the ‘utterly disturbing’ experiences of the characters. I think by taking this stance to answer the question, you really elevated your response. I enjoyed reading about how through discussing real events within the characters the audience could see raw truth in the story. I think you really delved into the answer, especially when you wrote about the characters way of thinking and furthermore when you linked it to the innocence of the child and therefore how easily the child is influenced. This allowed us to see the change in the child’s attitude and therefore become more involved and connected with the story. I also thoroughly enjoyed when you discussed Baldwin’s use of imagery. Your description of the imagery as intense and disturbing perfectly summarised Baldwin’s writing and successfully answered the question. I also really enjoyed reading your link between the imagery created and the reactions it created in relation to the actions being discussed.
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