the fire next time discussion questions

As time goes on, he stops being able to accept the hypocrisies evident in Christianity. Would it have been possible for the author to listen to Elijah Muhammad only as black man, and not as his father's son, as an American, and not a black man, as a black American, and not a man? However, he learned eventually that Christianity was full of hypocrisy and was primarily used to perpetuate the power of whites over other races. He suggests that the only way America can become what it has the potential to become is to abandon Christian teaching. When white Americans referred to the phenomenon of the "new Negro" in the 1960s, they were referring to a newfound militancy among African Americans. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin. This is what true "integration" would look like to Baldwin: white Americans accommodating African Americans, and not the other way around. Study questions, project ideas and discussion topics based on important themes running throughout The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin. "Whoever debases others is debasing himself.". GradeSaver, My Dungeon Shook: Letter to My Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation, Down at the Cross: Letter from a Region in My Mind (Part 1), Down at the Cross: Letter from a Region in My Mind (Part 2), Down at the Cross: Letter from a Region in My Mind (Part 3), Read the Study Guide for The Fire Next Time…, Integration as Acceptance: Martin Luther King and Malcolm X in the Context of 'The Fire Next Time', View the lesson plan for The Fire Next Time…. Why does Baldwin believe Elijah Muhammad's views became suddenly popular in the 1960s, despite having been around for many decades before? He believes that most people actually do not want freedom even for themselves, because true freedom is difficult to bear. "Furthermore, I have met only a very few people—and most of these were not Americans—who had any real desire to be free. For a time, it provided him with fulfillment and purpose. This is the question, canonized in the pages of The Fire Next Time, that James Baldwin arrived at in 1962; those involved in Black liberation today have come to a similar crossroads.

This, Baldwin says, is what destroyed his nephew's father, Baldwin's brother: internalizing the belief that he was inferior to white men. He tells his nephew, James, not to believe that this term means he must adapt himself to fit the expectations of white Americans. If you are at an office or shared network, you can ask the network administrator to run a scan across the network looking for misconfigured or infected devices. In his childhood, Baldwin did not believe that his white countrymen could be swayed to see the humanity of African Americans through love or reason. View Lecture Slides - Questions for discussion of James Baldwin, Fire Next Time-1 from THEO 1000 at Fordham University.

Baldwin himself never fully agreed with this as a solution, which is partly why he turned to religion in his adolescence. A national bestseller when it first appeared in 1963, The Fire Next Time galvanized the nation and gave passionate voice to the emerging civil rights movement. In this quote, Baldwin offers a lesson to his nephew. Not affiliated with Harvard College. The Fire Next Time. In both these pieces of writing, the author speaks eloquently, at times with anger and at other times with an almost desperate compassion, of how it feels to live the life of a Negro (with all the racist connotations of that word intact). Thus, he believes that African Americans should make use of more peaceful tactics in order to avoid debasing themselves for the sake of exacting vengeance.

"Neither civilized reason nor Christian love would cause any of those people to treat you as they presumably wanted to be treated; only the fear of your power to retaliate would cause them to do that, or seem to do it, which was (and is) good enough.". One of these is their belief in freedom, which they claim is the foundation of their country. At the same time, he understands and respects Elijah Muhammad's reasons for wanting to separate from America, because he himself has also faced great hardship as a black man growing up in the United States. He must also offer such love to the white Americans who overlook him and put him down. Enjoy this free preview Unlock all 23 pages of this Study Guide by subscribing today. The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin. He sees this beauty when he sits at Elijah's table and observes the people there, especially "the baby, the women, and the men." Not only do white Americans deny mortality, but they also deny their own bloody history; for example, Americans buy into Europeans’ conceptions of race, even though they themselves live in a multiracial country. Chapter Summaries & Analyses. The Fire Next Time Questions and Answers. Discuss whether such separation is either possible or advisable. This study guide contains the following sections: This detailed literature summary also contains Topics for Discussion and a Free Quiz on All of these combined to drive him to seek out religion as an answer to his anxieties. He also warns that this beauty will be wasted if white Americans refuse to see it and embrace it for themselves, as well. Questions for discussion of James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time I. But he believes that this beauty would be wasted if they chose to turn to violence instead of using more peaceful methods. My Dungeon Elijah, in particular, began this movement because he saw his father lynched when he was only six years old. He now realizes that when he turned to religion, it was because God seemed like the only alternative in a harsh and frightening world. They did not mind having to achieve results through instilling fear as opposed to love in white men, because this was how they had been treated for centuries. He felt as though he was trapped in his limited circumstances: he could never rise above his family situation because of his race, and he would never be able to leave his neighborhood unless it was as a criminal, an athlete, a talented musician, or a pastor. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin. People often need some time in order to accept new ideals. Once white Americans learn to face mortality in this way, he believes they stand a better chance of taking responsibility in other areas of their lives, as well. To white Americans, this may seem like a surprising development. resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel. Baldwin believes mortality must be faced and accepted. Dean Brown discussed Ernie Pyle’s legacy at Indiana University. everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Fire Next Time. This Study Guide consists of approximately 33 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more -

The Fire Next Time Questions and Answers - Discover the eNotes.com community of teachers, mentors and students just like you that can answer any question you might have on The Fire Next Time Baldwin also points out that World War Two, in particular, pushed African Americans to recognize and become more actively upset about their mistreatment. “Do I really want to be integrated into a burning house?”. Copyright © 1999 - 2020 GradeSaver LLC. They do not acknowledge their own culpability in the struggles James faces, and thus overlook many important facets of the problems Baldwin is discussing. He believes that their struggle cannot ultimately be justified, but did lead to a certain kind of beauty to which they would not otherwise have had access. A general denial of reality allows white Americans to continue oppressing African Americans without taking responsibility for their actions.

All African Americans were aware of the fact that white power was upheld by criminal and violent means; it was a power they feared, as opposed to respected. Though these do also have their fair share of dangers, Baldwin suggests that survival is now possible. And Elijah, I should imagine, has had nothing to lose since the day he saw his father's blood rush out—rush down, and splash, so the legend has it, down through the leaves of a tree, on him.". Discuss whether it's possible to have a full, pure experience solely within one context. Instead, Baldwin encourages James to think of integration as a process of teaching white Americans to accept black Americans as they are. The Question and Answer section for The Fire Next Time is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.. Baldwin offers his nephew a personal appeal: he must survive and work to have a good life in the face of numerous challenges because of the sacrifices his parents and other relatives have made for him. If God cannot do this, then it is time we got rid of Him.".

At the same time, it seemed to him as though it was impossible to defeat circumstances simply by working hard, because the circumstances that African Americans faced were so dire. He describes at length how that disillusionment simultaneously deepened and broadened as he became older, detailing what he sees as the church's hypocrisies, developing theories about how those hypocrisies affected and continue to affect American life. Not affiliated with Harvard College. They were aware of all of the limitations and hardships James would necessarily have to deal with because of his race.

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