Week 14 Analysis: Close Reading of "Notes of a Native Son"

For my close reading this week, I picked the paragraph at the top of page 739 of "Notes of a Native Son" that begins with "his illness was beyond all hope" (739). This paragraph does a great job at demonstrating the disconnect between Baldwin and his father. Anytime Baldwin ever mentioned at any point in the story that he hated his father or felt they hardly knew each other, we can trace it back to this paragraph. When speaking of his father's illness, Baldwin says it was "beyond all hope of healing before anyone realized that he was ill" (739). From what's obviously apparent by Baldwin saying "before anyone realized that he was ill," we can see that it took a long time before his family found out he was ill (739). But, the use of the phrase "beyond all hope" when referring to when the family found out gives us a greater picture as to how long this has gone unnoticed. He's been ill for many years without anyone finding out, and it has reached the point where it's become too late for any doctor to assist him. Baldwin continues, "his long silences which were punctuated by moans and hallelujahs and snatches of old songs while he sat at the living-room window never seemed odd to us" (739). Reading over this the first time, I didn't notice exactly what this meant. Doing a close reading just now has helped me understand exactly what this means. To say that his "long silences" were "punctuated" by "moans and hallelujahs" indicates that his father's illness prevented him from being able to remain silent for long periods of time (739). Every time he sat still or tried to relax, his pain would cause him to moan. He would occasionally spout out a hallelujah most likely because it would make it seem like he's okay and that way his family didn't think they would need to worry about him. This is also evident from how Baldwin said it "never seemed odd to us" (739). Baldwin's father was hiding the fact that anything was wrong with for a long time. Most likely, he wanted his illness to sneakily kill him before his family could realize he was ill. If Baldwin's father could try to keep something this important a secret, it's no surprise that Baldwin claims him and his father never spoke much. His father wanted nothing more than to keep to himself. "It was clear from the beginning that there was no hope for him" (739).


Baldwin, James. "Notes of a Native Son." The Norton Anthology World Literature, edited by Martin Puchner, Third Edition, vol. D, W. W. Norton 2012, pp. 739