James Baldwin Notes For A Hypothetical Novel

James Baldwin’s “Notes for A Hypothetical Novel” is part of a collection of essays entitled, Nobody Knows My Name. James Baldwin opens “Notes for a Hypothetical Novel” by stating that he wishes to write a novel about where and with whom he grew up (Baldwin 222). James Baldwin believes a novel should contain two important components. First, a novel should note that the events occurring locally reflect events occurring nationally or globally. For example, James Baldwin witnessed the transition from championing African Americans in the arts during the Harlem Renaissance to condemning them following the Great Depression (Baldwin 223). James Baldwin believes the evolution of the African American image in the 1920s is a micro event that was influenced by macro events that were occurring nationally (Baldwin 223). In addition to the connection of micro and macro events, James Baldwin believes that a novel should describe reality, not a romanticized situation. Both of these components are difficult to attain in a novel, because of the innate ability of Americans to avoid certain truths, resulting in an incoherent American identity. There is a discrepancy between the true American identity and what American perceives.

In the conclusion of the essay James Baldwin connects incoherence with the myth of the American experience. James Baldwin states that, “there is an illusion about America, a myth about America to which we are clinging which has nothing to do with the lives we lead...” (Baldwin 230). James Baldwin offers the African American experience as evidence of this myth; however, the 1950s comprise another good example of American incoherence. Superficially, the 1950s are seen as a time of “of relative tranquility, happiness, o...

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...win discusses how Americans have an idea of reality that is not quite true and a writer’s responsibility is to bring to light the truths that Americans are too busy or too ignorant to notice. A novel of the 1950s cannot just be an idealized picture of heterosexual couples and their nuclear families living in suburbia. An accurate depiction of the 1950s needs to discuss homosexuality. It must discuss revolutionary pieces of literature on the subject, like Kinsey’s Sexual Behavior In the Human Male. It must also illustrate how macro events, such as the Cold War, influenced micro events, such as the Lavender Scare. Homosexuals were met with persecution and oppression in postwar America. Without the inclusion of homosexuality in a depiction of the 1950s, the American identity will continue to be incoherent and confine itself within a myth of the American experience.