Rhetorical Analysis Of Notes Of A Native Son

Siddhi Shah

Pd. 8

“I first contracted some dread, chronic disease, the unfailing symptom of which is a kind of blind fever, a pounding in the skull and fire in the bowels. Once this disease is contracted, one can never be really carefree again, for the fever, without an instant's warning, can recur at any moment. It can wreck more important things than race relations. There is not a Negro alive who does not have this rage in his blood--one has the choice, merely, of living with it consciously or surrendering to it. As for me, this fever has recurred in me, and does, and will until the day I die” (Baldwin 592).

This passage calls forth the sensuous, evocative quality of Notes of a Native Son, through the way Baldwin uses rhetorical devices like extended metaphors to craft his essay with powerful, relatable

diction. The impact of segregation on Baldwin’s life perspective is very evident when he refers to his inescapable reality as a “chronic disease.” At first, such references to a disease seem to be referring to a physical sickness that Baldwin has contracted, but upon further reading, the vivid word choice enables readers to comprehend Baldwin’s figurative sickness. This symbolic reference is very significant because readers associate illnesses as being contagious, infectious, and consuming. This connection allows Baldwin to exploit his outsider status to further suggest how racism and discrimination is something that can mentally affect any human for the worst.
Baldwin chooses to tell his story with careful consideration of such words to truly make his audience understand how he felt.

The infectious and consuming disease as a metaphor for his lack of identity and bitterness towards segregation enabled readers to empathize along Baldwin’s mental transition. Additionally, his description of how his “sickness” had destroyed his mental ability to stop himself from being calm evoked strong emotions by painting a picture of Baldwin’s own thoughts, his yearn for acceptance, and his temper. Thus, it enabled readers to relate with Baldwin’s rage, since many people deal with anger and it is a common weakness, even if not at quite the same level. Furthermore, by demonstrating how the disease that Baldwin had contracted had finally got the best of him, his metaphorical method really showed readers just how degenerative the disease became with word choice like “pounding in the skull” to “rage in his blood.” Such diction to express his perspective and opinion on his interaction with discrimination forces readers to put themselves into Baldwin’s unfavorable circumstances and experience how it's like to be completely

insignificant.
Baldwin then personifies the blood of African Americans when he writes " there is not a Negro alive who does not have this rage in his blood" to further reveal how big of an impact his first real encounter was with racial discrimination. By using such phrases to strengthen the mood of the passage, he was able to reach out to many people and convert his sensations into a more relatable manner for readers to truly grasp. Fortunately, Baldwin’s wide range of diction and the usage of his own personal heart, emotions, and mental happenings created a powerful essay of describing his drastic past occurrences in an eloquent way, in which the public could tune in to the feelings of Baldwin.