It is for this reason that the man became religious. After making this comparison, Baldwin tells James that his grandfather was ultimately undone-destroyed-by believing that he actually was what white society said he was: subhuman.
He points out that James’s grandfather even had a similar personality to the boy’s, a certain strong-willed and assertive manner that Baldwin believes is designed to avoid looking weak or soft.
Baldwin tells James that when he imagines the boy’s face he also sees the face of his brother (James’s father) and the face of his own father (James’s grandfather). The Fire Next Time opens with a short letter to Baldwin’s fourteen-year-old nephew, James, commemorating the hundredth anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.
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