Dont Know How He Did It

We have many premium term papers and essays on Dont Know How He Did It. We also have a wide variety of research papers and book reports available to you for free. You can browse our collection of term papers or use our search engine.

Dont Know How He Did It

I Don't Know How He Did It
In James Baldwin's "Stranger in the Village" he goes through emotions that are key to helping him deal with conflicts in a remote Swiss village. While he was living in this secluded village he goes through a lot of things that most people wouldn't be able to go through. He deals with these issues in two different ways, one is astonishment and the other is rage.
I don't know how James did it staying in a village where the children would   shout the "N" word   at him, and the older women would just turn there head at him when he would walk by just because he was black. He says that "Some thought my hair was the color of tar, that it had the texture of wire or the texture of cotton(pg.94)".   When I read that I thought to myself what would I do if that was to happen to me right now?, if some person came up to me and thought that my hair was the texture of wire, if the children would shout the "N" word at me, or I knew that some of the children were being taught that the devil was a black man. It actually scares me because I couldn't imagine that ever happening and   if it did then I don't think I would be able to control myself from wanting to seriously hurt someone.   Even though I don't feel that the situation is entirely the villagers fault because   If anyone   grew up in a place that is secluded like that village they
Neal 2
wouldn't really know any better, James did a   good job of controlling himself in the situations he put himself in.
James Baldwin is correct when he says "People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them(Pg.95)." I really don't know if there is any truer statement in the story than that. Now a days people do need to let go of history because there is nothing we can do but learn from the past. Some tend to hold onto it and it causes conflict. James Baldwin was one of those people stuck in the past but somehow he controlled it better then others, If he couldn't control his anger the way that he does than...
read full essay

Already a Member? Login Now »

Saved Papers

Save papers so you can find them more easily!

Join Now

Get instant access to over 180,000 papers.

Join Now