Sculptures in James Baldwins If Beale Street Could Talk Essay

In Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself, Douglass describes his overseer as a earthly concern of the most inflexible resoluteness and oppose-like coolness (Andrews 181). He adds that his mistresss tender heart became pock (Andrews 188). When he first off tries to free himself from such people, Douglass ends up all alone, indoors the walls of a stone prison (Andrews 208). Throughout these references, the image of stone is repeatedly linked with the stonehearted and dramatic Caucasian oppression of African-Americans. James Baldwin also includes images of stone and wood in his novel, If Beale Street Could Talk. Stone and wood are very much mentioned together and are used for a joint purpose as Fonny, the protagonist, uses these materials to create sculptures. The novels three mentioned sculptures act as forecast symbols that predict what ultimately happens to their subjects they elaborately detail the Caucasian oppression fr om each one subject faces, their subsequent imprisonment in stone, and their path to freedom. Fonny gives one of his first sculptures to his girlfriends mother when describing the sculpture, his girlfriend, Tish, says, Its not very high, its done in shameful wood. Its of a naked man with one hand at his forehead and the other half screen his sex. The legs arevery wide apart, and one foot seems planted, unable to move, and the social unit motion of the figure is torment (Baldwin 38). This sculpture acts as a adumbrative symbol in the novel because, like the sculpture, Fonny is a vulnerable black man who tries to avoid organism raped, but he ends up being tormented and imprisoned in wood and stone. Also, like the sculpture, Fonny is ultimately left in the care and prote... ...g room (Baldwin 38). It go away likely become sooner a conversation piece, encapsulating his life account statement more artistically and intricately than any family scrapbook or album. It will even link Fonnys story to Frederick Douglasss slave narrative, showing how both of these black men face up betrayal, isolation, and metaphorical death through unjust imprisonment in stone. It will also show how they both struggled to find freedom from Caucasian oppression, and how Fonnys struggle occurred outside the context and time of slavery. Works CitedAndrews, William L., ed. The Literature of the American South A Norton Anthology. New York Norton & Company, 1998.Baldwin, James. If Beale Street Could Talk. New York Dell Publishing, 1974.Rape. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 2000 Fourth ed. Bartleby.com. 30 Sept. 2004