Blackness (Motif)
One recurring motif that Baldwin analyzes is the idea that blackness is connected to evil and negative forces in the world. In the movies and novels Baldwin analyzes, he reveals the associations between color and certain stereotypes. Baldwin argues that these stereotypes have seeped into everyday language, as in the phrase "as black as hell." Baldwin works to bring a different meaning to blackness, as when he describes the dark skin of his late father. Baldwin's association of blackness and beauty here anticipates the important 1960s slogan "black is beautiful."
Rock of Ages (Symbol)
The book's "Preface" relies on the religious symbol of the Rock of Ages. This refers to the popular 18th-century Christian hymn "The Rock of Ages" which begins: "Rock of Ages, cleft for me, / Let me hide myself in Thee." Baldwin builds on this image by describing this rock as something that must be broken with tools. He also refers to other songs that describe rocks, with lyrics like: "I got a home in that rock," "Lead me to the rock that is higher than I," and "I ran to the rock to hide my face." As Baldwin continues to play with variations on this symbol, it becomes clear that this rock is, for him, his inheritance as an African American.
Witch-burning (Motif)
Discussing Uncle Tom's Cabin in "Everybody's Protest Novel," Baldwin writes that the novel "achieves a bright, almost lurid significance, like the light from a fire which consumes a witch." The fire of a witch-burning is used as a way of describing the over-sentimentality of certain protest novels. The same motif appears again to describe the almost-religious fear of immorality that motivates literature like this.
Myths (Motif)
In several essays in this collection, Baldwin describes racial stereotypes as myths that reveal how Americans understand race. This motif of mythology shows how irrational many of these racial attitudes are.
Poison and antidote (Symbol)
In "Notes of a Native Son," Baldwin describes hearing the eulogy the minister gave at his father's funeral. He begins thinking about how difficult it is to be a parent and how children often do not understand why their parents can act harshly. African American parents in particular see the everyday world of racism, poverty, and injustice as a kind of poison. They seek to protect their children from the poison of "avenues, side streets, bars, billiard halls, hospitals, police stations," but there is no clear antidote. Adding further meaning to the symbol, Baldwin writes that "perhaps poison should be fought with poison," meaning that sometimes hate itself might be the best response to hate.
