Fixed Star (Metaphor)
In his letter to his nephew, Baldwin explains why James must take pity on his white countrymen for their ignorance of the plight of black people. He implores James to "try to imagine how you would feel if you woke up one morning to find the sun shining and all the stars aflame...Well, the black man has functioned in the white man's world as a fixed star." Baldwin's metaphor, of the black man as a "fixed star," helps to explain white people's perspectives. As he says, it would be shocking for white people to see black men as their equals because this would represent a fundamental shift in the world as they understand it. In fact, it would be as though "all the stars" were suddenly "aflame." The metaphor of black people as the "fixed star" in America helps to explain why any change in their situation would be such a big deal to white people.
White Men as Lost, Younger Brothers (Metaphor)
In the same vein as the metaphor of black people as a "fixed star" in the white universe, Baldwin refers to white men as James' "brothers—your lost, younger brothers." Of course, this is not literally true. In fact, white people most likely feel very unrelated and superior to boys like James. However, Baldwin encourages James to think of them metaphorically as his brothers in order to be able to extend love and forgiveness to them. He must be able to recognize the similarities and fundamental connection between him and his white countrymen in order to empathize with them and their inability to understand the reality of the American situation.
Long, Hard Winter of Life (Simile)
When he is describing the changes that his peers underwent as they entered adolescence, Baldwin makes use of a simile to illustrate his male friends' attitudes. He writes that he sensed a kind of despair in them, "as though they were now settling in for the long, hard winter of life." This simile adds color to Baldwin's description of this period in their lives. Their despair was so deep that it seemed as though they were facing down not just a human life, but an endless, "long, hard winter" that represented their entire lives.
White world (Metaphor)
Baldwin uses the metaphor of color difference to clarify just how separate and limited black people were because of their race. For example, he writes, "this world is white and they are black." By referring to the world as "white," he means that it is dominated by white people. But it also functions as a metaphor for the ways in which black people necessarily feel out of place: if their world is white and they are black, then of course they will feel alienated and unwelcome wherever they go, as if they don't belong in the world. This is a particularly important metaphor for illustrating just how different are the respective situations of whites and blacks in America.
Crumbelling Fortress (Metaphor)
Baldwin refers to the "crumbling of my faith, the pulverization of my fortress" when describing his process of turning away from Christianity. This metaphor illustrates how severe his loss of faith was, and how monumental it seemed to him at the time. For Baldwin, the metaphor of the "fortress" refers to the ways in which his Christian faith functioned as a pillar of strength and a protective force for him. He originally turned to Christianity out of a sense of desperation, because he felt he had no alternatives if he was to avoid a life of crime. In this sense, Christianity helped to protect him from vice and violence. However, as he turned away from its tenants, he felt as though this fortress was being "pulverized," or violently destroyed, by the many ways in which he discovered it to be flawed.
