Land (Symbol)
Land functions as a symbol of power throughout the text. Baldwin often refers to the poverty of his Harlem neighborhood, where geography could hold so many people back from their aspirations; because they were physically limited by their neighborhoods, Baldwin and many of his friends were limited to a life of crime, entertainment, or religion. Later, land comes back as a more explicit symbol of power when Baldwin describes the beliefs of the Nation of Islam Movement. Elijah Muhammad and his followers believed that land was so important, it was necessary for African Americans to break apart from America and form their own country with their own land if they ever wanted to gain real power. Land functions as a symbol for black people's oppression, and their possible salvation. If only then could carve out their own land, Elijah Muhammad believes they could claim their own power.
Fire (Motif)
Fire appears throughout the book as an important motif. It first appears when Baldwin is discussing his friends' transition to adulthood. He notes that his sexual experiments were "at once as chill and joyless as the Russian steppes and hotter, by far, than all the fires of Hell." In this sentence, fire appears as something forbidden, passionate, and sinful. Later, he refers to the black man's need to "snatch his manhood, his identity, out of the fire of human cruelty." Here, fire appears once again as a motif associated with violence and sin; it comes up in reference to cruelty, rather than youthful passion. In the book's conclusion, Baldwin includes the quotation that inspired the title for this entire text: "God gave Noah the rainbow sign, No more water, the fire next time!" In this instance, fire is a symbol for vengeance. If white people cannot embrace love and beauty by accepting and learning from black people, then black people will turn to vengeance, or "fire," as opposed to peaceful methods, or "water."
Love (Motif)
Love is another main motif in the text. Baldwin first refers to it in his letter to his nephew. He brings up the importance of love by explaining that James' parents chose to show him only love, even though they also felt overwhelming fear. He advises James to extend love to white people, who are to be pitied because they do not know the extent of their crimes. Later, Baldwin also refers to love when discussing the ways in which he disagrees with the philosophy of the Nation of Islam Movement. He cannot subscribe to Elijah Muhammad's beliefs because he sees them as lacking in this love that he values so highly. At the end of the letter, Baldwin again refers to the ways in which he believes love can be used to change the perspective of white people and resolve many of the racial tensions in America. Overall, love functions as a motif that ties the text together thematically.
Church (Symbol)
The church functions as a prominent symbol in Baldwin's second essay. He first describes the church as an institution that drew him in as a fourteen-year-old who was seeking purpose and a means of escape from his circumstances. As such, the church symbolized acceptance and love; for example, the pastor who convinced him to join asked him whose child he was, to which Baldwin felt himself emotionally drawn to answer, "yours!" Later, the church comes to symbolize a dangerous kind of escapism. Baldwin comes to recognize that it perpetuates many norms of white superiority. It assumes the existence of a white God who looks down on black people. In this way, it symbolizes the institutionalization and pervasiveness of white supremacy in America. At different points in his life, the church functions as a different kind of symbol for Baldwin.
Gun (Symbol)
The gun appears as a less frequent but still important symbol in the text. Baldwin primarily references this symbol when describing how many of his friends turned to violence and intimidation as a solution to their persecution by white people in America. For them, the gun was a symbol of power; white policemen often turned their guns on defenseless black boys, rendering guns a symbol of violence and domination. Thus, when these same black boys were able to acquire their own guns, they gained not only the capacity for violence, but also a symbolic measure of power.
