James Baldwin, Going to Meet the Man

Patrick Chura (University of Akron)

Ed. by Patrick Chura, University of Akron
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.5: African American Writing and Culture of the United States.
Vol. editors: Philathia Bolton (University of Akron), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), A Yemisi Jimoh (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1965

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Story Collection

Resources

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James Baldwin’s 1965 short story “Going to Meet the Man” explores the complex race-sex obsessions of Southern society during a historical moment when its caste-based power was severely challenged by civil rights activism. The central character, Jesse, is an Alabama deputy sheriff who defends the white supremacist order that has shaped his identity and worldview. Although the reader is asked to understand how the story’s anti-hero had been damaged by witnessing a gruesome lynching at the age of eight, Baldwin does not invite sympathy for the character (Miller 100). Rather, through Jesse, Baldwin probes the psychology of racist oppression to expose primal fears and urges that have determined U.S. social history.

The narrative begins late at night in Jesse’s bedroom, where the

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2586 words

Citation: Chura, Patrick. "Going to Meet the Man". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 April 2020 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4915, accessed 19 April 2024.]

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