Notes of a Native Son

Detailed Summary & Analysis

Preface to the 1984 Edition Autobiographical Notes Everybody’s Protest Novel Many Thousands Gone Carmen Jones: The Dark is Light Enough The Harlem Ghetto Journey to Atlanta Notes of a Native Son Encounter on the Seine: Black Meets Brown A Question of Identity Equal in Paris Stranger in the Village

Themes

All Themes Inheritance, Tradition, and Belonging Language, Narrative, and Truth Progress vs. Stagnation Prejudice, Dishonesty, and Delusion Intimacy vs. Hatred

Quotes

Characters

All Characters James Baldwin David Baldwin Sr. (Baldwin’s Father) David Baldwin Jr. American Tourist

Symbols

All Symbols The Church Paris

Upgrade to LitCharts A⁺

Instant downloads of all 1157 LitChart PDFs (including Notes of a Native Son).

LitCharts Teacher Editions. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does.

Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts.

The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of every Shakespeare play.

LitCharts From the creators of SparkNotes, something better.

Shakespeare Translations

Notes of a Native Son

James Baldwin

Upgrade to A⁺

Download this LitChart! (PDF)

Introduction

Plot Summary

Detailed Summary
& Analysis

Preface to the 1984 Edition
Autobiographical Notes
Everybody’s Protest Novel
Many Thousands Gone
Carmen Jones: The Dark is Light Enough
The Harlem Ghetto
Journey to Atlanta
Notes of a Native Son
Encounter on the Seine: Black Meets Brown
A Question of Identity
Equal in Paris
Stranger in the Village

Themes

All Themes
Inheritance, Tradition, and Belonging
Language, Narrative, and Truth
Progress vs. Stagnation
Prejudice, Dishonesty, and Delusion
Intimacy vs. Hatred

Quotes

Characters

All Characters
James Baldwin
David Baldwin Sr. (Baldwin’s Father)
David Baldwin Jr.
American Tourist

Symbols

All Symbols
The Church
Paris

Theme Wheel

Notes of a Native Son Study Guide

It's easy to cite LitCharts for use in academic papers and reports.

MLA

Seresin, Indiana. "Notes of a Native Son." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 6 Jun 2017. Web. 21 Nov 2019.

Chicago

Seresin, Indiana. "Notes of a Native Son." LitCharts LLC, June 6, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2019. https://www.litcharts.com/lit/notes-of-a-native-son.

Download this Chart (PDF)

The printed PDF version of the LitChart on Notes of a Native Son

“Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!”

Download!

Get the Teacher Edition

The Teacher Edition of the LitChart on Notes of a Native Son

“This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class.”

Get it!

Which guides should we add? Request one!

How can we improve? Tell us!

LitCharts is hiring.

Company

About Us Our Story Jobs

Connect

Help Contact Blog Facebook Twitter

Mobile Apps

iOS Android

Legal

Home About Story Contact Help

LitCharts is hiring!

Terms Privacy GDPR

LitCharts uses cookies to personalize our services. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Cookie Policy, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service.