The Fire Next Time
Kiley, Kiana, Taylor, and Drew
Main Arguments
- Religion: One of the problems that Baldwin brings up is the way people use religion to gain fortune. He mentions that the poor donate what they have in hopes of improving things but those who have the money just take it for their own gain.
- Racial Discrimination: Baldwin makes the argument that both races don't see each other equally and are continuously battling to belittle the other race.
- American Society: The argument that is made is that America is so set on the way the think and they don't care to change that way of thought. This shown by the blaming between the two races, in that they accuse one another for the problems in america.
Media Connection
This video is an example of a current problem that Baldwin brought up throughout the text, which was the unfair treatment between the two races.
A Shocking Case of Racial Discrimination in a Hospital
Rhetorical Devices
- metaphor: Elijah refers to white people as "devils" (p. 67) which deeply reflects the views that he and others had towards white people because of the oppression that they faced.
- allusion: The author refers to the Bible on page 36 when he writes "I knew that according to many Christians, I was a descendant of Ham, who had been cursed, and that I was therefore predestined to be a slave." By including a reference to the Bible he is able to attempt to give a different perspective on the racial issue. He is implying that Christians believe slavery is justified by the Bible.
- Idiom: On page 23, the author writes, "white people, who had robbed black people of their liberty and who had profited by this theft every hour that they had lived...". In this quote from the book he describes that white people literally rob blacks of their rights but in reality there is no real theft going on but rather discrimination. In this way the author figuratively says that their is theft going on.