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Sarah Reyner
September 25, 2012
English 102
Chris Brunt
Baldwins Glimpse at the Big Picture

Thought-provoking powerful messages, ones that encourage the reader to physically do

something about a specific cause, may not always be simply stated. Many authors vomit

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depressing statistics, point judgmental fingers, or embody the role of a motivational preacher to
get their points across. Authors like James Baldwin take an alternative approach and disguise the
true meaning of their passage so that it is rooted deep within the text; the reader has to actually
engage a thought process to understand what the text is attempting to express. In his essay Fifth
Avenue, Uptown: A Letter from Harlem, James Baldwin provides a powerful message in a
perplexing and unorthodox manner. His use of imagery paints a portrait of the project of
Harlem, the place that composed his childhood memories. The words that he meticulously
deploys provide multidimensional meanings as they construe ordinary statements into profound
allegations, and the complexity and symbolism he assigns to each of the characters ensures the
readers multidimensional view. His use of each of these tactics enable him to enlighten the
readers of the suffering faced on the Harlem streets as well as open their eyes to see the big
picture: What we, this nation, have become, (49).
Baldwin begins his essay with a detailed description of the distraught and forlorn
community in which he grew up. He notes several assortments of people that inhabit the area and
expresses how the everyday hardships of Harlem have taken a toll on them physically and
mentally. He describes people that have given up, people who live off of their loved ones and
inhabit the asylum of their couch as they waste their lives away in front of the TV, as TV-ing it.
(43) Baldwins own recollections are used to describe the construction of Riverton, Harlems
first private project,(46) as he provides an account of the animosity and hostility the locals felt
as a result of its establishment. As the argument progresses, so does the level of frustration,
especially as he concludes the essay with comparisons of the North and the Souths treatment of
African Americans. This argument serves as a prerequisite for his final point: Walk through the
streets of Harlem and see what we, this nation, have become, (49). The down trodden and

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gloomy town in which he describes serves as a symbol of the barbarism and callousness that the
black population of this country endured.
Baldwin uses language as a medium to paint vivid portraits of the settings he creates as
he recalls the injustices that face his Harlem. He invites the reader into his world of the mid1900s where persecution of minorities was evident by the way they were forced to live as a
separate entity from the white population. The images he produces form a sense of realness, this
depressing story that has been harped to us since elementary school history class becomes an
actual reality. The disparity present in our nations slums is a widely recognized issue, yet it
public opinion remains indifferent. Through direct and indirect means Baldwin brings ghetto
civilian struggles to light as he provides the reader with visualizes of elaborate scenarios of his
experiences in slum life. As he describes the two proprietors, the struggle of hardworking
elderly men that have been worn by years of isolation and calamity, he discreetly lays a blanket
of guilt and empathy over the readers conscience. Baldwin additionally uses abstract means of
description throughout his entire text as a tactical method of portrayal. His warning of the
badge, the gun in holster, and the swinging club(46) as symbols of police brutality and
association of the struggles of the project as being the fishhooks, barbed wire, of this avenue,
(42) serve as ingenious ways to associate random object to a common idea. Agonizing visuals of
swinging clubs and barbed wire sputter sharp, gruesome images as each item connotes pain.
Baldwins choice of words all serve an exact purpose within the essay. Words that do not
seem to belong are usually the most meaningful for deciphering Baldwins exact intentions.
Baldwin warns of the punishment that local police will enforce if the black population should
become overt.(46) Overt, the exact purpose of this word is mind-boggling and befuddling
itself. Formally defined it means "open to view or knowledge; not concealed or secret,in other

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words, hidden. Baldwin does not choose rebellious, defiant, or resistant, which would be the
obvious justification for police action, just overt. The hidden idea behind this simple word
becomes apparent when looking at the big picture and significance of the projects themselves: if
the black population is not hidden in their secluded mass of filth, they will be punished. The
power that this single word is able provide displays a sense of disparity and even frustration
within Baldwins writing. This minuscule, two-syllable word in the ocean of an entire essay
portrays the way Baldwins cognizant word choices can make a simple sentence a vivacious and
poignant masterpiece.
Baldwin does not always tip-toe around his arguments in a discrete or abstract manner.
Occasionally his frustrations are unashamedly announced in a crafty and assertive claim. These
statements are what fuel the readers emotional responses. Baldwin makes one of the most
riveting claims as he describes the slum that haunts the dead-end of his childhood street as
wide, filthy, facing that project which hangs over the avenue like a monument to folly, and the
cowardice, of good intentions. (42) The imagery of the slum hanging over his avenue relates
the reader to his sense of desperation. His childhood community becomes imprisoned by the
weight of the project. The readers preconceived definition of a ghetto, the common visual of a
wide, filthy distraught community, transforms into a portrait of dark shadows blanketing a
fond memory. Even though he condemns the projects, the power of this statement resides in his
personified description of the projects as shackles placed on his community. Baldwin does not
simply reveal his attitudes to the reader on a silver platter. He encourages deeper thought with
precise selection of wording, placing the reader temporarily in his shoes, as an inhabitant of the
slums.

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Baldwins essay allows the reader to see every dimension of his story as he provides a
big picture scenario. Instead of serving as a judge for all that have traumatized Harlem,
Baldwin provides the reader with complex descriptions of the characters. His esoteric opinion of
each allows the reader to see the story in a real and analytical sense, without any previously
supplied judgement. The police of Harlem exemplify Baldwins fairness. As a representation of
pain provokers and punishment suppliers, the police are empathized with by Baldwin as he
argues [they] too, believe in good intentions and [are] astounded and offended when they are
not taken for the deed (47). Yes, he believes that their force behaves like enemies to his people,
but he additionally reaches out by expressing understanding.
In his essay Fifth Avenue, Uptown: A Letter from Harlem, Baldwin entices the reader
to wake up and take a step back to see what this nation represents in regard to persecution of the
countrys black population. By using the setting of Harlem, his hometown, he provides specific
accounts of hardships that occur within the community, while acknowledging that this town
represents the nation as a whole. His use of emotion-provoking images, his fastidious and
specific choice of words that enhance the power of his message, and the complexity he assigns to
each of his characters serve as useful tactics to depict the hostility that engulfs his home
community. This small-scale representation of the massive epidemic of prejudice encourages the
reader to step back and evaluate the morals and ideas that we as a nation hold and supports the
reevaluation of these objectives. Baldwin does not ask the reader to take action, nor does he
condemn the guilty parties; he simply serves as the narrator of his own story, in hopes of
revealing a stubborn and neglected truth.