Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin
"Going to Meet the Man" by James Baldwin is a powerful short story that explores the psychological turmoil of Jesse, a white deputy sheriff in the racially charged South. The narrative is divided into two distinct parts, beginning with Jesse's insomnia and impotence, reflecting his deep-seated anxieties about the changing social landscape marked by the civil rights movement and the escalating protests from African Americans. In his troubled thoughts, Jesse grapples with his role in a society that is beginning to confront its racist past, culminating in violent acts against black individuals to maintain his sense of control and power.
As the story progresses, Baldwin delves into Jesse's traumatic memories of witnessing a brutal lynching as a child, an event that profoundly influences his psyche and identity. This recollection intertwines feelings of excitement, fear, and guilt, revealing how his sense of manhood is tied to violence and domination over black bodies. The poignant themes of racial hatred, guilt, and the legacy of brutality pervade the narrative, illustrating how personal and societal histories interconnect. Ultimately, Baldwin's exploration of Jesse's character offers a critical examination of the complexities of race relations and the psychological scars left by systemic racism, inviting readers to reflect on the ongoing implications of these issues.
On this Page
Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin
First published: 1965
Type of plot: Psychological
Time of work: The early 1960's
Locale: A town in the American South
Principal Characters:
Jesse , a white deputy sheriffGrace , his wifeJesse's father and mother , who teach him to be a racistA black Civil rights leader , who challenges racism in the South
The Story
"Going to Meet the Man" divides clearly and purposefully into two parts. In the first half, the main character, Jesse, a white deputy sheriff in a southern town, lies in bed with his wife, Grace, for the first time in memory suffering from insomnia and impotence. James Baldwin catches Jesse on this night at a moment of crisis, which he shares with other white males: The Old South is now history, the blacks are protesting en masse by registering to vote, and a new South that Jesse cannot conceive is about to be born. That he cannot accept what is happening is clear from hints about what he, as deputy sheriff, will be doing the next day to break up the registration. However, his resistance is much more evident in his paranoid reflections about African Americans; what he would like to do is escape from the black world altogether.
Jesse describes to Grace (who is, however, probably sleeping) an incident that took place earlier in the day at the courthouse. To stop the blacks from singing, the sheriff arrested "the ring-leader" and began to beat him senseless. Jesse continued the brutality at the jail, but before falling unconscious, the young black leader reminded him of an incident in their past when he, as a little boy, had defied this white man for showing disrespect toward his grandmother. The memory raises Jesse's antagonism to an even higher pitch; he wishes to exterminate the black race. He and his fellow whites in the South are "soldiers," "out-numbered, fighting to save the civilized world." However, as Baldwin comments, they cannot succeed in organizing because they are, in fact, "accomplices in a crime." This note of guilt, which actually lies behind Jesse's paranoia, ushers in the second half of the story.
One of the black spirituals, like those that have haunted him all day, comes "flying up at him" from "out of the darkness . . . out of nowhere." It brings with it both fear and pleasure, and a memory out of his childhood. This flashback, which continues until the last paragraph of the story, is the pivotal event in Jesse's life. It begins on another evening when he is unable to sleep. A black man accused of raping a white woman is fleeing the vengeance of the white community and by morning has been caught. The child has no awareness of the situation; he only senses the excitement. His parents tell him that they are going on a picnic. What he actually witnesses is the castration, burning, and mutilation of the captured black man. As Jesse observes the festive occasion, the sensual fascination, and the strange beauty on his mother's face, he himself experiences the greatest joy of his life and an uncommon love for this father who had "carried him through a mighty test, had revealed to him a great secret which would be the key to his life forever."
Indeed, it is. His psychic life is henceforth warped. the sadistic memory transforms him, as well as his wife: "the moonlight covered her like glory," and "his nature again returned to him." His sexual potency, his identity as a man, is inextricably linked to brutality, to the projection of his own guilt on the black man as a scapegoat. However, curiously, and symbolically, he becomes the "nigger" raping his own wife. The last sounds that he hears as the story ends, the cock, the dogs, and "tires on the gravel road," only suggest that he may at last realize his guilt and suffering.
Bibliography
Fabré, Michel. "James Baldwin in Paris: Love and Self-Discovery." In From Harlem to Paris: Black American Writers in France, 1840-1980. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1991.
Hardy, Clarence E. James Baldwin's God: Sex, Hope, and Crisis in Black Holiness Culture. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2003.
Kinnamon, Keneth, comp. James Baldwin: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1974.
Leeming, David. James Baldwin: A Biography. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994.
Miller, D. Quentin, ed. Re-viewing James Baldwin: Things Not Seen. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2000.
O'Daniel, Therman B., ed. James Baldwin: A Critical Evaluation. Washington, D.C.: Howard University Press, 1981.
Porter, Horace A. Stealing the Fire: The Art and Protest of James Baldwin. Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1989.
Standley, Fred L., and Nancy V. Burt, eds. Critical Essays on James Baldwin. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1988.
Sylvander, Carolyn Wedin. James Baldwin. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1980.
Tomlinson, Robert. "'Payin' One's Dues': Expatriation as Personal Experience and Paradigm in the Works of James Baldwin." African American Review 33 (Spring, 1999): 135-148.
Troupe, Quincy, ed. James Baldwin: The Legacy. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989.
Weatherby, W. J. James Baldwin: Artist on Fire. New York: Donald I. Fine, 1989.