2. Title of the proposed Ph. D thesis
“The Study of James Baldwin’s Four Select
Novels “Go Tell it on the Mountain”, “Another
Country”, “Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been
Gone” and “If Beale Street could Talk”
Researcher
Borse Ravindra Ramdas
Dept. of English, B.P.Arts,S.M.A.Sci.& K.K.C.Com.College, Chalisgaon
Research Guide
Prof.Dr.S.D.Mahajan
Head, Dept. of English, N.Y.N.C.College, Chalisgaon
3. Human Rights
Article of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights(UDHR)
comments –
– “All humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed
with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of
brotherhood.”
– Human rights can be defined as –
“the fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply
because she of he is a human being”
– The motto of human rights is “All human, rights for all” and “the world is one
family”
– Human rights are a legitimate concern of the international family.
– The pioneers of this ideology are Thomas Aquinas, Immanueal Kant, John Locke
and Hobbe.
– The following freedoms fall under the human rights are –
1. Freedom from discrimination – by gender, race, color, national origin or religion.
2. Freedom to enjoy a decent standard of living.
3. Freedom to develop and realize one’s human potential.
4. Freedom from fear of threats to personal security, from torture, arbitrary arrest
and other violent acts.
5. Freedom from injustice and violations of the rule of law.
6. Freedom of thought and speech and to participate in decision making and form
associations.
7. Freedom for decent work without exploitation .
4. James Baldwin was born on August 2, 1924 at Harlem in U.S.A..
He is one of the most important American writers of the post-war period.
He wrote five novels “Go Tell it on the Mountain”(1953), “Giovanni’s
Room”(1956), “Another Country”(1962), “Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been
Gone”(1968) and “If Beale Street Could Talk”(1974).
Baldwin wrote two plays “The Amen Corner” and “Blues for Mister Charlie”.
He wrote a short story collection “Going to Meet the Man” and a poetry collection
“Jimmy Blues”.
Baldwin’s essay collections are “Notes of a Native Son”, “The Fire Next Time”, “No
Name in the Street”, “The Devil Finds Work” and “The Price of the Ticket”.
Baldwin’s writing shows the black man’s fate and an effort to explore ways and
means by which his predicament can be resolved.
The novels exhibit the predicament of the Black in the white dominated America.
Baldwin himself had faced the humiliations being a Black and all his novels have
their roots in racial discrimination and injustice.
Introduction to the Author
5. To examine the nature, scope and development of human rights.
To examine the development of Afro-American novel.
To investigate the violation of human rights by the white Americans in Baldwin’s novels..
To examine the patterns of protest by the Blacks in Baldwin’s novels.
To investigate how the Blacks assert their identity in Baldwin’s novels.
To justify the need of mutual understanding and the human values like unity, equality and
brotherhood.
To investigate if there is possibility of inter racial co-existence.
Objectives
6. Human rights exist to protect the basic dignity of human life.
The Black are exploited by the White Americans.
The Black are not granted the basic human rights like freedom, equality, brotherhood and j
Justice.
The Black protest against the White American’s discrimination regarding race, gender and
color.
The Blacks try to assert their identity in the American society.
Hypotheses
7. Significance of the Study
Blacks in America are treated as marginalized sections.
They are oppressed, humiliated and victimized by the white Americans.
Baldwin’s novels point out the violation of human rights to the African –American
Negros on the ground of race, gender and class in the American society.
The essential human rights like equality, liberty, fraternity and education are
denied to the Black.
The Black should be granted all the human rights like the whites as all are the
creatures of God.
The study would highlight the violation of human rights in the case of the blacks in
white America in the interest of humanity.
The present study acquires a greater significance in the era of globalization and
multiculturalism. The sociological theory of multiculturalism advocates the peaceful
co-existence of people with different religions, races, languages, castes and
countries.
8. Scope and Limitations of the Study
James Baldwin has written five novels in total. The novel
“Giovanni’s Room” does not exhibit the element of discrimination
strikingly. Hence, this novel has been excluded from the present
study.
The scope of the present study will be limited to the following four
select novels –
1. “Go Tell it on the Mountain”
2. “Another Country”
3. “Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone”
4. “If Beale street Could Talk”
These select novels will be studied only from the point of view of
human rights.
9. The researcher will use the descriptive and analytical method for the study proposed.
The proposed thesis will be divided into six chapters. The tentative outline of the six
Chapters is as follows -
Methodology
10. This chapter will be informative in nature. It will have two sections- A and B.
The section A will deal with the definition, growth and development of human
rights. The section B will discuss the background, the growth and the
development of the Afro-American novel in general and the novels by James
Baldwin in particular.
Chapter 1
Introduction
11. This chapter will deal with Baldwin’s first novel “Go Tell it on the Mountain” and
the human rights with a view to bring out the violation of human rights to the
Blacks.
The present novel presents diverse dimensions of a Negro boy John’s
experience of growing up in hostile conditions in the white America.
Baldwin depicts the effects of systematic racism that is the second and third
generation result of the era of American slavery that took place from the period of
colonization through the American Civil War.
The three parts of the present novel “The Seventh Day”, “The Prayers of the
Saints” and “The Threshing Floor” present the racial discrimination faced not only
by the hero John but also by other characters.
Chapter 2
Go Tell it on the Mountain
12. This chapter discusses the second novel of Baldwin “Another Country”.
The present novel highlights the negro protagonist- Rufus’ problem of existence
in the white dominated America.
Rage and anger against racial prejudice of whites is seen in the depiction of
Rufus, a black Jazz drummer and after his death through his sister Ida.
The Black Rufus punishes his white girlfriend Leona making her insane as a
revenge against the white exploitation.
Very soon he suffers from guilty feeling and commits suicide.
The color hatred is carried forward by his sister Ida towards his white boyfriend
Viovaldo.
Like her dead brother, she too realizes the futility of color hatred and finally
reconciles with Vivaldo.
The novel explores the possibility of an amicable relationship between whites
and blacks.
Chapter 3
“Another Country”
13. This chapter will investigate the novel “Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been
Gone”
The present novel has a black protagonist Leo who is a famous stage actor.
He suffers a heart attack on the stage.
He has a white girlfriend Barbara.
The earlier part of the novel deals with Leo’s love ship with Barbara.
The remaining part of the novel shows Leo’s exposure to racial problems
introduced to him through a black character Christopher.
The novel highlights Leo’s life as a struggle of a blackman and a black artist in
particular for search of some meaning in the white world.
Finally, Leo recovers from the heart attack and returns to the stage.
Chapter 4
Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone
14. This chapter is about the novel “If Beale Street Could Talk” and human
rights with a view to show how the black suffer in the white America.
The protagonist of the present novel Alonzo Hunny nicknamed Fonny is a
black sculptor who takes pride in making sculptures for the black and his
sculptures are symbolic of the entire black creativity.
The black Fonny has a black girlfriend Tish belong to the Harlem.
The innocent Fonny is accused of raping a white woman Victoria Rogers.
A racist police officer Mr. Bell tries to harass the black hero Fonny.
The black couple fights against the racist white mentality and finally wins.
The protagonist’s struggle to get out of prison for a fake crime is not only his
personal struggle but a struggle of the entire black community for freedom.
Chapter 5
“If Beale Street Could Talk
15. The Sixth and the final chapter will explicate the conclusions drawn from the
analysis.
It will make an attempt to show how the Black are treated as marginalized
sections due to the age old customs and discrimination regarding race, gender
and sex.
An attempt will be made in this chapter to suggest some solutions to the
problems that are discussed in the earlier chapters.
The present chapter will also point out the possibilities of the further research in
this area.
Chapter 5
Conclusion
