Audre Lorde’s Litany for Survival and James Baldwin’s Letter to my nephew fall into different literature categories. The first work is a poem and the second is an article written in the form of a letter. But these writings have several similarities.
First, both works were created by African-American writers. They also address the same topic of marginalization and people’s reaction to this process. Authors made similar comments about the anxiety caused by the destruction of usual environment. “When the sun sets we are afraid it might not rise in the morning” (Lorde, n. d. l. 27-28). And Baldwin made the similar comparison in his lines “try to imagine how you would feel if you woke up one morning to find the sun shivering and all the stars aflame” (2014). In other words, both authors said the society was shocked because of changes happened in it.
In spite of similar topic, writers demonstrated slightly different points of view. Baldwin wrote from the perspective of African-American people. He mentioned changes will be difficult for white people, but his nephew should understand and accept their possible reaction, because they are innocent and just “trapped in a history which they do not understand” (Baldwin, 2014). Lorde should write from African-American point of view too under that logic. However, her poem creates a contradictory image. The third stanza is aligned with Baldwin’s opinion about white people’s view of the situation. While Lorde’s poem should describe African-Americans’ feelings, some of its lines can be treated as white people’s worries. Even the line from the last stanza “So it is better to speak” (Lorde, n. d. l. 42) falls into the pattern. It is impossible to understand Baldwin’s article in the same way. While the Letter calls addressee for tolerance, the Litany says it is better to argue about feelings caused by social changes.
Reference List
Baldwin, J. (2014). Letter to my nephew. The Progressive. Retrieved from http://www.progressive.org/news/2014/12/5047/letter-my-nephew
Lorde, A. (n. d.). Litany for Survival. Retrieved from http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-litany-for-survival/
