How Beloved Solves the Baldwin vs Howe Problem
Throughout this class, we've discussed what makes a protest novel and what doesn't. In doing so, we read James Baldwin's critique of Native Son and Irving Howe's critique of Invisible Man . Among James Baldwin's problems with Native Son, a major problem he has is that Wright made his book too much like a pamphlet, suggesting that protest literature must have a strong message that overpowers the dimensionality of the characters and the quality of the prose. Howe's problem with Invisible Man (though likely a racist one) is that it does not have enough of a message. Howe seems to suggest that Invisible Man doesn't do what a Black author is supposed to do: make a protest novel that comes from a place of rage. Instead, Ellison created a more thoroughly developed character because he wasn't only shaped by his surroundings. The problem these two books seem to highlight is achieving a balance between good writing and a strong message. While not all lite