The historical context of The Fire Next Time shapes the reader's understanding of the text because it shows how detailed the author is about what he is talking about in his stories and how passionate he is when it comes to them. It opens the reader to the harsh world of a black boy becoming a man in the slums of the poor city and all the problems a black man faces. This book does more for the reader than any other publication on black life in poor cities in terms of visibility for the reader. The reason he has this ability is the way James Baldwin wrote him. He was able to express himself in the form of an essay with a storytelling technique. Together, these two techniques combine to form a collection of essays on what darkness means. According to Baldwin, being black is immutable. That's a burden for a young person to carry. To be black is to be destined for a particular life, a life with several disappointing outcomes. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayThe first part of his book portrays this idea perfectly. “You were born where you were born and you faced the future you faced because you were black and for no other reason.” This shows that Baldwin believes that being black means being stuck in a no-exit kind of life. This way of life is also brutal. Baldwin cites many examples of this in the various essays you have read. One line he writes hits you in the chest and makes you step away from the book and think for a second. “You are born into a society where it has been stated with brutal clarity, and in every possible way, that you are a worthless human being.” For a man, writing this about his race really makes you understand what he is feeling and the power with which he feels it. Baldwin begins to describe fear as ignorance. Baldwin joined the church because of his fear. He was afraid to be around his friends who started drinking and smoking. To avoid these things, Baldwin began a church boy lifestyle because he "supposed that God and security were the best path in life." he was still treated as badly as any other black individual. However, because of Baldwin's love for his church, he reads the Bible, only to realize that he was strictly learning the teachings of white people. He thought going to church would protect him and protect him from what he feared. Instead of freeing the community from discrimination between blacks and whites, the Bible upheld racial barriers by teaching how to behave toward another race. Realizing the hypocrisy involved in Christianity, James Baldwin broke away from the church of Congress, to seek his own way to make society greater. Baldwin emphasizes that liberation is love and that "love is more important than color." James Baldwin says that fear creates the need for power, which is true because you want to have more influence over someone you fear, so you're not even in a bad position. The Nation of Islam feared that whites had more control over blacks. Fear has always dominated the minds of white people, which is why they tried to enslave us and kill us. This fear led Elijah to fight for the power to liberate the community so that his children and teenagers would not be beaten and killed as much as is happening now. The Nation of Islam wanted absolute control of white society. Baldwin had the opportunity to become an influential figure in the Nation of Islam movement. He rejected Elijah Muhammed's offer. James Baldwin rejected this offer because he doesn't like what this offer represented. Baldwin says, “Love takes away the masks we fear without"..