37 pages 1 hour read

James Baldwin

The Amen Corner

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1954

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics.

Symbols & Motifs

Music

Baldwin uses music to symbolize the two different men in Margaret’s life: David and Luke. The very thing Margaret values most in David, his musical abilities, is the very thing she loathes in Luke and what eventually pushes David from her life.

Margaret prides herself on having a son that plays the piano so well in church. She makes an arbitrary distinction between David and Luke’s musicality. She is convinced that David’s relationship with music is something purer than Luke’s, imbued with God. She says, “You got a natural gift for music, David […] the Lord give it to you, you didn’t learn it in no school” (19). Margaret doesn’t see the seeds of him wanting to leave the church that are already there.

Music is the one thing that truly connects Luke and David after so many years apart. Margaret did her best to keep David away from Luke’s music and is stunned when she hears it coming from the phonograph. When she asks what it is, David replies, “It’s one of Daddy’s old records. That you never let me play” (56). This is not only a moment of defiance but also a reminder that Margaret kept Luke, and anything related to him, out of David’s life.

Related Titles

By James Baldwin

Study Guide

logo

Another Country

James Baldwin

Another Country

James Baldwin

Study Guide

logo

A Talk to Teachers

James Baldwin

A Talk to Teachers

James Baldwin

Plot Summary

logo

Blues for Mister Charlie

James Baldwin

Blues for Mister Charlie

James Baldwin

Study Guide

logo

Giovanni's Room

James Baldwin

Giovanni's Room

James Baldwin

Study Guide

logo

Going To Meet The Man

James Baldwin

Going To Meet The Man

James Baldwin

Study Guide

logo

I Am Not Your Negro

James Baldwin

I Am Not Your Negro

James Baldwin

Study Guide

logo

If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?

James Baldwin

If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?

James Baldwin

Study Guide

logo

Nobody Knows My Name

James Baldwin

Nobody Knows My Name: More Notes of a Native Son

James Baldwin

Study Guide

logo

No Name in the Street

James Baldwin

No Name in the Street

James Baldwin

Study Guide

logo

Notes of a Native Son

James Baldwin

Notes of a Native Son

James Baldwin

Study Guide

logo

Stranger in the Village

James Baldwin

Stranger in the Village

James Baldwin

Study Guide

logo

The Rockpile

James Baldwin

The Rockpile

James Baldwin