Compare and Contrast of “Sonny’s Blues” and “Everyday Use” Essay

Because of human nature, every person alive will experience suffering. Suffering is unavoidable, undeniable, and a part of every person’s life. Suffering is often an idea explored in literature, and in the short story Sonny’s Blues, by James Baldwin, the narrator is faced with the darkness and suffering he has dealt with throughout his life, along with the struggles of dealing with his brother, Sonny. The narrator, in denial about the suffering he has become accustomed to in Harlem, can deny it no longer after the literal and metaphorical death of his daughter Grace, and only find salvation after listening to, and comprehending his brother Sonny's music. The darkness of Harlem has always brought suffering to it’s residents, and it is often

Music is more than just lyrics, it is seen as a way to express feelings. A simple song can be a combination of deeper meanings. This is seen in James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” when Sonny finally finds a way to express himself and his struggles of life. Sonny faces many struggles while living in Harlem such as poverty, being African American, and being confined in a community that is known for being the lower part of life. Within his struggles Sonny finds a love for music. This comes in handy when his relationship with his brother is` struggling. Music gives Sonny an opportunity to reconnect with his brother since he did not understand what he was going through and express his struggles. Although Sonny has many struggles throughout life, He’s

“Sonny’s Blues” is an emotional story written by an amazing author, James Baldwin, who has come to be one of my favorite writers. This particular piece talks about the troubles of African American freeing themselves from the mental bondages of their surroundings, the ghetto. The title is significant, and helped me to understand the underlining meaning of the story. The title can be divided into two main reasons, the first, “Sonny’s Blues, meaning the music he plays. Second is the reference to his life, his feelings, his style, and most importantly his way of life.

“Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, is a story of a black family composed of a mother and her two daughters: Maggie and Dee. Walker does an excellent job illustrating her characters. There are all types of characters in this short story from round to static. Dee is a flat character, yet Walker uses Dee’s character to warn people of what might happen if they do not live properly. Walker describes Dee’s character as arrogant and selfish, and through Dee’s character one is allowed to perceive the wicked effect of an egotistical world.

His little brother Sonny is always getting in trouble. He doesn’t go to school, he uses drugs, and he doesn’t do what he is told to do. That is because he does not like life, because the white people are so unfair. After a while and a lot of suffering, Sonny discovers something he is good at. He learns to play the piano, and he is able to do something creative and positive, be successful and have the people’s respect.

Sonny’s actions were highly influenced by his environment, whether it be the struggles of the streets, his relationship with his father or the dark side of being a blues musician in the 50s. The Narrator explains the lifeless environment he grew up in and the constant struggle of finding light in such a dark enviroment “God knows the people who live in it do their best to make it a parody. The beat-looking grass lying around isn't enough to make their lives green, the hedges will never hold out the streets, and they know it. The big windows fool no one, they aren't big enough to make space out of no space. They don't bother with the windows, they watch the TV screen instead. The playground is most popular with the children who don't play at jacks, or skip rope, or roller skate, or swing, and they can be found in it after dark” (255). One of the significant elements that the author writes about is darkness, he makes it clear about how harlem is a cloak of darkness, and unfortunately people do not know any other shade of life. Both brothers come from the same environment but they cope with their struggles in a different manners: “Thus, in the story of Sonny and his brother an intuition of the meaning of the Blues repairs the relationship between the two men who have chosen different ways to cope with the menacing ghetto environment, and their reconciliation through the medium of this AfroAmerican musical form extends the meaning of the individual's Blues until it becomes a metaphor of Black community” (Reilly 230). African Americans have pioneered many different genres of music that the american society can now claim as their own. What is often not appreciated or shown is the spiritual connection that they have with the music that they create. This sense of finding identity in the music is

The Harlem Renaissance was a time of revival and awakening in which the African American community produced a new form of cultural identity. After years of oppression and slavery, African Americans struggled to discover their own distinctive culture. It was through the literature and artistry of the Harlem Renaissance that the African American community began to express the suffering and resentment they truly experienced. In addition, the movement allowed them to find a way to escape their hardships. James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” and Langston Hughes’ “The Weary Blues” address the addiction, poverty, and violence that surrounded African Americans and the triumph of life that was captured in their attempt to escape the suffering.

The examination of black women's need to keep their powerful heritage and identity is important to the protagonist in “Everyday Use.” Walker uses the mother’s voice to show the trials and tribulations of a small African American family located in the South. She speaks on multiple levels, voicing the necessity and strength of being true to one's roots and past; that heritage is not just something to talk about, but to live and enjoy in order for someone to fully understand themselves. Unlike Kincaid, Walker gives her black female character’s an identity of their own, each in their own right, and observes the internal conflicts of each mother and daughters struggle with identity. The mother represents a simple content way of life where identity and heritage are valued for both its usefulness, as well as its personal significance. In order to illustrate how the mother viewed identity versus her daughters, Walker quickly acknowledges that the mother has inherited many customs and traditions from her ancestors. She describes herself as a large big-boned woman with rough man-working hands (485). She also describes here various abilities including, killing and cleaning a hog as mercilessly as a man. Being able to work hard and not care about being such a lady, is how the mother defines identity at this point. On the other hand, the two daughters each have opposing views on the value and worth of the different items

Fictional writing is generally done just to entertain readers. Some authors create stories with a singular point of view, while others introduce more complex plots and storylines. When it comes to author James Baldwin’s short story Sonny’s Blues, there is much depth given to the storyline and the characters. Sonny’s Blues has been analyzed by many different people throughout time because the story has many elements. From Baldwin’s skillful use of metaphors and similes to his incorporation of religious references, this story is insightfully and complexly written. A simple story about a man and his brother leaves readers with an inside look into family, drug addiction, socioeconomic struggles in the Black community, and the language of Jazz

In "Sonny's Blues" James Baldwin presents an intergenerational portrait of suffering and survival within the sphere of black community and family. The family dynamic in this story strongly impacts how characters respond to their own pain and that of their family members. Examining the central characters, Mama, the older brother, and Sonny, reveals that each assumes or acknowledges another's burden and pain in order to accept his or her own situation within an oppressive society. Through this sharing each character is able to achieve a more profound understanding of his own suffering and attain a sharper, if more precarious, notion of survival.

James Baldwin wrote “Sonny’s Blues” (1957) about two brothers who grew up in Harlem, a neighborhood in New York City known for its jazz and African American Heritage. “Sonny’s Blues” portrays Sonny and his brother, the narrator, growing up facing hardships and depicts how they react to each situation differently. Sonny, the main protagonist of the story grows up a quiet introspective person who, eventually, will become a jazz musician. Sonny has a heroin addiction that he actively is trying to battle, which is the reason he wanted to leave Harlem. James Baldwin’s mother left his father to drug abuse before moving to Harlem, NY. Growing up he was faced with lots of responsibilities and hardships, facing racial discrimination throughout school.

The title used by James Baldwin, Sonny’s Blues, according to John Reilley, can be interpreted in two ways (Reilly, 56). The first interpretation is the state of unhappiness and discontent amongst the Black community and the music played by Sonny, or rather his depression (blues).

James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues,” tells the tale of a young jazz musician by the name Sonny who gets caught up in the ghetto life and decides to abuse and sell heroin. The story is told by the narrator, a high school math teacher, who happens to be Sonny’s older brother. The two siblings have a somewhat cold relationship that is worsened by the suffering that both brothers have had to endure living in an impoverished area. By presenting events that transpired in the past and relating them to the present, the narrator allows the reader to create his or her own understanding of the two characters through the various themes and literary styles. “Sonny’s Blues” is not merely the story of the narrator’s experiences; it is the tale of his inner transformation and spiritual growth which his earlier experiences of death and loss have motivated.

“Sonny’s Blues,” which is an outstanding short story by James Baldwin, describes many obstacles in lifestyles and relationships of African-Americans in the influential time of post Harlem Renaissance and discrimination in the 1950s. In the end of the story, the nightclub setting is the most important and emotional turning point of the brotherhood between narrator and his young brother, Sonny. After many conflicts and arguments about their different ideals and lifestyles, Sonny tries to open his heart to let his brother understand him by inviting the narrator to come to his jazz music performance at a small nightclub in Greenwich Village. At this place, he meets friends of Sonny, acquaint himself with jazz music and tries to get into Sonny’s world. He carefully observes any changes of his brother on the stage. Sonny is nervous and has trouble in the beginning of the performance. However, Sonny quickly gets back on track. His music seems to touch everyone, including his brother, by its beauty and freedom. The narrator becomes proud of Sonny. Eventually, he recognizes his brother’s talent and understands that Sonny was born to be a real musician.

The short story “Sonny’s Blues” is about two African American brothers born and raise in the city of Harlem New York. The Narrator (not identified) and his brother Sonny were raise by their mother when a dramatic event happens in their lives leaving the two brother looking at life in two different point of views. Sonny’s Blues take place in the city of Harlem N.Y. during the 1950’s with the narrator reading about his brother Sonny in the newspaper. Be in mind in the 1950’s black community like Harlem didn’t have that much money. The city was rough and poor really wasn’t about nothing much except for gangs, drugs, and sex with very limited ways of getting out. Some people went off to the Military or Navy