Tender Is The Night By F. Scott Fitzgerald

The events in the novel play out in the fictional town of West Egg in 1922. The Roaring Twenties, or the Jazz Age of America is portrayed by Fitzgerald. Social ferment, idealism, resistance to change, and decadence are dealt with in the novel. The novel sounds a warning to the believers of the ‘American Dream’.

Different books, despite different storylines, may still address similar themes. What similarities of themes did you find in your paired texts, and how are they obvious in the character's behaviour?

The Roaring Twenties were a time of leisure and parties. The media and events surrounding this time period greatly impacted the carefree, extravagant lifestyle. This era was one of the most dramatic and energetic times in American history. To many, the symbols of the roaring Twenties were F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, due to their tales of the young and the wealthy (Hanson 96). The Roaring Twenties influenced many literary works, throughout the 1920s such as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and This Side of Paradise.

As we know words have power ro move readers, make them sad, angry, ashamed, and disgusted. Writers write with the craving to stimulate readers’ emotions, and readers read to experience an affective charge. Yet, it seems emotion remains a subject that may often receive little attention within literature. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s romantically charged novel The great Gatsby is a good example of romantic literature. Fitzgerald novel linked America’s literary past and the romance of a nation struggling to re define itself in one character, Jay Gatsby. In an era of post-war disillusionment, severe gap in social classes and visionary idealism warped into materialism. Jay Gatsby as a romantic protagonist is a bold testimony to the Romanticism in American

The story “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin centers on the conflicting relationship between two brothers that is explored throughout various stages of their lives. Through the structured, melodic style used by Baldwin there are reoccurring themes of suffering, family, and home that are used to further convey the idea of two brothers who love each other, but don’t understand each other. Ultimately, the relationship between the two brothers is greatly strained due them being polar opposites, their lack of effective communication, and failure to truly hear one another rather than seeing. The characters do not have much in common beyond the blood that they share, thus making it difficult for a bond to form until the walls of judgement are torn

In James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” it is only when a brother loses his child that he realizes how easy it can be to lose his brother. The narrator’s little brother, Sonny, was left in his charge when their parents passed away. He neglects Sonny and leaves him to work through hard decisions on his own which leads to Sonny being picked up by the police for using and selling drugs. When the narrator’s daughter, Grace, passes he sees how suffering can affect people and reaches out to Sonny, who is fighting to make his way in the world through music. Baldwin shows us that you don’t have to see eye to eye on everything to accept that person.

In the short story “Sonny’s Blues”, by James Baldwin there is the notion or a reoccurring theme of a conflict between light and dark between the characters. The notion is carried throughout the story of two brothers finding their own lights and trying to work towards a greater life. In the late 50’s, after the Harlem Renaissance, adolescents are faced with drug sales everywhere and crime sprees around every corner, this is one example of the darkness in the story. Kids began to form bad habits that revolved around drugs and crime because it was what they became used to seeing in their everyday routine. Later on in life they would find themselves in unthinkable situations and not finding a way out. Sonny’s older brother, who is also the narrator of the story finds himself in disbelief because he finds out his brother is incarcerated because of a heroin addiction. Sonny wanted to be a famous pianist but thought that heroin would open his mind up and make his creative thought flow. By using his music, Sonny tries to make a better life for himself and attempts to return to the light after being in the dark for so long. The notion of light and dark reflects the character’s personalities and actions as they struggle to live in the ominous city of Harlem. The author expresses the human spirit throughout “Sonny’s Blues” to reveal how the characters and ordinary people find their own light within the darkness in which they live.

Everyone wants to be the hero of their own story—the knight in shining armor that saves the day. The infallibility each person seeks in their own narrative, however, exists only through rose-tinted lenses. James Baldwin, in “Sonny’s Blues,” denies the reader, the narrator, and Sonny the ability to romanticize the truth. As a result, the sympathy the reader feels for the characters is limited, and the narrative, characters, and emotional impact of “Sonny’s Blues” becomes much more real. Baldwin controls the sympathy the reader feels towards both Sonny and the narrator through both reminding, and in order to remind, the reader of their real, imperfect humanity.

In every individual, a host of socio-historical forces converge and influence the subject’s ideas. Consciously and unconsciously, the individual reflects the confluence of his or her history and culture. In “Sonny’s Blues”, a short story by James Baldwin, the dominant culture constricts the black individual. Subject to the explicit and latent biases of a racist society, the black population of “Sonny’s Blues” attempt to endure oppression and suffering and survive in an unforgiving land. However, they can thrive here with the hope and salvation provided by the communal center of African American culture: religion.

In 1920s, America undergoes a period of cultural and social revolution. After the shocks by the chaos and violence of WWI, with a burst of economy which brought unprecedented levels of prosperity to the country, the generation turned into a lifestyle of wild and extravagant. Both published in 1925, the time when the jazz age at it’s peak, “The great Gatsby” by Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald and “Soldier’s Home” by Ernest Hemingway depict the fragmentation of the soared society by narrating the experience of characters.

With his literary gift Fitzgerald reminds the reader of a lesson still prevalent today- an innocent desire of success can be overcome by greed. As seen during the roaring twenties materialism undoubtedly has the ability to overcome the original ideals of hope , ambition, and opportunity that drive the American Dream. This character demise serves a greater purpose than a dramatic personal story of boy who loses his direction but rather an understanding of the lives of many American families who had it all in the roaring 20's only to lose the "American Dream" in the Great Depression. This unattainable nature of the American dream lives on in modern times, families still confuse wealth and power for happiness and peace of mind. The novels great success is due to Fitzgerald's remarkable ability to write a novel about a theme that is so reoccurring in society.

By the early 1920s, America had recovered from the devastating consequences of World War I and developed into a prominent nation. The Roaring Twenties were distinguished by a distinct breakage from the societal norms of the preceding generations. Originating in New Orleans, jazz music and dance became popular during this period and encompassed the social revolution that America was undergoing, which was apparent through the women’s rights movement, openness to sexuality, and bolder attire. Also at this time, new technology such as the telephone and the automobile became widespread.

Discovering a Stolen Identity: Milkman’s Attempt to Find what was Stripped from his Enslaved Ancestors in Song of Solomon

Roughing it was written by Mark Twain. This book is a journal of Mark Twain and his brother's trip to Carson City, Nevada. They went because Mark Twain's brother had a job as the Secretary of Nevada. This book, journal, started when they were leaving to go to Carson City; and ended when Mark Twain decided to move to New York instead of living in San Francisco or any part of the wild west.

People need to stand up and show courage when they are being bullied. The theme of Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry By Mildred Taylor is when Stacey shows courage in many different ways by helping T.J. by staying behind in the bushes when T.J. took the pearl handled pistol and R.W. and Melvin snitched on him. Another act of courage Stacey showed is when he had to hold Jack back, which is when the Wallace's tried to shoot Papa, and the gunfire startled Jack and Stacey couldn’t hold him back anymore, then Stacey ended up blaming himself. Stacey’s actions showed that he was the type of person that loved his family and always wanted to help others. Are you willing to stay behind risking your life for someone else?