Your Blues Aint Like Mine Quotes

In James Baldwin's Sonny's Blues he deals with a man trying to find his identity in a very hostile society. The blues in this story is used in a more emotional manner which recollects the past. It also repairs the relationship between the two brothers who have chosen two different ways of coping in their ghetto environment. The blues also serves as a communication devise between the two brothers. Baldwin uses the blues to state a fact; the ugliness and meanness inherent in the human condition. In order to really understand the message of the blues you have to be one that has suffered just like Sonny and the elder brother. The blues that they play also communicates to other sufferers who have had their own trials, so they know what this music is all about. Sonny's suffering are within himself, but deep suffering is common to all his listeners. Even his brother can attune himself to this suffering, which is brought on by the death of his little daughter Grace. When the brother is at the club listening to the blues he recalls his mother, the moonlit road on

Lily starts off stuck living in an unloving, abusive household and decides to free herself from the negative atmosphere that she had been living in her whole life. Lily is perpetually abused by her father. He forces her to kneel on Martha White's, gets exasperated every time she speaks, and yells at her for no reason. Lily is not the only one noticing the terrible treatment, Rosaleen does too. Once after Lily had to kneel on the Martha White's Rosaleen said to her, “Look at you, child. Look what he’s done to you” (Kidd 25). Noticing the unloving treatment Lily gets, Rosaleen knew that their household was demoralizing place for Lily to be in, which is why she didn’t question when Lily when she later runs away. Lily one day realizes she needs to do something about her horrible life at home. While sitting in her room she hears a voice in her

In addition, after Lily’s liberation from T. Ray, another character pushed Lily to make a choice without even saying a word to her and that character was Lily’s mother, Deborah, who was dead and yet she still guided Lily to her next destination. Deborah’s largest contribution to Lily’s life was leaving behind a trail of love for Lily to follow, giving Lily someplace to go when she had no home. Lily immediately knows where to go after leaving her father's trammel, for she finds a picture of Deborah in Tiburon, South Carolina. Lily’s eagerness to learn more about her mother urges her to travel to Tiburon. Lily reveals her desperation on finding out more about her mother’s love towards her when she said, “ Well, think about it. She must have been there some time in her life to have owned this picture. And if she was, a person might remember her, you never know” (Kidd 51). Lily’s voice held a sense of hope as she believed that there was something in

In Bebe Moore Campbell’s, You’re Blues Ain’t Like Mine, I was able to view the novel from the three main sociological perspectives: the structural-functionalist approach, the social-conflict approach, and the symbolic-interaction approach. From the structural-functionalist point of view, I analyzed the Honorable Men of Hopewell as the power elite. I viewed Mamie Cox’s understanding of social class from the social-conflict perspective, and Doreen and Lily Cox differences were easily seen through the symbolic-interaction approach. By examining the characters and situations from these three important perspectives, I was able to have a better understanding of the novel and the life of the people in which the novel was based.

She wanted to be a role model for her children and at the same time, she wanted to become friend with them. Helen valued education, and she wanted Julie to go to college and have a successful life. However, after she found out that Julie had secretly being together with Tod, the poor, unambitious man. She was disappointed, betrayed, sad. Julie moved out of Helen’s home. Later, when Helen found out that Julie and her husband Tod had nowhere to live, she let them move in with her. She is a permissive parent, yet, she cares about her children, provides them as much support as she can. Helen stayed calm when Gary told her he wanted to live with his dad for a while. I can see her heart was bleeding when she heard her son’s words. She gave Gary his father’s phone number anyway, and Gary talked to his dad over the phone and figured out the cruel fact that his dad didn’t care for them anymore. Helen wanted to comfort Gary but he refused to talk. I felt Helen’s guilt and desperation at that moment. After she broke into Gary’s room and found out that Gary was carrying the bag that contains pornography, she immediately asked Tod’s help to talk to Gary. She had a chance to talk to Tod and had learned that Tod came from a broken family. She had a better idea of who Tod was and his help to Gary gained Helen’s respect. Helen supported Tod and helped her daughter Julie overcame the tough situation in marriage. Helen

Luckily for Lily, she comes upon the Boatwright sisters once she reaches Tiburon. Because of the fact Lily does not have anyone to share her love with, she is compelled to stay and live with the Boatwrights. At one point in the novel, Lily and August are having a conversation when August asks Lily “What else do you love Lily?”(Kidd 39). Lily then thinks to herself, “No one had ever asked me that before. What did I love? Right off the bat I wanted to say that I loved the picture of my mother…but I had to swallow that back”(39). Lily does not feel comfortable enough yet that she says, “ I love writing poems, just give me something to write, and I’ll love it” despite the fact that Lily really loves August (39). She loves August so much that she would rather stay in Tiburon with the Boatwrights than be with her own father T. Ray. The loss of Deborah results in Lily going to obtain love somewhere other than her own home. This is also why Lily takes Rosaleen with her. Rosaleen is a black nanny who used to work on T. Ray’s farm. She has been there for Lily in the past but she cannot always be there one hundred percent because of her race. Due to Deborah’s death, Lily does not have a mother figure, however, he journey to Tiburon with Rosaleen proves to be a success as she finds the Boatwrights and strengthens her relationship with her nanny, Rosaleen.

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

Segregation – prejudice – persecution: slavery had ended, but African-Americans were still forced to carve out a grim existence beneath the dispassionate stare of narrow-minded bigots. Soon, the Civil Rights Movement would gain momentum and drastically alter such social exclusion, but James Baldwin writes his story “Sonny’s Blues” before this transformation has occurred. In the style of other Post-Modernist writers of his day, Baldwin invents two brothers, Sonny and the narrator, who seem to have given up on finding meaning in their lives: escape, not purpose, is the solution for suffering. Although marginalized by white society, these men are still influenced by external standards – most noticeably our narrator. Using these two brothers

Throughout the book, The Secret Life of Bees, Lily Owens grows in her knowledge and understanding of the world around her. She got influenced by love, caring, and the way that others taught her about life. Because of this Lily had to go through an uphill climb throughout the book to know where she would discover more possibilities. Although she didn’t have good reasons for going the places she went, she eventually learned where her home would be. The three characters with the greatest influences in Lily Owens’ life are August Boatwright, Zachary Taylor, and Terrence Ray Owens.

In comparison to, Mrs. Freeman who is the complete opposite of Mrs. Hopewell whom she has worked for, for four years. O’connor does not show her point of view in this short story only what Mrs. Hopewell and Hulga describe her to be. She is described as very outspoken on whatever he thoughts are. She is very familiar and used to the unexpected due to her daughter Carramaes early marriage and pregnancy at the age of fifteen.

Sonny’s Blues is one of the famous stories expressing the deplorable conditions the Black community found themselves in during the struggle against racial segregation in the American history. The analysis given by John M. Reilley is to draw the attention of the readers and audience on the image of the black community, basically as expressed by Sonny’s Blues as a metaphor. Following the publication of Sonny’s Blues, James Baldwin realized he had a role in the African American Civil Rights Movement (Baldwin, 69). The story articulates the thoughts and experiences of the racial violence and oppression that was being experienced by the black Americans at the time. Through the story, the writer treats the issues of segregation and racism in a lesser manner as compared to several of his works, but the weight is felt at different levels.

Lily looked like Deborah when she was younger and right away I had knew why she had came. She had came because she wanted to know about her mother, and I knew that I had to tell her at some point about what happened. So I just let her stay. She needed to know the truth, and that is what I was going to tell her, but I didn’t want to talk about her mother too soon. That would get a better risk of her running away like what she did with T. Ray.

“Sonny’s Blues” is a touching story of transformation for the narrator and his brother. After spending time in prison for possession of heroin, Sonny comes back home to meet a very hostile and unforgiving brother. The story is set in the predominately African American projects of Harlem, New York where drug abuse and violence are quite rampant. The projects according to Baldwin are: “rocks in the middle of a boiling sea” (112). This description highlights the awful state of affairs. Life conditions in Harlem are worsened by the fact that there are no opportunities for Blacks to empower themselves economically and to liberate themselves from

Instead of relying on another power that is above her, she takes her fate into her own hands and tries to save her own home. This self reliance develops early, and can also be seen much later in her life. When she is twenty-seven, Lily learns that her husband has a secret second family. She leaves him immediately and manages to annul the marriage. Although he had taken all of her money from their joint bank account, she does not go back to her parents in Arizona or try to find another husband to take care of her. Instead, she begins preparing for her future alone. “Since I obviously couldn't count on a man to take care of me, what I needed more than ever was a profession. I needed to get my college education and become a teacher . . . the time flew by, and when both the dispensation and the acceptance letter arrived, I had enough money for a year of college” (p. 90). Instead of wondering what to do and moping about her ex-husband, Lily is practical and knows what she wants to do next. She also mentions that she cannot depend on a husband to take care of her. If she did not have to fend for

Mullen describes Lily’s situation as “Lily Bart has been predominantly framed as a tragic victim caught within the irresistible market forces of capitalism and the fatal contradictions of gender and class politics” (45). The novel, “The House of Mirth” filled with nuances of gender and class politics. Mullen points out a weakness in Lily’s character, her position in the forces of the capitalist circle. The females in the novel face the pressures from the social circle as well. Lily is a product of her culture and upbringing. Success is measured by the capital worth and how one would survive in their social class. Unfortunately, Lily didn’t have to chance to remain in her former social class circle, after trying to pay off her debts. She died the night that she received her