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Literary elements in sonny's blues
Analysis of sonny character sonny's blues essay
Analysis of sonny character sonny's blues essay
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What is freedom? Many people define freedom as a natural right, the human is born with. I believe, we can be free only if we respect others rights to be free too. Freedom is an innate right which humans have since their birth. However, different people have different opinions and definitions of freedom. Some people talk about social freedom or personal independence, others may define it as a religious freedom. Once, Ronald Reagan said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed in for them to do the same.” In “Rose for Emily”, “Hop- Frog”, and “Sonny’s Blues” main characters are seeking and fighting for their freedom, even if it’s their last chance. …show more content…
However, many of them don’t assume that freedom is not eternal. In “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin, the narrator and Sonny are both seeking a freedom and release not only from the world, but also from themselves. The world they live in is full of darkness, drugs, insecurity, and hopelessness. It stimulates the narrator to writing his brother, has failed in his life. The narrator says, “I couldn’t believe it: but what I mean by that is that I couldn’t find any room for it anywhere inside me. I had kept it outside me for a long time. I hadn’t wanted to know” (125). The narrator believes that he cannot achieve freedom without Sonny’s forgiveness. Sonny, at the same time, is also seeking for a freedom, he want to be saved from the life of drugs that destroyed him. Finally, in the club, during Sonny’s performance, both Sonny and the narrator find that freedom they’ve been seeking, even if it’s
When Sonny starts to play the piano, he is a little bit nervous, and he does not really feel the music that he is playing. After a while though, he starts to loosen up and play his heart out. The tune he is playing is no longer just a song; it is “Sonny’s Blues” (148). The music he plays “fills the air with life, his life,” and Sonny’s brother finally understands “he could help us be free if we would listen, “ and that Sonny “would never be free until we did” (148). By the end of the story, Sonny achieves his goal of communicating his problems though his
“But what is freedom? Freedom from what? There is nothing to take a man's freedom away from him, save other men. To be free, a man must be free of his brothers. That is freedom. That and nothing else.”
God has given us as human beings free will. Although if we make choices based on our own free will we must be willing to take the responsibility for the effects that our decisions have on ourselves, on the people around us, and on society itself. Freedom, I believe, is the way in which people live or behave without others annoying or interfering in his or her affairs. People should benefit from freedom, equality and justice. Absolute freedom is sometimes very dangerous and may destroy the basic principles of the society. A lot of people believe that freedom means doing whatever you want, whenever you want.
Throughout the course of the twenty or so pages of “Sonny’s Blues”, the characters are revealed through dialogue to have traits, motives, and fears just like any other human being. For example, Sonny’s revelation to the narrator that he intends to become a jazz musician (Baldwin 1737) and subsequent descriptions of his piano practicing habits (Baldwin 1740) let the reader know that he is not to be thought of as merely a pathetic recovering drug addict. On the other hand, when Sonny says that heroin makes him feel “in control” (Baldwin 1744) and subtly protests the systemic prejudice that often makes black people feel helpless, one can determine that he did not likely take up the drug simply or on a whim or on account of mere peer pressure. Further, when the narrator seems to understand that Sonny is on the path to redemption (Baldwin 1749), the reader once gets the impression that Sonny is more than a druggie. The narrator, too, is a round character, and not just an older brother figure to Sonny.
The conflict had broken them down so low, the only way to look was up. Sonny suddenly had an Idea to pursue music, and join the army. At first, this giant change had startled The narrator, and he wanted sonny to drop the Idea immediately, but sonny persisted and Finally, he was respected and honored for his choice. Pg 134 “I sensed myself in the presence of something I didn't really know how to handle.” The narrator was so concerned for sonny that he wasn't even taking time to think if this could be a suitable path for him. Pg 135 “i’m thinking about my future”, said Sonny grimly. “I think about it all the time.” Since then Sonny had began working nonstop on his music, and with time and dedication he was soon
According to the Collins Dictionary, “freedom” is defined as “the state of being allowed to do what you want to do”(“freedom”). The definition of freedom is simple, but make yourself free is not easy. Concerning about some common cases which will take away your freedom, such as a time-cost high education attainment. In this essay, I shall persuade that everyone should try his or her best to insist on pursuing freedom. For the individual, it appears that only if you have your personal freedom, can you have a dream; for a country, it seems that only if the country is free, can the country develop; for mankind, it looks like that only if people has their own pursuit of freedom, can their thoughts evolve.
According to Dictionary.com freedom means “the state of being uncontrolled by another, or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint.” Freedom. What does freedom mean to you? Even though freedom means the state of being uncontrolled by another, or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint, I believe that freedom means being able to accomplish what you desire and when you desire it without anyone saying anything, by reason of the comparison and contrast of our society and the society in the book Anthem by Ayn Rand, the negation of the word freedom, and synonyms of the word freedom. I believe that you should accept the consequences of the actions you take when you have your “freedom” as well.
Freedom for one person can be taking away the freedom of another person. For example, if one person is free to play loud music outside. The person next to him is not free from hearing the music that the other person is playing. Christopher Lasch talks about contentment in America in his article “Tried & Found Wanting”. Margret Atwood the author of “Letter to America” and The Handmaid’s Tale addresses many issues in her essay “Letter to America” that leads her to believe that the United States is in peril.
Even when his brother faces charges of imprisonment, he doesn’t give much attention as he is now devoid of compassion for his family owing to being distant from them for far too long. However, it is impertinent to note that “Sonny’s Blues” is not a story of Sonny himself but an unaccounted narrator known as his brother. The underlying theme of the story is to highlight how Sonny’s music was a source of reunion and rapprochement among two alienated brothers. Being a tale of the struggles that the brothers faced together, the facts of story represent how loss and grief can motivate any individual to transform themselves each
There was a point in the story where Sonny and the older brother are watching a church revival group. The older brother does not see Sonny until later in the song; that was the starting point when the older brother realizes how important music is to Sonny. Sonny escapes from everything when he plays piano. The older brother meets Sonny back at the apartment and they watch the church scene through the apartment window.
However, throughout the story the narrator’s thoughts on the music begin to shift to a more positive view. As Sonny explains the ways of coping to the narrator, the narrator begins to understand why Sonny needs music in his life and during Sonny’s performance fully understands the meaning of music in Sonny and his life. The narrator has flashbacks of his life and the feelings that were associated with those events while he listens to Sonny’s Blues and becomes aware of the struggle going on on the stage. In this event, the narrator turns from a negative view on music to an absolute positive view on the importance of music in people’s lives.
Freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. In America there is numerous of choices that someone may make on a daily basis. If someone were allowed to make their own choices and were being told what to do; then they would not be free. When someone is allowed to speak when they want to, and say what they want; such as their opinion or view of something. Being allowed to have a right to speak is one of the most important characteristics of being an American. Thinking and stating your opinion in any predicament it a strong part in being a citizen because people in the United States are known for being able to think in their own ways. Freedom can stretch too many things such as being able to do as they please, they are not forced into doing anything that someone may want. The citizens of the United States are not made to do anything that one may not want to do; like
What does freedom really mean? Freedom: the power to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. My definition: to have your own rights and to be able to live your life how you feel it should be lived. Freedom what’s
Some talk about freedom in governmental sense, some talk about societal or social freedom, some talk about individual individuality and some define it as religious freedom. But the fact that everyone wants to live in a place where they can be free, holds true in all cases. Throughout the progression of American history, freedom has made its way into our everyday lives. But that wasn’t the case every time. American
Freedom is “the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without restraint.” To have freedom is to have to right to do whatever you want to, basically. The most prominent example of freedom would be the freedom of the citizens in their country. In the United States, we practice our freedom everyday with our freedom of religion, speech, and press. Freedom has allowed the citizens of the United States luxuries that a large portion of the world does not have.