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James Baldwin's “Sonny’s Blues,” point of view
James Baldwin's “Sonny’s Blues,” point of view
Metamorphosis by franz kafka summary and analysis
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There are many factors that lead to the development of an individual’s identity. Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” illustrates an extreme change in Gregor Samsa’s external identity and the overall outward effect it has on the development of his family. While James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” illustrates a young man struggling to find his identity while being pushed around by what society and his family wants him to be. Both of these characters exhibit an underlying struggle of alienation but both also demonstrate a craving for belongingness. This conflict of trying to belong to something as well as satisfying the needs of society, has directly impacted their own individuality and the lives of the people around them. Gregor Samsa, a hard working salesman providing for his family in need, has sacrifice his own freedom for the sake of the survival of his family. As a provider, his family is expecting him to work, be successful, and bring home the wealth. Although Gregor doesn’t enjoy his tedious job in the slightest, he still agrees to do it. This is more influenced by his father’s debt rather than his own morals. “If it weren’t for my parents, I would have quit long ago, I would have gone to the boss and told him off” (Kafka 2). This shows that he is a frustrated individual. Gregor is someone who would likely hold in his own personal feelings to preserve the family name. A night of nightmares later, Gregor awakes to see his many little legs flailing about. He isn’t initially shocked by this horrid transformation and however terrible it looks to him, his primary focus is how is he going to get to work? In spite of everything, he is still in the mindset of working no matter what the cost. After all, he doesn’t want to lose the tr... ... middle of paper ... ...development of your identity. Gregor, the family man, tried as hard as he can to be there for his family. His family is everything he has got and this is his identity. While Sonny, the trouble kid turned musician, abandoned his family’s suggestions and went his own way by keeping true to himself and being dedicative to a specific goal. Both of these characters are polar opposites in a sense that one follows his family and the other does not. But, both characters were forced into difficult situations and both have experienced some sort of sacrifice. Works Cited Mendoza, Ramon G. The Human Vermin: Kafka's Metaphor for Extreme Alienation. N.p.: Salem Press, n.d. Literary Reference Database. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. Murray, Donald C. James Baldwin's 'Sonny's Blues': Complicated and Simple. N.p.: Newberry College, n.d. Literary Reference Database. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.
Baldwin, James. "Sonny's Blues." The Norton introduction to Fiction. 6th ed. Ed. Jerome Beaty. New York: Norton, 1996. 47-70.
Conflict is opposition between two forces, and it may be external or internal,” (Barker). There are two styles of external conflict that can be examined within the plot of “Sonny’s Blues”. The first of these is character versus society. This is the outer layer of the external conflict observed between Sonny and the society, which his life is out casted from. The meat and potatoes of the external conflict however, is character versus character. Sonny lives a lifestyle that his brother seems to be incapable of understanding. The internal conflict lies within the narrator. It is his struggle to understand his brother that drives the plot. The climax occurs when Sonny and the narrator argue in the apartment. The argument stems from the narrators complete inability to understand Sonny’s drug usage and life as a musician, and Sonny’s feeling of abandonment and inability to make his brother understand him. This conflict appears to come to a resolve at the resolution as the narrator orders Sonny a drink following hearing Sonny perform for the first time. It appears as though this is the moment when the narrator begins to understand, perhaps for the first time, his brother the
The narrator in James Baldwin’s short story, “Sonny’s Blues”, at first glance seems to be a static character, trying to forget the past and constantly demeaning his brother’s choices in life. Throughout the story, readers see how the narrator has tried to forget the past. However, his attempt to forget the past soon took a turn. When the narrator’s daughter died, he slowly started to change. As the narrator experiences these changes in his life, he becomes a dynamic character.
Sonny’s brother and him finally decided to reconcile when Gracie, Sonny’s niece, passed away at a young age. The brothers wrote back and forth and one thing became clear to Sonny’s brother, music affected him. Sonny’s brother always saw the music/jazz scene as an unhealthy lifestyle full of drugs and scandal. The only thing Sonny would really reinforce was that it was not because of the music. Sonny came back to New York after rehab from heroin and came to see the old neighborhood in Harlem. The brothers see that they have so much to be thankful for and that they will always have each other.
Baldwin, James. “Sonny’s Blues.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. Ed. Kelly J. Mays. Shorter 11th edition. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2013. 95-118. Print.
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is a classic piece of literature. This masterpiece of stunning psychological, sociological and existential angst has blessed the minds of readers since it was written in 1912. It is the story of Gregor Samsa, a hardworking man trying to pay off the debt of his family, but transforms into a vermin, (bug). There are many parallels of Kafka’s life to Gregor’s in Metamorphosis. Both Kafka and Gregor were in family and social discord, and a bureaucracy of a work world. The way Kafka chose to write his novella, in third person limited omniscient narration, serves his purpose of wanting to understand and reflect on his own experiences along with entertaining. Choosing Gregor to narrate the novella would change the purpose, plot, and understanding of the story.
Samsa made multiple attacks on his son. It made Gregor incapacitated of any movement and there is also the shock of the attack to consider. Gregor stated that it was only a matter of time before his father’s frustration at the situation snap. What he wasn’t counting on was for his father to lose himself in his emotions to the point of killing his own son. Gregor’s father had been experiencing this frustration due to his family financial situation now that Gregor couldn’t pay off the family debt. By taking his frustration out on his son Mr. Samsa threatening Gregor to get his priorities in order and stop being a burden to his family. Similarly, in the way Hermann Kafka used his abuse to make Franz Kafka an obedient child and to discourage him from becoming an
Kafka reflects a belief that one is treated worse by being more liberal and selfless than another. This perspective is in conflict with the way things should be played out. Man should be dealt with in understanding to his actions, so Gregor should too be significantly appreciated by his family paying little attention to his state because of his adoration of them.
Goldman, Suzy B. "James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues": A Message in Music." Negro American Literature Forum 3rd ser. 8 (1974): 231-33. St. Louis University. Web. Apr.-May 2014.
He has no worry for Gregor, but only anger. The manager exemplifies well how a man is treated if he does not function properly. The manager simply states that business man simply have to “overcome a slight indisposition for business reasons” (10). The manager wants Gregor to work, regardless of whatever illness he may have. Gregor is not treated like a human, but instead a commodity which is forced to work even though it may be dysfunctional and needs attention. When Gregor opens up the door and the manger sees the transformation of Gregor, he realizes that Gregor has become fully dysfunctional. Therefore, he simply chooses to turn away and abandon him at “Gregor’s first words” with “curled lip”, showing disgust. The manger is made known that Gregor is a completely useless commodity, and he does what other people will do with a broken commodity: abandon it. This is Gregor’s punishment. Kafka has established through the use of minor character-the manger-that Gregor is treated like a
Throughout literary history, certain authors are so unique and fresh in their approach to the written word that they come to embody a genre. Franz Kafka is one such author; “Die Verwandlung” or “The Metamorphosis” is one of his works that helped coin the term “Kafkaesque.” Through this novella, Kafka addresses the timeless theme of people exploit-ing others as a means to an end. He demonstrates this point through showing that a family’s unhealthy dependence on the main character results in that character’s dependence on the family.
Stephens, J. "(SP:) Franz Kafka’s Personal Life Reflected in the Metamorphosis." The Kafka Project. N.p., 8 Jan. 2011. Web. 27 Apr. 2014. .
Gregor beings to realizes that he cannot go to work, “I'm just opening up, in a minute. A slight indisposition, a dizzy spell, prevented me from getting up. I'm still in bed. But I already feel fine again” (11). One would typically think waking up as human sized vermin would astonishingly petrify their own being; Gregor's initial thoughts were to catch the next train since he was already late. The reader begins to notice that abstractness from Kafka, where the abnormal is a typical day in the novel. Furthermore, Gregor would ought to see the best in anyone, no matter the situation. For example, “Gregor heard him open the complicated lock and secure it again after taking out what he had been looking for. Their explanations by his father were to some extent the first pleasant news Gregor had heard since his imprisonment. He had always believed that his father had not been able to save a penny from his business…” (25). All his life, Gregor did not once question his family, and now that he found out that his father had been taking his own hard earned money for personal uses. Kafka chooses to make Gregor ignorant about the financial situation to characterize his family as selfish, and greedy. On the other hand, he has not come to realize that he has been used and taken advantage of, thus being characterized as innocent and most definitely vulnerable. It does not get much better, the diction of “imprisonment” demonstrates Gregor’s true feelings of unsatisfaction and isolation. Gregors own room stands in his between him and his family in his own point of view. While his family look at it as a resolution to having to deal with the
Being always utilized and manhandled while as a part of his human frame, Gregor's way of life gets to be entangled once he turns into a titan bug and is considered pointless. Clashes and disarray emerge essentially in the middle of Gregor and his sister Grete, his guardians, and his work. Each of these three connections has distinctive good and moral confusions characterizing them. In any case, it is vital for one to remember that Gregor's transformation has set him into a position of resistance, and that he has insignificant control over the occasions to happen. Clashes will likewise happen between relatives as they battle with the choice of what to do with Gregor. At last they all go to the assention that keeping up his futility is gradually depleting them and they must dispose of
clear why gregor gave up working for his family when he turns the key to