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Coming of age introduction
Coming of age introduction
Coming of age introduction
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Everyone goes through a period where they try to find answers to where they belong in their world and what their identity. In Simon vs. the Homosapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli, Simon and the people around in his life try to find their identity while trying to survive high school and the terrors that come with being a teenager. Simon feels like his personality is boxed in by his family and society. Blue, the secret guy who Simon has been talking to online, struggles with hiding his identity from the world. Finally, Martin, has trouble getting people to take him seriously and like him. All these characters go through their own journeys to try to find their place in society.
Simon Spier has always felt that he is supposed to act the way his
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The only information Simon knows about him at first is that he is in his class and that he is gay. “It’s more that I want to leap in and say certain things and do certain things, but I always seem to hold myself back. I think a big part of me is afraid” (Albertalli 61). Blue always thinks the worst is going to happen so he holds himself back and tries not to break out of his character that he has built up for himself. He is able to tell Simon personal things about himself, but he can’t tell him who he is because he is afraid that it will get too personal. Blue won’t even give him his phone number because he’s afraid Simon will call him and listen to his voicemail and find out who he is. Eventually Blue hides a note in a gift he gives to Simon, “So if you think I’m not attracted to you, Simon, you’re crazy… And underneath that, he’s written his phone number” (Albertalli 262). Blue finally feels confident enough to tell Simon who he is. He doesn’t feel scared anymore and eventually goes to meet up with Simon at a carnival, where they are seen together in public, which is a huge step for them. Even though Blue may still feel scared, he can feel scared with
These boys represent good intentions in the novel, but in our existence, we are fortunate to have incredible citizens who are comparable to the characters. Ralph symbolizes our parents, they always have the best intentions for the children they have made although, we may not appreciate the little things they do for us such as purchase food for our stomachs , provide a roof over our heads and love us unconditionally. Simon is represented through people who aid others because it is from the goodness of their
According to Liukkonen, James Baldwin is well known for his "novels on sexual and personal identity, and sharp essays on civil-rights struggle in the United States." "Sonny's Blues" is no exception to this. The story takes place in Harlem, New York in the 1950's and tells of the relationship between two brothers. The older brother, who is the narrator and a participant in the novel, remains unnamed throughout the story. The novel is about the struggles, failures and successes of these two African American brothers growing up in the intercity as a minority. The encounters that the narrator and his brother, Sonny, have throughout the story exemplify Baldwin's theme of personal accountability and ethical criticism.
In “Sonny’s Blues” the story starts with the narrator who is Sonny’s brother. Sonny’s brother first knew about Sonny’s arrest by reading the newspaper. While reading it, he was angry and in pain because he was thinking about how Sonny got himself into a bad place. After running into Sonny’s old friend, the narrator is talking to him and the friend is explaining how it was his fault that Sonny is in jail and he is the reason why Sonny started selling and using heroin. After talking to Sonny’s old friend, the narrator is mad and upset that Sonny would do that. Sonny’s brother looks back and thinks that Sonny is a troublemaker, but never to that extent.
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
As "Sonny's Blues" opens, the narrator tells of his discovery that his younger brother has been arrested for selling and using heroin. Both brothers grew up in Harlem, a neighborhood rife with poverty and despair. Though the narrator teaches school in Harlem, he distances himself emotionally from the people who live there and their struggles and is somewhat judgmental and superior. He loves his brother but is distanced from him as well and judgmental of his life and decisions. Though Sonny needs for his brother to understand what he is trying to communicate to him and why he makes the choices he makes, the narrator cannot or will not hear what Sonny is trying to convey. In distancing himself from the pain of upbringing and his surroundings, he has insulated himself from the ability to develop an understanding of his brother's motivations and instead, his disapproval of Sonny's choice to become a musician and his choices regarding the direction of his life in general is apparent. Before her death, his mother spoke with him regarding his responsibilities to Sonny, telling him, "You got to hold on to your brother...and don't let him fall, no matter what it looks like is happening to him and no matter how evil you get with him...you may not be able to stop nothing from happening. But you got to let him know you're there" (87) His unwillingness to really hear and understand what his brother is trying to tell him is an example of a character failing to act in good faith.
Simon was the first and only one to realise the real beast on the Island. He could be compared to someone like a priest or a good samaraton – someone who tries his best to convince everyone of what’s right.
Simon was the observant character, the quiet philosopher. He was often alone, sometimes by his own choice, and he liked to wander into the peaceful jungle. He sincerely cared about the other boys, sometimes helping the young ones to fetch fruit, yet "Simon turned away from them and went where the just perceptible path led him. Soon high jungle closed in" (56). He loved solitude and yet felt loneliness; he was alien to the other boys. The boys did not think anyone would be stupid enough to go into the jungle by night: "The assembly grinned at the thought of going out into the darkness. Then Simon stood up and Ralph looked at him in astonishment" (85). Many of the boys even thought he was "batty" because he left the group to spend time alone.
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
In conclusion, Sonny’s Blues depicts the love of a brother through the narrator, who at the beginning was disengaged, unsupportive, and emotionally distant. However, the turning point was when Grace died. This triggered a great turmoil of feelings that overflowed the narrator leading him to a major and impacting change. Instead, he turned into being involved, supportive, understanding, honest, and accepting of his brother Sonny; regardless of the reality that there was no guarantee his pain would not consume his life.
While Jack and Ralph represent the distinct polarization between civilization and savagery. Simon is separated from both of these dimensions. Simon represents built-in goodness. The other boys who hold on to their sense of morality only do so because society has conditioned and trained them to act in a certain way. They do not have an innate sense of morality. Unlike the other boys on the island, Simon does not act morally because an external force has compelled him to do so, instead he finds value in performing good actions.
In conclusion, “Sonny’s Blues” is the story of Sonny told through his brother’s perspective. It is shown that the narrator tries to block out the past and lead a good “clean” life. However, this shortly changes when Sonny is arrested for the use and possession of heroin. When the narrator starts talking to his brother again, after years of no communication, he disapproves of his brother’s decisions. However, after the death of his daughter, he slowly starts to transform into a dynamic character. Through the narrator’s change from a static to a dynamic character, readers were able to experience a remarkable growth in the narrator.
Simon is the big tough character you can expect any group of men to want in the group. He is a calm character but can turn into a powerful and aggressive person that demands respect in an instant. In the scene where Tristan challenges Simon on being fearful of benny, Simon quickly reminds Tristan exactly who he is talking to by throwing the drink at Tristan who is the leader and in command. Simon demonstrates one characteristic that all men value and that is Power, Men are expected to be strong bold characters, and Simon uses these
He has a very conflicting relationship with his older brother, for that may be a vast cause of our characters blues. Sonny’s brother doesn’t understand his desire to play music and it does not seem his brother or anyone else in his life ever really engaged in him being a musician, for when Sonny’s brother went to the club with him to hear him play he was amazed at how much the song engulfed Sonny’s soul. “The man who creates the music is hearing something else, for the roar rising from the emptiness within is placed in order by the musician as it hits the air.” (Baldwin 112). ” He wanted Sonny to take the traditional route as he did, such as; becoming educated, getting a job, marrying, and raising a family. For Sonny not having his dreams and desires accepted by someone he love had to be heart breaking. Sonny was hooked on heroin as well as served jail time. ”I’m glad Mama and Daddy are dead and can’t see what’s happened to their son” (Baldwin 96). This surely caused grief or as the title playfully states “Sonny’s Blues.” Drugs and alcohol are a big stereotype in the entertainment industry, so this may be a reason why his brother opposed him living the lifestyle of a musician. Sonny’s disappointment in himself causes him shame and strife, for his failures in his brother’s eyes, makes him bluer than the blues he
James Baldwin, “Sonny Blue’s”, reflects on the relationship between Sonny and the narrator regarding human condition. During the early 1950s, this story takes place in Harlem. Sonny Blue’s is spoken from a point of view in first person by the unnamed narrator. The unnamed narrator of Sonny Blue’s is the brother of Sonny. The narrator, who is married, having two children, and maintains a decent job as a teacher, succeeds greatly in his community.
Towards the middle of Simon's stay on the island, he started to realize that he truly was different from the others. Every time he tried to talk to the other children, his 'effort fell about him in ruins; the laughter beat him cruelly and he shrank away defenseless to his seat.';(89) Just when he thought he had been accepted he embarrassed himself again, 'When he bashed into a tree Ralph looked sideways impatiently and Robert sniggered.';(104) They were getting restless with his behavior.