StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Sonnys Blues and Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
This essay has examined Baldwin’s Sonny’s Blues and Notes of a Native Son. It’s demonstrated that while both texts diverge in terms of form, Sonny’s Blues is largely the narrative exemplification of Baldwin’s perspective on life and art as expressed in Notes of a Native Son…
Download free paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER92.1% of users find it useful
Sonnys Blues and Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Sonnys Blues and Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin"

While politicians and cultural theorists have oftentimes explored questions of race and racism, it is oftentimes the work of poets and authors that capture the subtle psychological details. One of the great 20th century writers in this tradition was James Baldwin. Baldwin explored questions of race in terms of personal relationships and intimate moments of psychological oppression. His work spanned an array of essays and novels, two of the most prominent of which are the fictional work Sonny’s Blues and the non-fiction work Notes of a Native Son.

This essay examines these works in terms of elements of comparison, divergence, as well as the means by which Baldwin’s experiences contribute to the power of the texts. In examining these texts the most pervasive element one recognizes is their divergence in form. While Sonny’s Blues is a narrative, Notes of a Native Son is relayed indirect essay format. In these regards, the divergence in form is significant as the fictional account is largely the narrative exemplification of what Baldwin expounds upon in his fictional text.

One recognizes that the very title of Notes of a Native Son is in part a criticism of Richard Wright’s Native Son text, as Baldwin considers the depiction of black culture in this work to be overly sensational. Consider Sonny’s struggles with heroin and his use of jazz as an outlet for stress in the context of Baldwin’s writing in Notes on a Native Son, “All over Harlem, Negro boys and girls are growing into stunted maturity, trying desperately to find a place to stand; and the wonder is not that so many are ruined but that so many survive” (Baldwin, p. 71). In these respects, Sonny’s life in Sonny’s Blues converges with Baldwin’s non-fiction essay in that rather than using the narrative to overly sensationalizing racism, he implements it as a means of articulating the subtleties of the African American experience.

When one further considers Baldwin’s short story Sonny’s Blues it’s clear that a great amount of the text is influenced by Baldwin’s own experience. From an overarching context, the setting of the story as occurring at times in Harlem and Greenwich Village are directly reflective of Baldwin’s own upbringing in these regions. Another prominent comparative element between the fictional text and Baldwin’s life is the transitory nature of both Sonny and Baldwin himself.

Baldwin is recognized as having spent time in Paris as a means of stepping outside stereotypical depictions of a black writer concerned with racism. In Sonny’s Blues, this is also evident as the narrator himself goes abroad to war. In this sense, the short story itself attempts to escape stereotypical notions of racism as a means of demonstrating a deeper reality of the African American experience.

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“James Baldwin Sonny's Blues & James Baldwin's Notes of a Native Son Essay”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/literature/1587610-james-baldwin-sonnys-blues-james-baldwins-notes-of-a-native-son
(James Baldwin Sonny's Blues & James Baldwin'S Notes of a Native Son Essay)
https://studentshare.org/literature/1587610-james-baldwin-sonnys-blues-james-baldwins-notes-of-a-native-son.
“James Baldwin Sonny's Blues & James Baldwin'S Notes of a Native Son Essay”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/literature/1587610-james-baldwin-sonnys-blues-james-baldwins-notes-of-a-native-son.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Sonnys Blues and Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin

James Baldwin, Notes of a Native son/

notes of a native son” by James Baldwin Racial Issues in notes of a native son: Then and Now James Baldwin has discussed numerous issues of racial discrimination against the blacks in America in his book.... In notes of a native son, James Baldwin has discussed America's encounter of the violence resulting from the chauvinism against blacks.... Now, that more than 55 years have passed since the publication of this book, so much has been done in America to earn blacks their due rights that racial issues identified in notes of a native son are almost non-existent today....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Sonny's Blues and Big Black Good Man

hellip; The stories entitled, Sonny's Blues by james baldwin and Big Black Good Man by Richard Wright are two of the pieces of literature that divulge the outcomes of misjudging another person and how the turn of events will affect the characters in the said prose works.... The story entitled, Sonny's Blues by james baldwin, is a tale inscribed in the first-person singular narrative style....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

The Black and the Blues

hellip; baldwin's short story entitled “Sonny's Blues” covered this contrast and tension.... baldwin's story though written in 1957 depicted a crucial message on bitter realities within the society which strongly affected him and the black community of his time and still somewhat remained unchanged in some parts of the world today.... On strong reflection of baldwin's personal struggle is the part of the story where the narrator recollects the death of their uncle who was driven over by a group of drunken white Americans and recklessly left the carcass on the street....
4 Pages (1000 words) Research Paper

Analysis of Sonny's Blues Book by James Baldwin

The streets of the city and the people of the area are presented by the author as acquaintances; both for Sonny and the narrator, as the author says 'And I'd known this avenue all my life' (baldwin, 25).... At the same time, the author takes on a defensive tone when he tries to justify Sonny's drug addiction; "In order to keep from shaking to pieces" (baldwin, 40).... baldwin's creation of characters is interesting in the sense that almost all characters have markedly contrasting personalities....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

Sonny's blues

The streets of the city and the people of the area are presented by the author as acquaintances; both for Sonny and the narrator, as the author says 'And I'd known this avenue all my life' (baldwin, 25).... At the same time, the author takes on a defensive tone when he tries to justify Sonny's drug addiction; "In order to keep from shaking to pieces" (baldwin, 40).... baldwin's creation of characters is interesting in the sense that almost all characters have markedly contrasting personalities....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

Sonny's blues( The story)

This setting influenced the plot and character development of baldwin's “Sonny's Blues.... His character develops throughout the story, where he begins with rejecting 16 October Rejecting and Accepting Darkness in baldwin's “Sonny's Blues” Harlem witnessed the struggles of African Americans, as they fought for their freedoms during the mid-twentieth century.... This setting influenced the plot and character development of baldwin's “Sonny's Blues....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Sonnys Blues or To Build A fire

?? james baldwin's short story, “Sonny's Blues,” is a poignant account of two brothers growingup in Harlem.... baldwin effectively uses characterization, conflict and setting to explore the relationship between the narrator and his younger sibling.... He believes in “will power and how life could be well, beautiful” (baldwin, 21-1).... He promises their mother, “I wont let nothing happen to Sonny” (baldwin, 11-5)....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Sonnys Blues by James Baldwin

The author of the paper "Sonnys Blues by james baldwin" tells how the narrator of the story is able to recognize himself as well as his brother's true suffering.... Through sharing their blues, they can feel a sense of freedom from the darkness of their lives.... It is kind of a self-discovery from which, he has always hidden or what he has always tried to conceal....
1 Pages (250 words) Assignment
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us