Contrasting Views of Love and Success in Sonny’s Blues and My Mortal Enemy
Contrasting Views of Love and Success in Sonny’s Blues and My Mortal Enemy
In the stories of “Sonny’s Blues” and “My Mortal Enemy” there were contrasting views of love and success. The main characters in these stories have their own views of what both mean to them. In “Sonny’s Blues,” there is a conflict of what defines success to Sonny and his brother and this conflict is also wrapped around the love they have for each other even though it seems as if they hate each other most of the time they actually have loved one another all along but have been torn apart by conflicts what defines of success. Each has found it a bit challenging to accept the other’s way of living and views. In “My Mortal Enemy,” this story is also about love and success. In this story, Myra loves Oswald very much in the beginning of the story, but as the story goes on it is obvious that she loves money and success much more. I will contrast the two stories as point out the differences of the story’s main character’s stance on love and success.
Our society does tend to label or categorize people based on race, class, religion, and success to name a few. In regards to Sonny’s Blues, the label seems to focus on success and brotherly love. It is true that Sonny’s brother has worked hard to escape the ghetto, earn a college degree, and settle into a middle-class existence; Society sees him as successful and admirable. On the other hand, society looks at Sonny and sees a loser as does his own brother. To answer the questions---can we only learn from those who are successful or those who are losers?
I would have to say that we can learn from both. We usually refer to someone as a loser when they do not follow the societal norm. Since Sonny’s brother, in society’s eyes, did everything that everyone else did or was doing, he was considered successful and admirable, whereas his brother was involved with one of the sub-cultures of the time. At that time, society
In the stories of “Sonny’s Blues” and “My Mortal Enemy” there were contrasting views of love and success. The main characters in these stories have their own views of what both mean to them. In “Sonny’s Blues,” there is a conflict of what defines success to Sonny and his brother and this conflict is also wrapped around the love they have for each other even though it seems as if they hate each other most of the time they actually have loved one another all along but have been torn apart by conflicts what defines of success. Each has found it a bit challenging to accept the other’s way of living and views. In “My Mortal Enemy,” this story is also about love and success. In this story, Myra loves Oswald very much in the beginning of the story, but as the story goes on it is obvious that she loves money and success much more. I will contrast the two stories as point out the differences of the story’s main character’s stance on love and success.
Our society does tend to label or categorize people based on race, class, religion, and success to name a few. In regards to Sonny’s Blues, the label seems to focus on success and brotherly love. It is true that Sonny’s brother has worked hard to escape the ghetto, earn a college degree, and settle into a middle-class existence; Society sees him as successful and admirable. On the other hand, society looks at Sonny and sees a loser as does his own brother. To answer the questions---can we only learn from those who are successful or those who are losers?
I would have to say that we can learn from both. We usually refer to someone as a loser when they do not follow the societal norm. Since Sonny’s brother, in society’s eyes, did everything that everyone else did or was doing, he was considered successful and admirable, whereas his brother was involved with one of the sub-cultures of the time. At that time, society