Sonny's blues
English
March 5th, 2014
The Setting Of Sonny’s Blues In this short story Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin, by Establishing and maintaining a certain identity mostly depends on the setting. The setting allows us to analyze someone at a deeper level. Considering the time, place and the circumstances around under which they respond allows us to explore them and determine their identity. In the short story “Sonny’s Blues”, James Baldwin conveys the message of how one goes about establishing and maintaining their identity on different levels by using elements of setting. The author uses elements of setting several times to convey the message which is, in the 1940’s in Harlem it was very hard for the two brothers to escape. Some of the prominent uses are the military service, life in Harlem and especially the use of darkness.
The military service plays an important role in the evolving of the narrator’s identity as it helps him gain respect and be recognized by the neighborhood, something that Sonny yearns for. Growing up in Harlem is the most important setting because the brothers endured several hardships in Harlem, which allowed them to establish and maintain a certain identity. The use of darkness is important because darkness signifies drugs and violence therefore if someone were seen in the dark, would be given an apathetic identity. This story takes place in Harlem, New York in the 1940’s. There are two characters in this short story Sonny and the narrator which is Sonny’s brother, whose name is disclosed throughout the whole story. Sonny is a musician who got addicted to heroin and went to jail, because he was caught up in a heroin bust. The narrator is sonny’s brother who works as an algebra teacher a Harlem high school. He never tells his name, so all we know as is the narrator. Both their mother and father are deceased. Their father died when sonny was fifteen and their mother died sometime during World War II. Once the narrator came back from war
March 5th, 2014
The Setting Of Sonny’s Blues In this short story Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin, by Establishing and maintaining a certain identity mostly depends on the setting. The setting allows us to analyze someone at a deeper level. Considering the time, place and the circumstances around under which they respond allows us to explore them and determine their identity. In the short story “Sonny’s Blues”, James Baldwin conveys the message of how one goes about establishing and maintaining their identity on different levels by using elements of setting. The author uses elements of setting several times to convey the message which is, in the 1940’s in Harlem it was very hard for the two brothers to escape. Some of the prominent uses are the military service, life in Harlem and especially the use of darkness.
The military service plays an important role in the evolving of the narrator’s identity as it helps him gain respect and be recognized by the neighborhood, something that Sonny yearns for. Growing up in Harlem is the most important setting because the brothers endured several hardships in Harlem, which allowed them to establish and maintain a certain identity. The use of darkness is important because darkness signifies drugs and violence therefore if someone were seen in the dark, would be given an apathetic identity. This story takes place in Harlem, New York in the 1940’s. There are two characters in this short story Sonny and the narrator which is Sonny’s brother, whose name is disclosed throughout the whole story. Sonny is a musician who got addicted to heroin and went to jail, because he was caught up in a heroin bust. The narrator is sonny’s brother who works as an algebra teacher a Harlem high school. He never tells his name, so all we know as is the narrator. Both their mother and father are deceased. Their father died when sonny was fifteen and their mother died sometime during World War II. Once the narrator came back from war