What Does James Baldwin Characterize In Sonny's Blues '?

Sonny’s Blues
Racism is one of the world’s most horrible problems. Racism is one race seeing another race as infernal to their race or seeing their race as weak. Some white racist were harsh to the African American race because of their skin being colored during the 1800s. Some white sees the African American race as "non-human." Racism can be to any race. In the story "Sonny's Blues" the narrator's uncle got killed by a car crashing into him. The people that hit his uncle were white drunk men although they didn’t mean to do it they drove away when they crashed into him. Those white men didn’t really care what happened to his uncle those white people; left him for death. In the story “Sonny’s Blues” James Baldwin argues that race limits what
a person can do or want to do and how someone see another from a different race. In “Sonny Blues” James Baldwin argues about how race limits what a person can do through the use of character. Sonny is a character who lives a rough place known as Harlem where most African American lives during that time period. Sonny is a drug addict and also a musician that plays the blues and likes to ditch school under regular bases. He plays the blues to express his feelings. “Sonny said, “Sometimes you know, and it was actually when I was most out of the world, I felt that is was in it, that I was with it, really, and I could play or didn’t really have to play, it just came out of me, it was there. And I don’t know played thinking about it now, but I know I did awful things those times, sometimes to people” Sonny feels lonely and wants to talk to him. Every time he talks to someone the person cuts in and start talking about what he is doing wrong. He expresses how he feels through the song genre blues. Sonny is limited to how he can express the way he feels. He had to turn to music because that was his only way he can express himself. When Sonny says “most out of this world” Sonny is saying that he is lonely no one wants to talk to him and doesn’t know how he can express his feelings without critism from other people. “I felt that is was in it, that I was with it, really, and I could play or didn’t really have to play, it just came out of me, it was there.” means that it just sometimes Sonny felt that he was part of the world and that sometimes that he was not taken as one of this world. Sometimes people felt like there part of this world because of racism. Racism can make someone feel like that they were the cause of most of the problem to people. Racism made Sonny feel like no one would understand how he feels and how he is not part of this world. James Baldwin argues in “Sonny’s Blues” that race limits what one can do, through the use of characterization. In this passage of this story a woman is singing with a tambourine. Her face is all full of spirit and joy. On the other side a lady watching is opposite of her she is smoking and her face was all swollen and scarred. “The narrator, “The woman with the tambourine, whose voice dominated the air, whose face was bright with joy, was divided by very little from the woman who stood watching her, a cigarette between her heavy, chapped lips, her hair a cuckoo’s nest, her face scarred and swollen from many beatings, and her black eyes glittering like coal.” What James Baldwin is trying to saying in this quote is that these ladies are two completely different personalities can be listening to the same the same music. They can also have different appearances but can be doing the same race and be judged the same way. He used characterization in this by showing very different people and different appearances can be listening to the same thing at the same place. He showed that they both do very different things in there life. “Her black eyes glittered like coal” means that the ladies was eyes were dull and wasn’t really elegant. “Her hair a cuckoo’s nest” the ladies hair was really messy and is curled like a cuckoo’s nest. This can limit what one person can do In the story “Sonny’s Blues” James Baldwin argues that race can change how someone can see you through character. In this part of the passage is when the narrator’s mother is telling him about what had happened to his uncle. The mother is starting to cry over what had happened to him. The narrator’s uncle was killed by white men and the narrator is shocked about what had happened to him. “Well your father’s brother, being always kind a frisky decided to run down this hill… and ran across this road… This car was full of white men. They was all drunk… aimed the car straight at him… when he tried to jump it was too late.” In this part of the passage the uncle is all drunk crossing the street. When he crossing white men drives and crash into his uncle. The white men speed off and they didn’t care how the narrator’s uncle was. The uncle was hit by white men. White men hated the African American race because they were seen as inferior to them and they were once their slave. James Baldwin mentions that it was white men who crashed his uncle because they hated black people. If it was a white man walking the white men in the car would have not tried to crash into him or even try to scare him. Even if the white men crashed into a white man they would have stopped and not just drive away like nothing had happened when they crashed into him. This shows how racism affects how one sees another person. The white men see the African American race as weak. James Baldwin argues in “Sonny’s Blues” that race can change the way someone sees you through the use of characterization.
In this part of the passage, the narrator can’t get his mind off how his brother had ended up in jail. He thinks about how close he and his brother are those teenagers outside of school, cussing, laughing, and joking around. He starts to realize that how he could have ended up like his brother. “The narrator said, “When the last bell rang … I listened to the boys outside talking, laughing, and cursing. Their laughter struck me for the first time… and in them I heard my brother I heard myself.” The narrator is describing how his brother sounded like the boys outside. Also, how he can hear himself in those boys. The narrator is starting to notice that how close he and his brother is in other people. He starts to notice how his brother really is. The narrator is starting to get his brother a little. He staring to get his brother; what his brother is doing and why he doing certain things. Person can’t know one person by just seeing or hearing things about them. You can never judge them by how the look and what they do with there. What one person does or looks doesn’t mean they’ll always be like. For example: when white men see African American men as weak or slaves
(non-human). Through the use of characterization and character in “Sonny’s Blues” James Baldwin argues that race limits what a person can do and how someone sees you. Race limits what one person can do because racial difference people didn’t want to talk to a different race and they didn’t want people from a different race to work for them. Race can change how some people sees another person. One person can change how they see one person by because they are from a different race and because they were from a different race. James Baldwin wrote “Sonny’s Blues” to show how people deals with racism. “Sonny’s Blues” has written to show how horrible racism is. Racism is the main cause of most of the people.