Friday, February 15, 2019
Communicating Through Music in Sonnyââ¬â¢s Blues by James Baldwin Essay
Historically, strong family relationships gift been emphasized by American society. Strong family ties have been significant to maintaining anicteric lifestyles and relationships across many purifications, including African American culture. Sonny, the younger brother in James Baldwins Sonnys color, has suffered from a heroin addiction which caused him to separate from both his p arnts and his older brother. The essay portrays two brothers who crusade with their difficult Harlem environment, cultural issues, and their emotional detachment from one another. As the brothers beat with their inner conflicts and outward environmental struggles, they are reunited through a harsh theme in the essay medicinal drug. Baldwin empowers Sonny with a gift of strange musicianship, and uses this gift to enlighten and empower the narrator. Baldwins essay narrates the trials of the narrator on his journey to self- discovery and the brothers trial of retraceing their brotherly bond with mus ic as their guide. The essay uses music as a form of dialogue between the brothers and symbolizes it as a powerful force in their relationship. In Baldwins essay, Sonnys Blues, the narrator and Sonny are empowered through music, and through this empowerment, the music is able to rekindle and rebuild the brothers relationship.During the first half of the 20th century, Harlem became a mecca for African American culture and ideas. Home to the Harlem Renaissance, Harlem housed many influential African American leaders and influenced frequently of African American culture of the 20th century. Harlems population change integrity during the 1920s-30s due to the Harlem Renaissance, and continued to expand until reaching its peak during the 1950s. The decade of the 195... ...frican American Musicians as Artists, Critics, and Activists. Berkeley, CA University of California, 2002. 54-100. EBSCOhost. Web. 8 May 2015. Sonnys Blues by James Baldwin. Short Story Criticism. Ed. Anna Sheets-Ne sbitt. Vol. 33. Detroit Gale Group, 1999. 115-157. Literature Criticism Online. Gale. Web. 3 May 2015. http//galenet.galegroup.com.db24.linccweb.org/servlet/LitCrit/lincclin_spjc/FJ3593150004Tracey, Sherard. Sonnys Bebop Baldwins Blues Text as Intracultural Critique. African American Review32.4 (1998) 691-705. JSTOR. Web. 9 May 2015. .
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