James Baldwin 's Blues For Mister Charlie

Because of human nature, every person alive will experience suffering. Suffering is unavoidable, undeniable, and a part of every person’s life. Suffering is often an idea explored in literature, and in the short story Sonny’s Blues, by James Baldwin, the narrator is faced with the darkness and suffering he has dealt with throughout his life, along with the struggles of dealing with his brother, Sonny. The narrator, in denial about the suffering he has become accustomed to in Harlem, can deny it no longer after the literal and metaphorical death of his daughter Grace, and only find salvation after listening to, and comprehending his brother Sonny's music. The darkness of Harlem has always brought suffering to it’s residents, and it is often

In James Baldwin 's short story "Sonny 's Blues" a young man questions his brotherly obligations after finding that his younger brother has been arrested for using drugs. In the attempt to rectify his younger brother 's behavior and life, the young man faces his own feelings for his brother and comes to terms with the life his brother Sonny lives. The developments of certain elements-plot, character, point of view, setting, symbolism-in the story help accentuate the narrator 's struggles and theme(s) of the story.

In Richard Wright’s novel, Black Boy, Richard is struggling to survive in a racist environment in the South. In his youth, Richard is vaguely aware of the differences between blacks and whites. He scarcely notices if a person is black or white, and views all people equally. As Richard grows older, he becomes more and more aware of how whites treat blacks, the social differences between the races, and how he is expected to act when in the presence of white people. Richard, with a rebellious nature, finds that he is torn between his need to be treated respectfully, with dignity and as an individual with value and his need to conform to the white rules of society for survival and acceptance.

Baldwin, however, describes his father as being a very black-like “African tribal chieftain” (64) who was proud of his heritage despite the chains it locked upon him. He is shown to be one with good intentions, but one who never achieved the positive outcome intended. His ultimate downfall was his paranoia such that “the disease of his mind allowed the disease of his body to destroy him” (66). Baldwin relates the story of a white teacher with good intentions and his father’s objection to her involvement in their lives because of his lack of trust for any white woman. His father’s paranoia even extended to Baldwin’s white high school friends. These friends, although they could be kind, “would do anything to keep a Negro down” (68), and they believed that the “best thing to do was to have as little to do with them as possible” (68). Thus, Baldwin leaves the reader with the image of his father as an unreasonable man who struggled to blockade white America from his life and the lives of his children to the greatest extent of his power. Baldwin then turns his story to focus on his own experience in the world his father loathed and on his realization that he was very much like his father.

In If Beale Street Could Talk and “Sonny’s Blues,” author James Baldwin shows that embracing suffering, rather than being trapped by it, leads to growth and enlightenment.

Imagine a person being labeled as inferior because of a complexion they cannot control. African Americans have been treated unfairly solely because of the color of their skin throughout history. The idea behind this is what is defined as colorism, which is the prejudice or discrimination against individual with a dark skin tone, typically among people of the same ethnic group (Oxford Dictionary). Colorism has been prominent throughout history, allowing discrimination and hatred towards people with darker skin, more specifically African Americans. In a world filled with racism, prejudice, discrimination, colorism is another factor that has similar effects when it comes to the treatment of African Americans. Martin Luther Kings Jr.’s, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man both connect to the role that colorism plays in the lives of African Americans. Martin Luther King’s letter explicitly explains how society influences colorism and how it creates injustices. Ellison’s novel gives further insight on the more psychological and personal affect colorism has on Black people by using lots of symbolism in the novel throughout the novel to portray it. Constantly being put down because of how dark someone is will eventually lower an individual’s confidence, knowing that they will miss out on opportunities simply because they have darker skin. Colorism negatively affects how people treat African Americans and also how African Americans feel about themselves.

In discussions of the outcomes of suffering, one controversial issue has been whether the lessons learned through suffering outweigh the pain of the moment. In his short story, “Sonny’s Blues,” James Baldwin tells the story of a young boy’s relationship with his brother, as well as their lives growing up in Harlem. As both boys struggled to lead a life they were proud of while trying to understand each other's differences, Baldwin highlights the overarching theme of redemption through suffering. Rather than using one’s pains and hardships to sever ties, suffering should be seen as a universal bond that holds humans together. In “Sonny’s Blues,” Baldwin repeatedly uses moments of pain to connect the characters in his story, demonstrating that

Sonny's Blues is a short story written by James Baldwin. In this story, Baldwin helps us understand the different ways people experience pain and suffering. It is a story about two brothers and the way they cope with pain and suffering in dissimilar ways. As the story begins, Sonny was arrested for using heroine while his brother was a teacher at school. In the end, we see Sonny playing some blues in a club while his brother listens and this is when we learn that, the music helps the brothers to deal with their pain and suffering.

In the world of Harlem, New York the cruelties of the world become incandescently prominent. James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” addresses the foreboding power of pain in a world where someone’s coping skills dictate the course of their life. The story depicts a person’s options to ignore pain, create a reason for pain, or accept pain and live within it. Baldwin explains the theme of pervasive pain and parent’s attempt to shield children from it through the characters. Their reaction to pain constructs a motif of pain management.

James Baldwin, an African American author born in Harlem, was raised by his violent step-father, David. His father was a lay preacher who hated whites and felt that all whites would be judged as they deserve by a vengeful God. Usually, the father's anger was directed toward his son through violence. Baldwin's history, in part, aids him in his insight of racism within the family. He understands that racists are not born, but rather racist attitudes and behaviors are learned in the early stages of childhood. Baldwin's Going to Meet the Man is a perfect example of his capability to analyze the growth of a innocent child to a racist.

The play Blues for Mister Charlie, of James Baldwin was a successful theatrical play. It has been famous because of the plot’s capturing scheme and because of its playwrights clever ways of stating everyday issues in sharp and clever manner. According to Mark Blankenships, “some plays grapple with history; however some feel like history themselves.” Blues for Mister Charlie, a 1964 drama by James Baldwin, is a part of history replayed as clearly and vividly as possible. The play was inspired by the execution of Emmett Till, an African-American boy whose white attackers went free without prosecution; the powerful subject has been motivated by the documentary "The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till." Baldwin, however, takes a simple story and

Furthermore, this essay gives a perspective on what a Black man goes through. Brent wanted to enlighten his readers about daily life as an African American man. This meant explaining his view of the public from his perspective. By bringing these issues to light, he

“Sonny’s Blues” is an emotional story written by an amazing author, James Baldwin, who has come to be one of my favorite writers. This particular piece talks about the troubles of African American freeing themselves from the mental bondages of their surroundings, the ghetto. The title is significant, and helped me to understand the underlining meaning of the story. The title can be divided into two main reasons, the first, “Sonny’s Blues, meaning the music he plays. Second is the reference to his life, his feelings, his style, and most importantly his way of life.

Before arriving in a small village in Switzerland, Baldwin had already been told that his presence would be startling because black people were rarely seen. The children would scream “Neger!”(2) when they saw him passing, men sometimes blamed him for stealing, and most of the woman looked away when he was in sight. He felt an innocence to their genuine wonder and that they didn't mean to be unkind or racist. Baldwin states that being in the village, he felt he “was simply a living wonder” (2) and not treated as a human being. The people touched him as if his skin color would rub off and compared his hair to “the color of tar”(2). They way the people treated him was innocent but it still reminded him of all of the intentional

James Baldwin in his play “Blues for Mister Charlie” describes the racial hatred between the white town and the black town. The play concerns with Richard, a black man who returns to the South with a gun to recover from drug addiction and start a new life. Richard carries a gun with him as he returns, but he passes the gun to his father voluntarily. At the end, Richard was killed by a white man named Lyle for his provocative behavior. Why is Richard carrying a gun and why did he gives it to Meridian? Richard is afraid of being exposed as weak and vulnerable because it will compromise his felt sense of masculinity; therefore, he carries a gun to make his appearance as a strong man who would never bow down to oppression. Richard was