Topic > The question of equality and personal identity in "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin

In “Sonny's blue”, from the narrator's point of view, the narrative expresses his observations of the world and his thoughts on life describing Sonny's experience. Furthermore, the fiction depicts two very different lives by comparing the narrator's and Sonny's different experiences and different attitudes towards life. In fiction, the narrator chose to compromise to obtain the identity of traditional society and accept traditional social values. And thanks to his efforts, he lived a stable middle-class life. However, Sonny rebelled through rebellious actions such as drug abuse, thus achieving inner peace. At this time, the two brothers have very different views on life, thus forming a huge difference. Through the article we can see the process of the narrator's internal struggle, from not understanding Sonny's behavior to identification. In this article I will focus on the question of whether minorities in the United States must compromise traditional values ​​in the process of gaining mainstream social recognition. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay From the narrator's experience, we can see that even though he managed to get rid of his own neighborhood with his own efforts and lived a stable middle class life, the problem of identity is still in his heart. In fiction, he is a respected middle school teacher. In his growing community, he is one of the few to break free from the chaotic environment and change his life. At the beginning of the drama it is said that “I was scared, scared for Sonny. It became real for me again. A large block of ice settled in my belly and continued to slowly melt throughout the day as I taught algebra in my classes. (par.2) The narrator uses “ice” to imply that he has long been on the run from the reality of the past, in which most African Americans still lived restlessly, full of threats and suffering. The long-term stable life made him reluctant to face everything, so he froze everything like ice and stored it in the deepest part of his heart. Facing the great obstacles of a bad growth environment and personal career development, he finally got rid of his growth environment through his own efforts and self-control, not only in geographical location, but also in psychological aspect. How he described the young people on the street who look like Sonny. “Even though he was a grown man, he still hung around that block, still spent hours on street corners, was still tall and scruffy. I met him from time to time and he was often working. He always had great excuses too and I always gave them to him. I don't know why." The narrator describes and comments on this young man from an observer's point of view. He does not consider himself a member of them. On a deeper level, he was not willing to return to the identity he had once tried to get rid of However, the news of Sonny's arrest for drug use forced him to return to the cold reality in which many young African Americans still struggled to live. He realized that he was one of the few African Americans who could successfully become middle class. In fact, more and more African Americans will be defeated by reality and life will fall into darkness. They would break into the bottom of society and live an inferior and miserable life. We can say that his compromise and obedience to obtain the identity of traditional society they gave success. However, this caused the inner heart to fall into a huge contradiction. However, instead of accepting reality through obedienceto mainstream society, Sonny chose a completely different path from his brother as he faced the harsh life. He chose to fight and overcome. After their mother's funeral, the brothers had their first formal conversation. "What do you want to do?" I asked him. “I'm going to be a musician,” he said. “Well, you might think it's funny now, honey, but it won't be so funny when you have to make a living, let me tell you.” I was furious because I knew he was laughing at me and I didn't know why. We can say that this communication is a conversation between an inexperienced teenager and an experienced adult. This implies the contradiction between ideal and reality. Although the narrator is very concerned about his brother, he still does not agree with Sonny's ideals. This is the first point of conflict that indicates their different attitudes towards life. It seems that Sonny is not understood by others. As the narrator's wife describes Sonny: “And the sound didn't make any sense to her, it didn't make any sense to any of them, of course. They began, in a certain sense, to be afflicted by this presence that inhabited their home. It was as if Sonny was some kind of god or monster. He moved in an atmosphere that was not theirs at all." He couldn't find anyone in life who could understand him and communicate with him. He believed that music was a hope in his life that could take him away from the miserable life and make him find peace in his inner mind. So he closed himself off in his own world to express resistance. This also implies that, in the context of the times, many minority dreams are not recognized by mainstream society. After this, Sonny experienced many sufferings, such as running away, joining the army, taking drugs, being arrested. This makes him more mature and have a deeper understanding of life. The next conversation occurred after the death of the narrator's little daughter. “When he was singing earlier,” Sonny said, suddenly, “his voice reminded me for a moment of what heroin feels like sometimes, when it's coursing through your veins. It makes you feel hot and cold at the same time and distant. What Sonny was trying to say was that he could feel that woman's pain through her singing, but the narrator thought she was just making excuses for her drug addiction. He thought that everyone in the world could not escape suffering. So we just have to bear it and accept it. However, Sonny believed that even if people could not avoid suffering, they could still do our best to float above the sea instead of sinking. (par.197) From this conversation, we can see a big difference in the attitude of life between the narrator and Sonny. The narrator is a passive person, he accepts everything in life, including suffering and obstacles. Much of the reason for his passive attitude towards life is the last conversation with his mother. When she told him that some drunken white men had run down the hill in a moving car and killed her uncle. “He says he has never in his life seen anything as dark as that road after the lights of that car went out. Your dad never really recovered. Until the day he died he wasn't sure that every white man he saw was the man who killed his brother. I'm telling you this because you have a brother. And the world hasn't changed." (par.102) His mother's words had a great impact on him. This made him more cautious about the world. It protects itself by compromising traditional society. Furthermore, he wants to protect his little brother in the way he thinks is right. As for Sonny, he is a relatively active person. He is more willing to take risks and changes to see if he can change the state of the current situation. Believe..