Students Name Course Number Professor Title Date Comparing Sonny’s Blues and Going to Meet the Man: James Baldwin Introduction “Sonny Blues” is one of the stories that make James Baldwin highly regarded as one of the great writers of his time. The story involves the narrator (a jazz musician) with his brother authored in 1950’s Harlem. The main character, Sonny is whom Baldwin centers his story. Sonny is a depressed young man who uses music to escape from his problems. One of the exciting things about the story is how the art of jazz is captures during Baldwin’s era. The story has a variety of themes which mostly move around and reflect on forms of suffering. For example, in one of the themes, Baldwin shows how important music is in bringing change and understanding within relationships yet in another, he tells how guilt can lead to suffering. “Sonny’s Blues” and “Going to meet the Man” are two short stories where Baldwin’s work is unique and …show more content…
Baldwin grew up a poor boy, and a Negro in white America whose things could only get worse for him and his family. Sadness brought by this situation could only make him turn to books for entertainment and solace. “Going to Meet the Man” talks of suffering of black activist in the hand of whites. With the white sheriff who rejoice in mercilessly beating black activist, Baldwin brings out suffering as a theme in this stories. Through reading, he discovers he enjoys it a lot and decides to compose stories for other people to get entertained. His circumstances like being a poor Negro boy means he cannot get help so he learns by himself. A common idea of Baldwin is that he happens to write more significant essays rather than fictions or dramatic pieces (Mays). It is through his efforts that he decides to concentrate on his most common theme, “one's discovery of self-identity” which is recurring and broadcasted greatly in his short story “Sonny’s