Masculinity In Sonny's Blues

"Sonny's Blues" is kind of a tough story to read for a lot of reasons, not least of which is that it focuses so much on human suffering. Here is an example of James Baldwin’s illustration of these boys suffering “These boys, now, were living as we'd been living then, they were growing up with a rush and their heads bumped abruptly against the low ceiling of their actual possibilities”(Kelley, 2015). This is something we can all relate to on some level. When Sonny is in high school he turns to drugs because he feels trapped in Harlem, trapped in school, and trapped by what he's supposed to do versus what he wants to do. He's trying to find his way in the world, not quite an adult but definitely not a kid anymore. This is a position are found

So he sketched out a scene titled "Hills Like White Elephants." Throughout the story, the American behaves according to Hemingway’s rigid conception of masculinity. Hemingway portrays the American as a rugged man’s man—knowledgeable, worldly, and always in control of himself and the situation at hand. Even when vexed or confused, he maintains his cool and feigns indifference, such as when he tells the girl he doesn’t care whether she has the operation. He initially avoids discussion of their problems, but when pressured, he tackles them head on by oversimplifying the operation and relentlessly pushing her to have it. Thinking himself to be the more reasonable of the two, he patronizes the girl and fails to provide the sympathy and understanding she needs during the crisis. Which is very clear in this quote from the story, “That's all we do, isn't it -- look at things and try new drinks” (Kelly, 2015) Uncompromising, he seems to identify more with the other passengers “waiting reasonably” at the station than with his own girlfriend at the end of the story, which suggests that the two will go their separate ways. So: what do they really want to say to each other? Sadly, we'll never know for sure. This story—deceptively simple—is anything but straightforward. "Hills Like White Elephants" is a great portrait of how we talk at, to, and past each other; how we can go on and on and never quite get at what it is we really want to