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Sonny's Blue Character Analysis

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Characters analyzation In these stories there have been many different characters portrayed. The ones that stuck out the most that will be discussed are Sonny from “Sonny’s Blue”, Maggie from the short story “Recitatif”, and Georgiana from “The Birth Mark”. Sonny from the short story “Sonny’s Blue” is a very interesting character because of the way he was presented in the story. The first thing we learn about Sonny is that he got arrested for possession of drugs. We also learn that his brother the narrator who is telling the story doesn’t really care or seem to think it’s something that was not expected from Sonny. In the story Sonny is proclaimed as a musician that wants to follow his Dream, including gaining the acceptance of his brother. …show more content…

She is married to a scientist named Aylmer who is proficient in every form of philosophy. Georgiana is described as a young beautiful woman that is really caring and supportive of her husband Aylmer. However that is not what Aylmer feels. He loves his wife probably as much as she does him, but his love for science is even with it. He has one problem with his wife and it is her small hand looking birthmark on her cheek. Aylmer asked his wife “has it never occurred to you that the mark upon cheek might be removed”. (Hawthorne, 291). Georgiana turned and answered him with “No, indeed,” “Said she smiling; but, perceiving the seriousness of his manner, she blushed deeply.” “To tell you the truth, it has been so often called a charm, that I was simple enough to imagine it might be so”. (Hawthorne, 291). Through reading this short story we learn that Aylmer thinks the birth mark on poor Georgiana cheek is a flaw of her perfect existence. Finding out how much it means to Aylmer to remove the mark it tells us about how Georgiana feels unloved and in order to make her husband love her without feeling discussed she would have to let him try to remove the birthmark no matter what happens to

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He hasn’t seen his brother in about a year, but as he is walking out of his school he notices a familiar face and it turns out being one of his brother’s old friend. The old friend spoke to the narrator about how hard Sonny’s struggle is now and how it will still be a struggle later. The narrator went

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James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blue’s” makes great use of different literary devices throughout the story. The author utilizes conflict, symbolism, and the narrator’s point of view to give the story a deeper meaning and significance to the story. Sonny’s Blue’s is about an older brother’s relationship and differences with his younger brother, Sonny.

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Georgiana took note of Aylmer’s displeasure of the birthmark from the dream and through his stealthy stare, causing Georgina displeasure (Nathaniel Hawthorne 114). Aylmer’s further loathing of the birthmark, causes Georgiana to give up for the sake of his happiness. She tells, Aylmer after bringing up the conversation of the birthmark, “Either remove this dreadful hand, or take my wretched life!” (Nathaniel Hawthorne 114). Aylmer could have avoided tragedy, however he failed to listen to his assistant Aminadab, who stated he would “never part with that birthmark” (Nathaniel Hawthorne 114).

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Baldwin gives us an alternative space of darkness. This reference of darkness being depicted by the Narrator is his connection that the nightclub and what it stands for is symbolic to all the things negative associated in Harlem. The Narrator associates Jazz music and drugs as one of the same. “The waitress ran around, frantically getting in the last orders, guys and chicks got closer to each other, and the lights in the bandstand, on the quarter, turned to a kind of indigo.” The narrators idea of darkness is changed in this scene.

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For all the characters, Sonny was a son who helped his family and embraced his African heritage; these features were really considered and respected. Contrary to the narrator who melted or tried to melt in the American culture in order to survive, but the turning point occurred when he lost his daughter; so he recognize the pain of the others as well as his brother that he was forgotten during years ago. Besides, thanks to his brother’s music the narrator finds redemption. The evolution of the character’s trait moves from being a selfish person to a suffering man who finally finds peace deep inside himself.

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Sonny Blues Paul Pearshall once said “Our most basic instinct is not for survival but for family. Most of us would give our own life for the survival of a family member, yet we lead our daily life too often as if we take our family for granted”. In this story the conflict of responsibility takes place. A brother, who happens to be the narrator, blames his self for the events that takes place in his life, such as his brother sonny’s crack addiction. The Narrator feels responsible for his brother’s heroin addiction because he believed he shut his brother’s career goals down, felt as though he went against what his mother asked him to do, and because he chose not to believe that the way he treated his brother affected his brother life.

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The narrator keeps in mind that he has an obligation to watch his brother but he tore apart by his emotions which are shifting from love to hate. The reason is, he is unable to accept fully that his brother can change as much as he cares about him. Since he was young, Sonny is haunted

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On Georgiana’s face, there is a tiny handprint birthmark. Aylmer, her husband, grows strongly obsessed with the birthmark after they are married.. Consequently, all the time he spends observing the birth mark he believes that everything mortal is flawed and are on Earth temporarily. “It was a fatal flaw of humanity which Nature, in one shape or another, stamps inefficace bility on all her

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He uses this technique to guide the readers to understand the theme of how Aylmer inability to accept imperfection in the story and how it leads the loss of Georgiana. One of Hawthorne’s example of foreshadowing is when he says,” … he might have felt his affection heightened by the prettiness of his mimic hand, now vaguely portrayed, now lost, now stealing forth again and glimmering to and fro with every pulse of emotion that throbbed within her heart; but, seeing her otherwise so perfect, he found his one defect grow more and more intolerable with every moment of their united lives” (341). Hawthorne uses foreshadowing to emphasize how strongly uncomfortable Aylmer feels about Georgiana birthmark and what actions Aylmer is will to do to remove her birthmark. He cannot accept the fact that loving Georgiana results in loving and accepting her flaws, which he cannot do as well. He also, subtly gives the readers ideas of what is or could possibly happen later in the story in result of Aylmer’s ideals on

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The focus on “what could be” instead of “what really is” ruined Aylmer and it’s what ruins so many people in today’s culture. In The Birthmark as Georgina is dying it’s said that Aylmer’s assistant Aminadab, is chuckling but Hawthorne gives no reason as to why. Perhaps Aminadab sees the ridiculous and silliness of what Aylmer was trying to accomplish and can’t help himself from laughing. Maybe Aminadab sees the idiocy of trying to play against nature and is laughing because it took Aylmer so long to figure it

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But over time her one flaw the birthmark drives him to insanity which consumes him. Aylmer reassured Georgiana that he can rid her of this fatal flaw place by nature; “I feel myself fully competent to render this dear cheek as faultless as its fellow; and then, most beloved, what will by my triumph when I shall have corrected what Nature left imperfect in her fairest work” (Hawthorne, 401)! He feels compelled to remove the birthmark from her wife’s cheek and only then will she be all

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564 Words | 3 Pages

According to the narrator, every living thing is flawed in some way, nature’s way of reminding us that every living thing eventually dies. Aylmer’s revulsion for his wife’s birthmark suggests the horror he feels at the prospect of death. He is a smart man, but his misinterpretation of the symbol on Georgiana’s face leads him astray. He mistakenly comes to believe that if he can root out this symbol of transience, it will mean that he has the power to prolong life indefinitely. Aylmer also mistakenly believes that the birthmark represents Georgiana’s moral decrepitude and spiritual flaws even though she isn’t a woman prone to sin at all.

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477 Words | 2 Pages

As a result, Georgiana is heartbroken and now considers herself ugly. This is also important because this is the process in which one self esteem lowers. When someone points out another person’s flaws and imperfections, they usually began to obsess over this and no longer consider themselves attractive nor worthy. Until then, it had never been a problem but it began to intervene in their marriage and contributed to the deterioration of it. However, one day Aylmer tells Georgiana how he has been working on a concoction in order to remove the birthmark.

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1465 Words | 6 Pages

When the narrator accompanies Sonny to the nightclub to listen to him play his music; Sonny’s music portrays his wisdom as he plays about his brother’s frustrations with the trials and sufferings they both endured. Sonny’s artful playing of the blues opens the narrator’s heart to listen genuinely. If one listens to what lies on the inside that is the key to finding oneself. Joseph Flibbert states in the article “Sonny’s Blues” Overview, “In the music he hears, he sees his mother’s face, and that of his little girl … The powerful incantations of Sonny’s art reaches his soul, and for the first time, he listens to the dark voice within”.

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In the short story “The Birth-Mark” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the reader is introduced to a tragic love story that shows how foolhardy it is to make someone perfect. Hawthorne hammers this theme throughout the story of the scientist Aylmer and his lovely wife, Georgiana, who has a small, hand shaped birthmark on her cheek on the left side of her face. Aylmer develops a fixation on the birthmark that keeps his wife from being the image of perfection, and vows to use his scientific knowledge to remove it. Over the course of “The Birth-Mark” Hawthorne uses imagery and symbolism, figurative language, and type of narrator and narration. Hawthorne's use of vivid imagery and symbols to describe the conflict between Aylmer and the birthmark vividly highlights the conflict of Aylmer's love for Georgiana and his distaste of the birthmark.

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