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What Are The Similarities Between Sonny's Blues And I Stand Here Ironing

1580 Words7 Pages

Avril Bobienko
Mr. Houston
VU Composition and Literature
9 February 2023
Sonny's Blues and I Stand Here Ironing Comparisons
Tillie Olsen’s “I Stand Here Ironing” (ISHI) and James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” (SB) are stories that have similar characteristics but simultaneously are opposites. Through “I Stand Here Ironing” one is taken through a journey of the mother’s regrets. In “Sonny’s Blues” one is told the story of 2 brothers who struggle with their relationship due to drug addiction. Although ISHI and SB are similar in Sonny and Emily’s inability to have people understand them and how it has led to them using scapegoats to distract them from reality, the differ vastly in settings and symbolism.
Despite the fact both stories are in completely …show more content…

Unfortunately, they are both trapped physically in the environment that they lived, and emotionally with the constant unintentional neglect from Sonny’s brother and Emily’s mother. Emily found her escape through being on stage preforming comedy for others, her mother states “Now suddenly she was Somebody, and as imprisoned in her difference as in anonymity” (Olsen 6). Emily was now her own being, not the person she was forced to be for her entire life. Being on stage changed who Emily was, since she was constantly being shut out from her mother. Emily was able to be acknowledged more than she ever has before, and it made her radiate her charisma to others. Even Emily’s own mother realized how strange was that she is so funny and even goes as far as to say, “Where does it come from, that comedy?” (Olsen 3). Her mother is aware of what she has gone through, which is why it was so surprising to her that no matter how difficult or hard her life had been, she can still find ways to entertain through comedy. Likewise, Sonny found his escape through preforming blues. Sonny was able to finally capture the attention of his brother when preforming the blues. The theme of “listening” vs “hearing” is demonstrated all throughout the story. Sonny’s brother finally “hears” what Sonny is saying when he is preforming, Sonny’s brother states “But the man who creates the music is …show more content…

Both Baldwin and Olsen demonstrate the harsh realities of some people’s lives through their realistic fiction shorts stories.

Works Cited
Bao, Zhongming, and Mindan Wei. "A psychoanalytic interpretation of mother-daughter relationship in" I stand here ironing"." Journal of Language Teaching and Research 7.2 (2016): 340.
Robertson, Patricia R. (1991) "Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues”: The Scapegoat Metaphor," Studies in English, New Series: Vol. 9 , Article 17.
Tackach, James. 2007. "The Biblical Foundation of James Baldwin’s ‘Sonny’s Blues'." Renascence: Essays on Values in Literature 59 (2).
Tracy, Steven C. "Sonny in the Dark: Jazzing the Blues Spirit and the Gospel Truth in James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues”." James Baldwin Review 1.1 (2015):

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