Comparison between Sonny's Blues and The Jewelry

Outline

Introduction

This part introduces the topic of the paper

"Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin

This part discusses and analyze the story of Sonny Blues by James Baldwin

"The Jewelry" by Guy de Maupassant

This part discusses and analyze the story of The Jewelry by Guy de Maupassant

Conclusion

This part concludes the paper.Introduction

Sonny's Blues is a story about a man and his brother while The Jewelry is the story about a man and his wife. Both of the stories revolve around the sufferings of the main characters and main characters of both the stories are not aware and fully understand their brother and wife respectfully. This paper analysis both the stories and compares the plot.

"Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin

The short story, “Sonny's Blues,” is written by James Baldwin and is a story about a young black man named Sonny which is narrated by his unnamed older brother. Sonny gets addicted to heroin and is sent to jail. His elder brother watches his self destruction and wants desperately to stop and save his brother, yet he doesn't know how to. Sonny is going through a phase of self discovery and is trying hard to understand himself as well as the world he lives in. his older brother has already “made it” and wants his younger brother to get his act together. The narrator, Sonny's elder brother, is torn by the fact that he is unable to help out his brother. He feels sad that he has been unable to develop a close bond with his younger brother. The brothers do not communicate with each other for years after several fights.

The story also has a flashback in which more of the brothers' relationship and bonding is revealed. The flashback also shows how their mother had asked Sonny's elder brother to take care of Sonny (Baldwin, pp. 34). The narrator goes off to a war and forgets the promise he had made to his mother. When their mother dies, the narrator remembers his promise and comes back. The brothers have a talk together in which Sonny reveals his interest in music. The narrator doesn't approve his brother's interest. He arranges for his brother to get into the collage and stay with his wife's family till he graduates. However, Sonny soon realizes that he is a burden for the family. After that he joins the navy which leaves to a fight between both the brothers.

After the narrator's daughter dies, Sonny writes a letter to his brother from the jail and explains what had happened to him and how he got to where he is today. The brothers then maintain a regular contact with each other and after serving his term in the jail, Sonny comes to live with his brother upon his invitation. Eventually Sonny invites his elder brother to see him perform in a jazz club. While Sonny is performing, the narrator truly sees his little brother as what he is. As he watches his brother struggling to perform well, the narrator finally ...