Baldwin and Ellison

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews and discusses James Baldwin's book "Sonny's Blues" and Ralph Ellison's book "Invisible Man". The paper takes a look at how these two literary works depict the Black Man's struggle throughout the 1940s and 1950s. The paper also discusses their struggle for financial independence; for equality; for self-expression and self-hood.

From the Paper:

"Then he goes home (to the projects). Even here, however, the relative stability of wife and family are there to greet him. The narrator has not managed to escape his and Sonny's upbringing altogether, but he has managed to avoid certain pitfalls Sonny obviously has not. However, the existence (and mention by Baldwin) of such public housing projects anyway, and the fact of Baldwin's unnamed narrator's living there, in fact underscores the 1950's-era (pre-EEO) efforts by the government to counteract prejudices against blacks in housing and other areas) the guilt-laden older brother of the title character, Sonny, who is an accomplished blues pianist but also a heroin addict. And now the narrator knows from the newspaper that Sonny was arrested last night for possessing and selling heroin. The news causes the narrator, as he leaves school for the day, to begin to recall his and Sonny's childhoods, teenage years, and young adulthoods, and also vividly reminds him of his own strong feelings, inculcated in him by their late mother, of brotherly responsibility toward Sonny. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Baldwin, James. "Sonny's Blues." In Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry and Drama. Fourth Compact Ed. New York: Pearson, 2005. 53-76
• 'Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954)'. Wikipedia. December 7, 2006. Retrieved December 7, 2006, from: <http://en. wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_v._Board_of_Education.html>.
• Ellison, Ralph. "Battle Royal." Invisible Man. New York: The Modern Library, 1994.
• "Harlem Renaissance." Wikipedia. December 1, 2006. Retrieved December 7, 2006, from: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlem_Renaissance.html>.
• "President's Committee on Civil Rights" Wikipedia. December 4, 2006.

More papers on Baldwin and Ellison:

• Analytical Essay # 67139 : "Baldwin, Ellison and Wright"
• Analytical Essay # 4004 : "What's In a Name: Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man"
• Essay # 22649 : "Black Experience in American Culture"

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