James Baldwin (writer) | Criticism

This literature criticism consists of approximately 5 pages of analysis & critique of James Baldwin (writer).
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James Baldwin (writer) | Criticism

This literature criticism consists of approximately 5 pages of analysis & critique of James Baldwin (writer).
This section contains 1,267 words
(approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the Critical Essay by Donald C. Murray

In the world of "Sonny's Blues," the short story by James Baldwin, the author deals with man's need to find his identity in a hostile society and, in a social situation which invites fatalistic compliance, his ability to understand himself through artistic creation which is both individual and communal. "Sonny's Blues" is the story of a boy's growth to adulthood at a place, the Harlem ghetto, where it's easier to remain a "cunning child," and at a time when black is not beautiful because it's simpler to submerge oneself in middle-class conformity, the modish antics of the hipster set, or else, at the most dismal level, the limbo of drug addiction, rather than to truly find oneself. Sonny's brother, the narrator of the story, opts for the comforts of a respectable profession and his specialty, the teaching of algebra, suggests his desire for standard procedures and elegant, clear-cut...

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This section contains 1,267 words
(approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the Critical Essay by Donald C. Murray
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Critical Essay by Donald C. Murray from Gale. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.