Affliction In Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin

It was not the joyous laughter which God knows why-one associates with children. It was mocking and insular, its intent was to denigrate.” (Baldwin, Sonny’s Blues) The Narrator also talks about the “vivid, killing streets of our childhood,” as he finally understands the danger Sonny is trying to escape and finally finds the truth of his mother's advice. “ You may not be able to stop nothing from happening.

However, despite being “unsure of their futures, with nowhere to direct their anger and no one to assuage their fears” (GEN X – SITE SOURCE), the characteristic of Generation X which really draws parallels to Palahniuk’s novel is the high divorce rate of the time. The impact of an influential feminized society is yet again bolstered by the norm of a woman being in complete control as a result of fathers leaving the household. In the novel, Jack mentions his absent father, and thus begins seeing a father figure in Tyler after having lacked strong male models whilst growing up. To the cohort of members in Fight Club feeling effeminate as a result, Tyler concludes that they are a “generation of men raised by women” (PAGE), further nourishing the men’s desire to fight and express their wrath to regain their identities. Due to their upbringing, the men in Fight Club lack a masculine portrayal, and hence idealize Tyler as the sole example of what masculinity should be.

Trish sure did. But Dad carried a war in his skull, and Trish was a drunk. Gracie’s parents didn’t have anything like that to deal with, but their daughter was falling apart on the bathroom floor” (Anderson 127). As a result of the realistic portrayal of these characters and the dilemmas in their lives, these characters bring life to the story and evoke the reflection of one’s own morals and beliefs.

Roy decides to go anyway, telling John not to tell anyone as he will be back soon. There Roy gets into a fight and gets hurt and starts bleeding. He is brought back into the house and as the father gets home, he tries to blame his step-mother and John for letting Roy go there. The father favors Roy because he is his real son and John the step-son serves as the scapegoat. Filled with meaningful themes, Baldwin’s most recurring theme is ghetto and poor city violence (F).

Afterwards she heard that one man on the jury, one of the Cunninghams wanted to acquit Mister Robinson. Upon hearing this she was relieved and wanted to invite his son for dinner, but my sister forbade that. On the other hand Jem was furious and cried. He cried because of the injustice of the verdict he always had thought that people from Maycomb were the best in the world but after this trial he did not think so anymore. The decision was indeed unfair, but it seems that only children cry and think about how careless people really are.

Jim tells Huck he hit her for not listening to get to work, but he then finds out she has been recently made dea when she did not react to the door slamming shut from the wind. He realizes he hit her when she never even heard Jim to begin with. Jim was so distraught begging for forgiveness from the Lord and his daughter, because he would never forgive himself for his mistake. This shows Jim’s deep rooted connection with love of others and his humanity. Not only that, but Huck realizes he cares deeply for his family and is capable of emotions that otherwise racist ideologies have told him are not possible.

Jem usually ignores people who talk trash about their family but when someone insults Atticus he would be furious but Atticus teaches him to be a gentleman and ignore the hateful comments. One other neighbor, Boo Radley is always behind doors but he shows Scout that he is not a bad person. Atticus knew it was Boo who covered up Scout but Scout says “Thank who?” and Atticus replies with “Boo Radley. You were so busy looking at the fire you didn’t know it when he put the blanket around you” (72).

Pure Injustice William Goodwin once said “No man knows the value of innocence and integrity but he who has lost them.” In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Scout Finch, a young girl, lives with her brother Jem and her father Atticus, a prominent lawyer, in the town of Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. Due to Atticus’ high moral standards, he feels obligated to take on a case where he defends Tom Robinson, an African American. Robinson is being wrongfully accused of raping Mayella Ewell, who is part of the most disgraced family in the town. Throughout the book, the Finch children realize the extreme prejudice and social inequality of Maycomb.

Emily from “A Rose for Emily,” is oppressed by her father who passed away. Faulkners writes, “We did not say she was crazy then. We believed she had to do that. We remembered all the young men her father had driven away, and we knew that with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will” (Page 4). In the short story, Emily’s father is proven to have been oppressive to her after running off every young gentleman that came around looking to court Miss.

The following pages will discuss Huckleberry Finn, a very young kid that father was very abusive with no other family members to take care of him. These two older women tried to care for Huck by the name of Widow Douglas and Miss Watson, they tried to raise him the good old-fashioned way but Huck was too street smarts and hyper to listen to abide by the rules anyway, plus his drunken, despicable dad played a part in his action also. Huck was a fast thinker at all times he faked his death, after his dad tried to get the ladies to sell there slave by the name of Jim to give him money if they wanted to continue to raise Huck. After faking his death, he decided to go down the Mississippi River.

Blanca cried on the night of that conversation. She said Victor 's father, Michael Walker, had already shed his own tears over his son 's UMess at UMass. Walker was the Paterson firefighter who had introduced Victor to football over Blanca 's objections. The mother preferred baseball, karate and tae kwon do for her son, anything to keep him out of trouble in a neighborhood where it was easy to find it.

Fourthly, Mr. B confessed that he paid out of pocket for his father’s previous fender benders rather than contacting the insurance company for fear of legal repercussions. This piece of evidence is key because it shows guilt and that he knows that allowing his father to drive is wrong. Fifthly, Mr. B does not deny or argue with Dr. Y’s concerns, he simply yells and tells the doctor that his family was none od her business. Finally, Mr. B agreed to take steps to prevent his father from driving, but failed to stay true to his word when his father got into yet another accident. The difference with this particular accident was that it obviously was damaging enough to be published in a newspaper.

Bone may seem like a reckless teenager to many at the beginning, but, in actuality, is the product of his parents mistakes. Falling victim to an alcoholic mother and abusive stepfather drives Bone to act out. His father addresses his failed parenting by saying, “the kid doesn 't know right from wrong”(21). Without parental guidance Bone begins to get into trouble and eventually decides to move out of his parents apartment and into a new one with his friend Russ alongside a motorcycle gang. After his parents confront Bone about the situation at hand, Bone refuses to move back in after realizing that “They would’ve let me come back if I’d wanted but only if I could be a different person than I was which was not only impossible but unfair”(18).

He went into the navy after that, and after coming out of the navy, was arrested for using and selling heroin. All the anguish, trouble, and suffering that Sonny went through to become who he was, was put into a song and that was Sonny’s blues.

Gradually as, Tom lives his life he see how his parents’ approval came with a cost. When Tom finally had it with himself for killing his sister by accident, he thought of committing suicide, but the thought of,” ….Liza’s disapproval. She could make anyone suffer if she disapproved” (Steinbeck 408). Just the thought of his mother reminds him of the days how his mother can disapprove of him causing him great pain. The same pain that it took him to get an approval from her is the pain that he has to face with the consequences of his actions.