Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” depicts the frustration of life in the cities of America and the ultimate transformation of the dissatisfaction into an artistic and political movement. The story is set in the period after World War II and in the middle of the revolution of the culture and politics that changes the entire country. In the story, the unnamed narrator wants to move beyond the traditional musical conventions towards the radical new movement. Baldwin’s style of writing is distinctive in the story as because of the “eloquence and rhetorical force’ (Spark’sNotes,com, 2014). The story of “A Temporary Home” shows the struggles in marriages how external factors influence the relationships. Similarly, the story of “Every Little Hurricane” shows the difficulties in families and how adults deal with the problems in the family. While there are many challenges in family relationships, each family often finds ways to deal with their problems and in the end the bonds of family remain intact.
The religious background of the writer adds to his use of the biblical imagery from the Book of Revelation. The “rocks in the middle of a boiling sea” to describe the housing situation in the projects, and the “cup of trembling” support the Biblical theme. In addition, the sentences include a biblical tone and rhythm as are evident in the final pages of the story. Sonny’s playing leaves the reader to note “I seemed to hear with what burning he had made it his, with what burning we had yet to make it ours, how we could cease lamenting.” Here, the message shows that Baldwin uses a biblical tone as he strives to show “a desire for peace and salvation, ideas that occur repeatedly throughout the Bible” (SparksNotes.com, 2014).
The theme of family is clear in the story. The narrator notes “I'm glad Mama and Daddy are dead and can't see what's happened to their son” (50). In addition, he notes that “”Sometimes it's better not to have family around than to have to live with the guilt of hurting or disappointing them” (57). He looks at the life that Sonny led and knew his parents would be disappointed. However, one can argue that it is the lack of family the created the drug addicted characters and leads to Sonny’s demise. The bond of brotherhood is intense between the brothers as the narrator notes that his role is to catch Sonny when he falls. The story forces the narrator to reflect on his past when Sonny was wild, but he was not crazy (4). The news o f his brother’s situation, leaves the character in a daze as he tries to teach his Mathematics class.
In the story “Every Little Hurricane” Sherman Alexie, shows the importance of family with his love for his mother and father. However, the negative aspects of the family are also clear. The writer shows that similar to Baldwin, families have their flaws as they do not get along in many cases, but both writers use the main narrators to show that despite the flaws in the family, love prevails. Alexie’s main character is simple in his thoughts and actions. He apologizes for the weather. The writer’s use of the analogy of the hurricane is technical as at first reading, the analogy is not clear. An in-depth analysis suggests that writer uses the storm to show the trials and emotional upheaval in families. The scene with the drunken parents, “During those long drinks, Victor’s father wasn’t shaped like a question mark. He looked more like an exclamation point” (page 6); the uncles, Adolph and Arnold they always fought with each other, nevertheless they share the bonds of understanding. The allusion to hurricanes is even clearer as families are not perfect, but in the end the love for family is important.
This negative implication is also clear in the story, “A Temporary Matter”. The marriages become shaky with the loss of the baby. The couple grows apart as both attempts to deal with the loss of the child in different ways. Unlike the male characters in the stories “Every Little Hurricane” and “Sonny’s Blues”, the male in the story “A Temporary Matter” shields his emotions carefully from his wife. It was not until the end of the story that he cries. The darkness in the story points the unshared secrets in the family. Similarly, the narrator in “Every Little Hurricane” cries. He cries because he is poor and unable to provide for his family. This event shows that the family is important to the character. In addition, the theme of family is clear in the story “Sonny’s Blues” The narrator is shaken by the predicament of Sonny, and while he cannot relate to his brother after he comes from jail, his wife helps him to adjust. Nonetheless, there is no doubt that the narrator loves his brother despite his flaws.
The families in the three short stories have challenges, yet they deal with them effectively. Each story shows the external factors of drugs, alcohol and death and the impact these factors have on the family structure. Sonny turns to drugs to relieve his stress, the narrator in “Sonny’s Blues” only reaches out physically to his brother after his daughter dies, Victor’s parents use alcohol and partying to relieve their stress, and Shukumar only shares his feelings and emotions after drinking wine in the dark. One can say that the characters each attempt to find ways to ease their burden. Ultimately, the love for each other shows. Even though the marriage in “A Temporary Matter” seems to dissolve in the end, the characters relive the moments of the love they once shared. Shukumar constantly reflects on the love for his wife, but the external factors are more powerful and in the end he loses her.
The three writers use different writing styles to bring out the sadness and challenge that family’s face and how different people deal with different problems. However, all three writers make use of simple language to bring their messages across. Each limits the use of figurative devices and one can say that this is an effort to ensure that the readers understand the issues in the family without having to dig too deep. The simple metaphor of the hurricane is easily understood as the writer looks at stormy relationships. On the other hand, the storm slowly builds in “Sonny’s Blues”, while “A Temporary Matter” represents the calm of the storm.
One of the major problems in every family is the lack of communication. “Sonny’s Blues” and “A Temporary Matter” looks at this issue. Both of the narrators bottle their feelings in side and this heightens the problems in their families. One could say that the narrator in “Every Little Hurricane” only shows his feelings because he is a child. Either way, the reader can conclude that adults and males in particular internalize their emotions, but in the end, they love in the same ways.
Reference
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Sonny’s Blues.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2007.
Web. 20 Jun. 2014.
