A Loss of Identity in “Sonny’s Blues” and “The Yellow Wallpaper”
It can be said that every human has basic needs with the obvious ones being food, water, shelter and clothing. There are of course other needs like love, acceptance and a sense of identity, all of which are fundamental to happiness and wellbeing. A sense of identity is the understanding of who a person is, their beliefs, passions and characteristics. It reflects how they relate to others and it brings the individual a sense of purpose. In “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin, the character Sonny finds his identity in his passion for music and in the story of “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the narrator finds her identity in her love of writing. When life takes …show more content…
He said, “I’d never played the role of the older brother quite so seriously before,” (Baldwin 282). When Sonny declared, “I’m going to be a musician”, (Baldwin 282), the narrator became very concerned that Sonny was being foolish. He wanted Sonny to finish school and focus on making a living rather than choosing the life of a musician hanging around nightclubs. Sonny became very defensive and said to his brother, “But what I don’t seem to be able to make you understand is that it’s the only thing I want to do” (Baldwin 283). After many arguments the two brothers eventually fell out and Sonny did not want to have anything to do with his …show more content…
The story takes place in the 1900’s, at a time when women did not have the same rights as men. Women’s primary job was to raise children and take care of the home. The narrator appears to be an imaginative and creative woman who desires more than the usual household tasks and child rearing that was the norm amongst women of that time. After giving birth to her child she becomes depressed and unable to cope. When her husband insists that they move away for several months so that she can rest and recover, things take a turn for the worse. The husband John is a doctor and insists that his wife should rest and not write or do any sort of work. The woman longs to be able to write freely whenever she feels the need, “I think sometimes that if I were only well enough to write a little it would relieve the press of ideas and rest me” (Gilman 782). Her husband does not want her to write at all, “There comes John, and I must put this away, - he hates to have me write a word” (Gilman 781). She is not able to give up her writing and so she writes when John is away at work during the
It can be said that every human has basic needs with the obvious ones being food, water, shelter and clothing. There are of course other needs like love, acceptance and a sense of identity, all of which are fundamental to happiness and wellbeing. A sense of identity is the understanding of who a person is, their beliefs, passions and characteristics. It reflects how they relate to others and it brings the individual a sense of purpose. In “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin, the character Sonny finds his identity in his passion for music and in the story of “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the narrator finds her identity in her love of writing. When life takes …show more content…
He said, “I’d never played the role of the older brother quite so seriously before,” (Baldwin 282). When Sonny declared, “I’m going to be a musician”, (Baldwin 282), the narrator became very concerned that Sonny was being foolish. He wanted Sonny to finish school and focus on making a living rather than choosing the life of a musician hanging around nightclubs. Sonny became very defensive and said to his brother, “But what I don’t seem to be able to make you understand is that it’s the only thing I want to do” (Baldwin 283). After many arguments the two brothers eventually fell out and Sonny did not want to have anything to do with his …show more content…
The story takes place in the 1900’s, at a time when women did not have the same rights as men. Women’s primary job was to raise children and take care of the home. The narrator appears to be an imaginative and creative woman who desires more than the usual household tasks and child rearing that was the norm amongst women of that time. After giving birth to her child she becomes depressed and unable to cope. When her husband insists that they move away for several months so that she can rest and recover, things take a turn for the worse. The husband John is a doctor and insists that his wife should rest and not write or do any sort of work. The woman longs to be able to write freely whenever she feels the need, “I think sometimes that if I were only well enough to write a little it would relieve the press of ideas and rest me” (Gilman 782). Her husband does not want her to write at all, “There comes John, and I must put this away, - he hates to have me write a word” (Gilman 781). She is not able to give up her writing and so she writes when John is away at work during the