In the stories Sonny's Blues and The Man Who Was Almost a Man, James Baldwin and Richard Wright employ unique writing styles to achieve effective storytelling. Baldwin writes with a more distantly symbolic style, while Wright has a more immersive straightforward way of telling his story. Although both stories involve young African-American main characters, their main impacts are different; Sonny's Blues teaches lessons about overcoming addiction and being honest with oneself, while The Man Who Was Almost a Man focuses on the concept of growing up too quickly and failing to value childhood. In both stories however, the main characters are put in a situation in which they have to face responsibility for what has happened-- Sonny's brother to look over Sonny after what had happened to his father's brother, and Dave to accept the consequences of shooting the mule. The tales of responsibility are unique in style and literary devices but share the same ethnic background.
Baldwin is exceedingly reliant on symbolism to tell his story-- particularly the symbolic significance of the window. Characters are pictured looking out windows and subsequently looking into themselves. The windows in Sonny's Blues are a path to truth, and when characters look through windows, they are more honest with themselves than ever before. For example, Baldwin writes, "There Mama sat,in black, by the window" (Baldwin 48), and shortly after, Mama states, "'I want to talk to you about your brother'" (Baldwin 49). Thus, looking out the window gives Mama the courage to have a serious conversation about something that she has kept a secret for so long-- the death of her husband's brother. The story teaches the narrator an important lesson-- perhaps the most important lesson in the entire story-- to love and support his brother. Mama wants her son to appreciate his brother in the way that her husband didn't get the chance to. The story is centered around Sonny and the narrator's brotherly relationship, and the positive progression of their relationship is arguably because of Mama's story. Windows, in the story, are also indicative of a connection to God. For instance, deep in thought and looking out the window, Mama says, "'I praise my Redeemer...that He called your daddy home before me'" (Baldwin 50) Through this confession, Mama takes a valuable lesson from a tough time; she learns to appreciate her life and recognizes that it cannot last forever. From the death she has endured, she herself acquires insight on the value of life and passes on that knowledge to her son, advising him to take care of Sonny so that he may also have a fulfilling life. Such profound and honest realizations always seem to happen while a character is looking out a window, and the correlation between windows and honesty is not only limited to Mama. Sonny also has an epiphany of honesty at a window. Staging Sonny at the window, Baldwin writes, "'When she was singing before,' said Sonny, abruptly, 'her voice reminded me for a minute of what heroin feels like sometimes-- when it's in your veins'" (Baldwin 57). Sonny's honesty is alarming, as he previously seemed uncomfortable discussing his drug use with his brother, and the window is once again related to honesty and a relationship with God. Sonny alludes to the woman's religious singing and how it was inspiring to him. Similar to Mama, Sonny learns a lesson from a tough time-- that the feelings he gets from drugs can be felt in a healthier and more expressive way. Music. Music provides an escape for Sonny-- it gives him a feeling that he thought he could only get from drugs. Although it takes his brother a while to accept that music is the right thing for Sonny to pursue, once he does, they are both happier than ever. In fact, Sonny's brother finds the music to give him a similar feeling that it gives Sonny. The narrator "felt [his] own tears begin to rise" (Baldwin 62) because of the beautiful music Sonny had produced. Thus, the characters in Sonny's Blues attempt to understand each other, even though it is difficult. They teach themselves and each other the lessons they need to learn.
The characters in The Man Who Was Almost a Man, however, do not seem to learn lessons the way that Baldwin's characters do. For example, after Dave makes his grave mistake, accidentally shooting the mule, he continues to fire his gun. Wright writes, "Dave turned over, thinking of how he has fired the gun. He had an itch to fire it again." (Wright 868) Thus, Dave did not learn from his initial mistake, characterizing him as a boy rather than a man. Despite the lesson that Mr. Hawkins tries to teach Dave, making him pay two dollars a month out of his paycheck for killing the mule, he does not change his behavior. Wright's writing style differs from Baldwin's in that Baldwin's characters are considerably stronger than Wright's. For example, the honesty that the characters in Sonny's Blues exhibit is always self-prompted. They find the strength within themselves to portray their thoughts out loud. Dave in The Man Who Was Almost a Man, on the other hand, only tells the truth when it is forced out of him by his parents, another example of how he is only a boy. The strong characters in Baldwins work are indicative of his pressing style and how there is much to be learned from his story, whereas Wright's story seems to be circular, as Dave never learns how to be a man. In comparing the stories, Wright's characters give Baldwin's characters more strength, as Sonny and the narrator mend their relationship and work toward moving on from their past, which stands in stark contrast to Dave who runs away from his problem rather than facing it.
Wright seems to focus more on narrative writing, while Baldwin focuses more on details and description in his story. For this reason, Baldwin includes significantly more literary devices than Wright. For instance, Baldwin clearly has a keen interest in characterization; he characterizes the narrator as strictly logical and Sonny as spontaneously passionate. This characterization allows the reader to relate to and understand the characters and makes the main impact of the story easier to identify-- familial love prevails despite differences in opinion and lifestyles. The powerful story conveys the same message throughout all the relationships through each character's individual fight and perseverance. The Man Who Was Almost a Man, on the other hand, does not seem to have such a significant meaning and theme and does not leave the reader with as much closure as Sonny's Blues. The reader is left to wonder where Dave is going and ends up disappointed with him, as he does not take responsibility for what he has done. In reading Sonny's Blues, however, the reader is proud of Sonny and the narrator for mending their relationship and showing love and support toward each other.
Both writers do an excellent job of portraying temptation in young lives. In the same way that Sonny is tempted by heroin, Dave is tempted by the correlation he sees between owning a gun and being a man. Therefore, the characters are not satisfied with themselves the way that they are and feel the need to alter themselves so their self image is acceptable to them. This brings the collective theme of mental illness into both stories. From Dave's behavior, particularly his obsession with owning the gun and shooting it multiple times, he displays signs of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This could explain why he is not satisfied with shooting the gun just once, especially considering the terrible occurrence that happened the first time. A sign of OCD is needed to perform an act multiple times, despite fault in logic or consequence. Additionally, Sonny's Blues involves mental illness as well, specifically Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are present when Baldwin writes, "Your dad was like a crazy man that night and for many a night thereafter" (Baldwin 50). The speaker, Mama, is referring to her husband's reaction after witnessing the death of his brother. The event clearly scarred him and was something that was difficult for him to recover from-- a recurring theme in Sonny's Blues.
The symbolic language in Sonny's Blues may be easily overlooked. It is possible for a reader to get through the story without considering the recurring windows as a pathway to truth. However, considering the symbolic language, the story has more depth and meaning; it is more clear that the characters are finding strength within themselves to overcome the hardships they are facing. But the straightforward and fact-based writing of The Man Who Was Almost a Man is considerably less profound. Depending on the reader's preference, however, such a simple style may be beneficial. The story becomes easy to follow, and the lesson definitely does not go unnoticed. Overall, Sonny's Blues is a story of taking action and finding peace, while The Man Who Was Almost a Man seems to be a tale of escaping responsibility and running away. Together, the stories display two different responses to hardship-- to learn from it or to avoid it. The writers' individual styles portray their own lessons about tough times, both of which are beneficial to a reader enduring a hard time or simply wanting to learn about it.
