Sonny’s Blues, a short story authored by James Baldwin centers around two brothers, their shared past and how their differences separated them. Baldwin tells the story through the eyes of Sonny’s brother, an algebra teacher who remains unnamed throughout the book. The book details the experiences of growing up in New York’s Harlem area in the 1950s and the turmoil of life in this world. Baldwin depicts Harlem as a trap from which the book’s protagonists, Sonny, and his brother, must struggle to escape. In the book, Baldwin examines several themes like racism and discrimination, suffering and poverty and salvation. However, the primary theme of Baldwin’s narrative is the struggle for and the development of identities. Sonny’s and the narrator’s develop self- identities amidst unique social and personal situations and this development is comparable to Maslow’s self-actualization theory.
According to Abraham Maslow, self-actualization refers to a process of becoming the best human being that one can be. A person can only achieve self-actualization through intrinsic learning. Self-actualization means allowing the “self” to emerge and reign entirely (Maslow 108). Self-actualization is a continuous process and is reliant on the individual choices that we make. A person can make …show more content…
The past experiences of both Sonny and his brother, combined with the outcome of each other molds their individual identities. The unnamed narrator, Sonny’s brother, is the person from whose point of view Baldwin tells the story. He represents one element of the dual faces of “the African-American experience." (Baldwin and London 56) Compared to the other African-Americans in Harlem, the narrator appears to be a relatively successful man. He has a good job, teaching math at a local school, and he is also married with two children. In spite of this success, the narrator still feels
According to Abraham Maslow, self-actualization refers to a process of becoming the best human being that one can be. A person can only achieve self-actualization through intrinsic learning. Self-actualization means allowing the “self” to emerge and reign entirely (Maslow 108). Self-actualization is a continuous process and is reliant on the individual choices that we make. A person can make …show more content…
The past experiences of both Sonny and his brother, combined with the outcome of each other molds their individual identities. The unnamed narrator, Sonny’s brother, is the person from whose point of view Baldwin tells the story. He represents one element of the dual faces of “the African-American experience." (Baldwin and London 56) Compared to the other African-Americans in Harlem, the narrator appears to be a relatively successful man. He has a good job, teaching math at a local school, and he is also married with two children. In spite of this success, the narrator still feels