Ceilings

Ceilings In James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues”, Ralph Ellison’s “Invisible Man”, and August Wilson’s “Fences” we can see the similarities and differences in how the African American community is perceived after gaining their freedom and assimilating into normal society. “Sonny’s Blues” shows us how Sonny turned to a life of drugs when he could not deal with the reality of the ceiling put into place by society. The “Invisible Man” shows us the struggle the narrator has with society when he realizes that the people around him don’t care about his well being or other African Americans who have been assimilating into everyday free life and that there are ceilings put in place to keep himself and others were they are in the hierarchy of society. “Fences” shows us the struggle that Troy has with his job and family and the realization that he has ceilings in place that will not allow him to move forward in society. This essay will examine the similarities to how the characters perceive their lives are being held back by societal ceilings that have been put in place and the differences in how they deal with them to make their life seem better. “Sonny’s Blues” we have Sonny, a musician, who turns to drugs at a young age because he can’t deal with the complexities of life. The narrator, Sonny’s brother, tries to reason with him and to let him know that he needs to find something in his life: “you getting to be a big boy… it’s time you started thinking about your future” (Baldwin 490). Here Sonny is realizing that even at a young age there are ceilings in life that one can’t overcome and he did not want to go through the doldrums of life: “I think people ought to do what they want to do, what else are they alive for” (Baldwin 134)? The Sonny’s brother tried to make things right for him so that he could try to get through school so that he could move on with his life from there. From this point Sonny lived with his sister-in-law and her parents where she lamented the

Cited: Baldwin, James. “Sonny’s Blues.” African American Literature. ‘Comp. Keith Gilyard and Anissa Wardi. New York: PEARSON, 2004. Print. 476-504. Ellison, Ralph. “Invisible Man.” African American Literature. ‘Comp. Keith Gilyard and Anissa Wardi. New York: PEARSON, 2004. Print. 675-684. Wilson, August. “Fences.” New York: Samuel French, Inc., 1986. Print.