Comparison and Contrast Sonny and Charlie Sonnys Blues and Babylon Revisited
Struggling with an addiction is one of the most painful and dreadful experiences one could ever go through. It can start out small or simple, then all of a sudden it is a full on addiction. In James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” addiction is a force that is to be reckoned with. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Babylon Revisited”, paints the perfect picture of what addiction can do at its greatest. These stories can truly substantiate how addiction can put many obstacles up that are very difficult to overcome. It is well established in our society that overcoming adversity can lead to success in many levels. In “Babylon Revisited” and “Sonny’s Blues” both addicts have major struggles in facing and defeating hardships in their lives, but when they are finally gone life is back to purpose again. Despite a few dissimilarities “Sonny’s Blues” and “Babylon Revisited” , have a lot in common, such as, addiction, imprisonment, and salvation.
First, these stories are similar because of addiction. In “Sonny’s Blues” we find that Sonny is addicted to heroin early on. “He had been picked up, the evening before, in a raid on an apartment downtown for peddling and using heroin.”(434) Sonny had battled a long addiction to the harmful drug before finally getting in trouble and serving jail time. Sonny, unlike the other kids in Harlem, did not act hard or gangster. He had an older brother who tried to look after him as well. He had guidance and advice at a young age but the streets of Harlem took control. Sonny wanted to find an escape from Harlem; he turned to heroin as that choice. In “Babylon Revisited” Charlie is plagued by the addiction of alcohol. He used to frequent the bars every night. He spent many nights drunk under the influence of alcohol. He had a daughter who kept him on the straight and narrow. She was his motivation to beat the addiction. Charlie searched for meaning in the bottle. The recollection of the past paves the way toward the future. The hole that Charlie seemed to dig
First, these stories are similar because of addiction. In “Sonny’s Blues” we find that Sonny is addicted to heroin early on. “He had been picked up, the evening before, in a raid on an apartment downtown for peddling and using heroin.”(434) Sonny had battled a long addiction to the harmful drug before finally getting in trouble and serving jail time. Sonny, unlike the other kids in Harlem, did not act hard or gangster. He had an older brother who tried to look after him as well. He had guidance and advice at a young age but the streets of Harlem took control. Sonny wanted to find an escape from Harlem; he turned to heroin as that choice. In “Babylon Revisited” Charlie is plagued by the addiction of alcohol. He used to frequent the bars every night. He spent many nights drunk under the influence of alcohol. He had a daughter who kept him on the straight and narrow. She was his motivation to beat the addiction. Charlie searched for meaning in the bottle. The recollection of the past paves the way toward the future. The hole that Charlie seemed to dig