Biblical Elements In James Baldwin's Biblical Literary Work
Jameka Carey
Ms. Austin
College Writing II
9 February 2015
James Baldwin’s Biblical Literary Work James Baldwin, the astounding writer of a captivating and majestic piece of work, lays the foundation of a moral and spiritual message in “Sonny’s Blues”.There were countless outstanding biblical references and situations used to narrate the story, the parable of the Prodigal Son in relation to the two sons, brotherly love and compassion, the faith of both brothers, light and darkness and more significantly, the “cup of trembling”. The very same lessons the bible teaches us, were incorporated in the story. The parable of the Prodigal Son tells the story of a man who has two sons. One of the sons, perhaps the youngest, asked his father for inheritance. …show more content…
The elder takes the narrow path and the younger takes the other leading towards the darkness, influenced by bad habits and addictions in the world. The elder son makes a man of himself; he has accomplished many great things, being a mathematics teacher especially. On the other hand, the younger son has made nothing but a fool of himselfas he chooses the road of drugs, he is even displayed locally as a drug salesman, which was the reason for his recent incarceration. “The narrator stairs at the newsprint on the paper in his hands, which spells out the words of his brothers, ‘S-O-N-N-Y’ and the story behind it” (Baldwin 362). The narrator began to create an image of a “block of ice” in his stomach, and physically as he describes his clothing “wet” from the melting of the …show more content…
First, the death of his baby girl Grace which lead to the greetings by letter to his younger sibling whom he seemed to fail. Second, his failure to fulfill his mother’s request on her death bed, as he so graciously promised to care for his brother.Sonny on the other hand, after being released from prison wants to be set free from the life he chose earlier in his life. That is drugs, addictions, and his love for prison bars. Later on in the story, both brothers received the salvation they sought after. The bible speaks about light and darkness, in the same context of “Sonny’s Blues” as the characters are marked with certain characteristics. The light in the life of Sonny is symbolic of his positive and optimistic aspects of his life, such as his musical talents before he is plagued by the darkness of it. Also his physical appearance as a young man, as he was bright and glowing. Nonetheless, it is symbolic of refinement, as he transformed from his old life, into a new moral
Ms. Austin
College Writing II
9 February 2015
James Baldwin’s Biblical Literary Work James Baldwin, the astounding writer of a captivating and majestic piece of work, lays the foundation of a moral and spiritual message in “Sonny’s Blues”.There were countless outstanding biblical references and situations used to narrate the story, the parable of the Prodigal Son in relation to the two sons, brotherly love and compassion, the faith of both brothers, light and darkness and more significantly, the “cup of trembling”. The very same lessons the bible teaches us, were incorporated in the story. The parable of the Prodigal Son tells the story of a man who has two sons. One of the sons, perhaps the youngest, asked his father for inheritance. …show more content…
The elder takes the narrow path and the younger takes the other leading towards the darkness, influenced by bad habits and addictions in the world. The elder son makes a man of himself; he has accomplished many great things, being a mathematics teacher especially. On the other hand, the younger son has made nothing but a fool of himselfas he chooses the road of drugs, he is even displayed locally as a drug salesman, which was the reason for his recent incarceration. “The narrator stairs at the newsprint on the paper in his hands, which spells out the words of his brothers, ‘S-O-N-N-Y’ and the story behind it” (Baldwin 362). The narrator began to create an image of a “block of ice” in his stomach, and physically as he describes his clothing “wet” from the melting of the …show more content…
First, the death of his baby girl Grace which lead to the greetings by letter to his younger sibling whom he seemed to fail. Second, his failure to fulfill his mother’s request on her death bed, as he so graciously promised to care for his brother.Sonny on the other hand, after being released from prison wants to be set free from the life he chose earlier in his life. That is drugs, addictions, and his love for prison bars. Later on in the story, both brothers received the salvation they sought after. The bible speaks about light and darkness, in the same context of “Sonny’s Blues” as the characters are marked with certain characteristics. The light in the life of Sonny is symbolic of his positive and optimistic aspects of his life, such as his musical talents before he is plagued by the darkness of it. Also his physical appearance as a young man, as he was bright and glowing. Nonetheless, it is symbolic of refinement, as he transformed from his old life, into a new moral