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Compare and Contrast of “Sonny’s Blues” and “Everyday Use”

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Compare and Contrast of “Sonny’s Blues” and “Everyday Use”
Compare and Contrast of “Sonny’s Blues” and “Everyday Use” These two stories “Sonny’s Blues” written by James Baldwin and “Everyday Use” written by Alice Walker are both examples of struggle for African American people. These two authors Alice Walker and James Baldwin are both African Americans. Through their writings both writers wanted to critique, analyze and assess the culture that they belong to. In each of the two short stories, “Sonny’s Blues” and “Everyday Use,” allow people who read these stories to make discoveries of the lives of African American families. These people who are apart of these families have to live in society and be able to deal with struggles and difficulties around them from being equal but separate at the same time. In a time long ago where black people were afraid to become victims that would be killed by black people, lived Sonny’s parents and also Dee’s parents. In the story “Everyday Use” and in the story “Sonny’s Blues” the characters have to live their lives to deal with being African American. Before being labeled as African Americans these characters back in the day were first referred to as Negros and then after that called Black people. In the story “Sonny’s Blues,” Harlem was the home and place where Sonny grew up. In Harlem most people lived very poor lives and were consumed by drugs and addictions. In this place the people lived life struggling socially and economically. Sonny felt trapped within his neighborhood, this was a place where people did not have much of a chance to succeed. Sonny proclaimed to his brother from his heart how he did not want to live in Harlem anymore. He did not want to stay and live in this place where he would be tempted to do drugs. He felt that he would find temptation with drugs in his life because he was constantly surrounded by people who were doing drugs and had become addicted to them. The political system brought upon Sonny lots of frustration and anger which prevented him from

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