Isolation In Sonny's Blues 'And Shiloh'

Short Stories Exam Essay Short stories are entertaining tales, not very high in details, about an assortment of people, places, events, etc. While reading the short stories, I found that the main characters, the narrator of “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin, Leroy in “Shiloh” by Bobbie Ann Mason and Julia in “Country Husband” by John Cheever, all experienced their worlds through different scenarios that caused isolation throughout their story. Isolation consists of a character, or person, taking themselves into their own world and how they want to see it. Personally, I isolate myself from having fun with friends to go into my room, with complete silence, to do my homework in a relaxing environment. Sonny experiences his life with immature control over his brother, Leroy
Although he has a family, he is frightened by what happens and where he lives. He does not express going outside or socializing with many people. The narrator tells the audience that he is in isolation by not contacting his brother for so long. He states, “I gave up. I decided, if he didn’t change his mind, that we could always talk about it later.” The narrator shows us that he had little feelings for his brother when things were rough. I think that the narrator lacked confidence within contacting his brother and exploring the life of Harlem. He tells us that his relationship with his brother was not good, and I believe it is because he gave up on him. After the loss of his daughter, he lacks confidence in all aspects of society. He not only lacked confidence in contacting his brother, he also isolated himself from wanting to change. I think that if the narrator had more confidence, he would’ve changed his brother’s situation much earlier in the story. The moral of the story would’ve changed to prolonging the relationship with his brother, instead of making up for lack