Postmodernism and Suffering in "Sonny's Essay

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His never-ending desire for Judy Green represents the feeling of sorrow, incompleteness, and pessimism that is often a major staple of later modernist writers in American literature. In this, Fitzgerald shows how not even success in achieving the American Dream can guarantee a happy ending, and in the end suffering is always present even in all rings of American society.

Postmodernism was born out of this complex environment. James Baldwin's

"Sonny's Blues" embodies this more postmodern style and tone. Postmodernism really highlight the struggles within contemporary society, especially being faced by minority groups that constantly have to deal with the oppression of the white majority. Yet, it is this sense of suffering that is often a crucial element to building a stronger character with much deeper insight and successes. Throughout the story, Sonny deals with immense suffering. He has been in jail given up on by his family, and lived a lost life. Yet, it is this very suffering that allows his musical talent to be so profound. After years of struggling to become a jazz musician, much to the dismay of his more responsible older brother, Sonny actually achieves a bit of the success he longs for at the end of the story.

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He convinces his conservative older brother about his talents, which is in a way, a victory for Sonny and his music. His brother finally respects him after hearing the deep pain and emotions that Sonny is finally able to express within the context of his music. Sonny's music is able to allow his brother, and the reader, to feel his sorrow and experience his suffering without expressing such complex issues in words. Here, music is a much greater medium for the expression of the modern African-American experience, because it is simply much too complex to wrap words around.

Tracing the development of American literature is incredibly important in dissecting the sentiments of American society. As literature styles began to turn more realistic, and pessimistic, it is clear that the modern American experience was not all that it was cracked up to be in the more optimistic nineteenth century. Rather, there has been a lot of pain and suffering attached to the American experience, and this has been reflected by the move towards a more postmodernist style, especially in dealing with the expression of minority sentiments through literary traditions.

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