“How An Author Expresses Personal Pain Through Literary Examples”

Group Members: Angela Corts, Eric Wilber, Brandi Henry,, and Tiffany Trapp

Who Experiences Pain?

- You and I

- Family Members

- Addicts

- Emotionally Distressed

What Causes Pain?- Horrid Childhood

- Life Events

- Inflicted Pain

- Instigated Factors

Substance Abuse

Self-Destructive Relationships

Environment

PERSONALLY: Verbal and physical expressions, body language, tears, presence of misery

SOCIALLY: In support groups, visual presence such as facial mannerisms; through the use of art: paintings, cinematography, drama, and literature (poems, novels, short stories)

“The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say.”- Anais Nin

“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.”-Ray Bradbury

“Writing is both mask and unveiling.” – E.B. White

“Was it only by dreaming or writing that I could find out what I thought?”- Joan Didion

“Being an author is having angels whisper in your ear- and devils, too.” – Terri Guillemets

Reasons Why Authors Create Literary Pieces

To Tell A Story

A Form Of Expression

Purposely To Teach

To Entice The Imagination

Abusive Father

Raised in a poverty stricken

environment.

Homosexual Acceptance

Prejudice and Segregation

He became a young writer for his high school in the Bronx called DeWitt Clinton. Due to financial family burdens, he pursued odd jobs and eventually joined the U.S. Army. During this time frame, he experienced various acts of prejudice, such as being denied in certain public establishments because he was an African American man in a segregated society.

James Baldwin was born on August 2, 1924 in a poor and poverty-stricken Harlem, New York. He was raised by a single mother, Emma Berdis Jones with many siblings. His mother married a preacher named David Baldwin when James was 3 yrs. old. His step-father was abusive and in which influenced him to join a church, which became his escape from a rough home life. At the age of 14, James became a Pentecostal preacher.

Popular Writings:

“Go Tell It On The Mountain” (1953)- literary work about the painful struggles of being raised in the rough neighborhood of Harlem City.

“Giovanni’s Room” (1956)- focused on the struggles of homosexual relationships.

“The Fire Next Time” (1963)- about racial discrimination and religious challenges.

“Sonny’s Blues” (1957)- Inspired by life events of personal struggles and emotional pain.

The story begins as a narrative piece being told by the unnamed older brother of a

vulnerable character name Sonny. The narrator has just been notified of an unexpected

arrest of his little brother for drug possession. The narrator grieves and longs for the

innocence Sonny once had as a child.

His face had once been bright and open, there was a lot of copper in it; and he’d had

wonderfully direct brown eyes, and great gentleness and privacy (58).

While Sonny is in prison, the narrator receives a letter where Sonny states the desperation to

hear from his brother. He writes, “I feel like a man who’s been trying to climb up out of some

deep, real deep funky hole and just saw the sun up there, outside” (61). He also tries to

explain how fear got the best of him to end up in prison.

Poor, dirty, harsh surroundings was a background for developing emotional neglect, disappointment, and failure.

Harlem helped mold the brothers into who they became; Sonny as a self-destructive and troubled individual; Narrator (brother) developed self-motivation to leave the horrible surroundings.

A reflection of the environment James Baldwin was raised in.

In the 1950s, the civil rights movement was in full force. Being an African American male, James Baldwin was easily exposed to the inequality and mistreatment for being a minority. He experienced first hand harsh treatment of social neglect and racism.

James Baldwin hints the presence of racism and the down fall it can cause in “Sonny’s Blues.” He uses Sonny’s father as an example with creating a fictional death of a family member, instigated by prejudice and an act of a hate crime.

Till the day he died, he wasn’t sure but that every white man he saw was the man that killed his brother (66).

The reflection of anger and hatred, ignited by prejudice and the presence of racism is very present in his literary work.

Failure- Sonny’s brother feels like he failed his mother for not keeping the promise of being Sonny’s protector.

Disappointment- Sonny’s brother hints disappointment in himself for not being a present brother Sonny should have. He also is disappointed in Sonny for leading the life he chose.

Abandonment- Sonny feels alone and deserted by his brother in a dark world full of self-suffering.

These examples are reflections of the author’s emotional turmoil of his views of a segregated America and “the struggle for human freedom” (57). The mentioning of desertion reflects on how James Baldwin’s biological father abandoned his family.

Portal To Contentment And True Happiness

“There isn’t any other tale to tell, it’s the only light we’ve got in all this darkness” [79].

The narrator seems to come to terms with what has happened and illustrated by this quote comes to an epiphany: that we make our own inspiration by seeing things that inspire and motivate us. Those same emotions that he wholeheartedly felt can be used as fuel to get through even the toughest times. In this sense the darkness fades and the emotions that once accompanied dark times are channeled into motivation to not stop and to not accept emotional defeat.