Minor Characters are Important Too

In the story, "Sonny's Blues", by the short story author James Baldwin, the main characters would have to be Sonny and the narrator. In order for the story to effectively be developed, the story includes several minor characters. There are others that also contribute to the story effectively, but the ones that catch my eye are characters, such as one particular boy at school that the narrator observes outside in the courtyard who has looks similar to Sonny, and also the parents of Sonny and his brother, who is the narrator of the story. The minor characters of the story help develop the story by interacting with the characters directly. The narrator includes the dialog and conversations between himself and the minor characters in the text to allow the reader to descriptively read word by word exactly to the last detail what the conversation entails. The conversation with the little boy included Sonny in its context basically describing the relationship between himself and Sonny. In the conversation, they include valuable information such as how responsible the little boy feels for Sonny's situation. In a way, the narrator needs to hear this kind of information to feel at peace with the news about his brother's situation. The conversation with the narrator's mother goes just about the same way. She describes the boys' father and his own personal experience that relates to the family's current situation with Sonny. The reason why the narrator brings this flashback up is to allow the reader to understand a glimpse of the past and how it correlates with the events in the present time.

Babylon Revisited

In "Babylon Revisited", Charlie's attitudes towards himself and his own past are those of dislike and a hint of embarrassment. He does not find it pleasant to be haunted by his memories of the past. His attitudes towards his own past seems to be of disgust and dislike. He thinks grudgingly after visiting an old party spot, "You have to be damn drunk". There is a annoyed sense in these words that one would think the speaker to have when saying them. Charlie obviously feels a sense of regret of throwing money away and throwing time away in his past. The reader knows Charlie isn't happy at all with his past when he describes the next day that the depression has disappeared. Although this is so, he is constantly reminded of those that he probably has tried so hard in the past to forget and it is obviously hard for him to do so, considering that everything he meets and touches has had some sort of trigger of a specific memory for Charlie. This shows that he has difficulties of escaping the past. Specifically the memory of Helen, his wife, remits a special attachment to the past for both him and Marion. It is apparant that Charlie still has a whole lot of love for Helen and that the memory of her life and death both mean dearly to him. In a way, by having Honoria back with him, he has a part of Helene back with him as well. Honoria is also a memory trigger for Charlie in regards to Helen because of all the plans that the couple had for their life together.

Setting

The description of the land describes something of being a safe haven for the people trapped on the boat. The goal of these sea faring people are to get the boat back on land but it seems to be that the boat has a malfunction. Thus, the sailors are stuck in the sea. The fact that Crane places the boat with a view of land possesses a relation to the same theory of being so close to something that is extremely desired, but at the same time, so far from that very same desired object. In this case, the boat is so close to being on land, but the fact of the matter is that they are still so far in their efforts of actually reaching land. The only thing they have are their hopes and faith in the wind to push the boat onto shore. The same goes with a similar situation of having something desirable being dangled right in front of your face, but not being abled to get it is extremely frustrating. Our relationship to Nature is also portrayed in Crane's description of the land because it is a representation of what our roots are from and what we need to be and feel stable as humans. Land is our element and is where we belong. That is why we do not fare well in the sea, as we do not have that type of control when Nature takes over our abilities to cope with nature related disasters and obstacles.

plot

In "Me and Miss Mandible", written by Donald Barthelme, is a short story written in a journal entry format. The writer is a thirty-five year old man who stands six feet one inch tall who has already experienced the struggles of preteen embarrassments of hair growth and pubescient changes. He describes some of the most experienced elementary school moments that most all of us remember, such as passing notes, witnessing the class bully in action, class crushes, and enduring school day activities, such as roll call and lectures. The strange thing amongst these are those of the student teacher relationship taken further between Miss Mandible and the writer. The format that the short story by Donald Barthelme is written is a new and unfamiliar method of writing in which allows the reader a completely different outlook on this particular situation at hand. The theme of this story is that truth is punishment. The writer compares his experience of being back in school with his experience of being in the army. In my opinion, the way the plot is delivered relates to the theme which is illustrated in the words of the second to last sentence, “Like the Old Guard marching through the Russian drifts, the class marches to the conclusion that truth is punishment.” Through out the story, the writer includes his own experiences in the Army in comparison with the on goings in his experience as a school boy at the elementary school. All of the stories that I read for this week all include different ways to portray plot in original and different methods.