The narrator seems to be quite disconnected from Sonny at the beginning of "Sonny's Blues." He doesn't even know that his brother has been arrested for taking (and possibly dealing) heroine until he reads the newspaper. When the narrator tells stories about Sonny's adolescence, he mentions that he was never particularly fond of Sonny's vision to become a jazz musician, and that seems to further support the observation that there is some distance between Sonny and the narrator.
The end of the story provides a completely different picture of their relationship. The narrator agrees to go to a nightclub with Sonny and watches him perform there with his friends. On page 136, he almost seems proud to be Sonny's brother:
"And it turned out that everyone at the bar knew Sonny, or almost everyone (...). I was introduced to them and they were all very polite to me. Here, I was in Sonny's world. Or, rather: his kingdom. Here, it was not even a question that his veins bore royal blood."
During the beginning and middle of the story, the narrator associates jazz with drugs because he thinks that some musicians have to be high in order to play. He does not consider performing jazz music as a respectable career and does not think that it will give Sonny a stable job. However, once the narrator gives him a chance, he realizes that other people respect Sonny and his jazz music. Perhaps this makes him reconsider his harsh judgement of Sonny's choice to become a musician.
Watching Sonny interact with the other musicians helps the narrator realize that Sonny is happy with those people. The joy that Sonny feels when he plays jazz music is contagious. After the performance, the narrator seems much happier. He thinks about his parents, uncle, and daughter and shows some emotion. He also seems to finally be accepting of the fact that his brother is a jazz musician.
The last scene of the story shows how jazz music bridges the gap between Sonny and the narrator even though in previous scenes, it seemed to help create the gap.
Friday, March 11, 2016
Sunday, February 28, 2016
Apples to Bananas
There are many similarities between "Teddy" and "A Perfect Day for Bananafish," the last and first stories in Nine Stories. Both take place at lavish places on or near the ocean, for example. There are also lots of similarities between the main characters of these two stories, Teddy McArdle and Seymour Glass.
Teddy and Seymour are both wise characters who are stuck in the midst of some superficial, materialistic characters. Teddy's shallow parents always cut him off when he says his observations and philosophical ideas aloud. Muriel probably cares about Seymour, but she doesn't realize how much Seymour is struggling during the story. She is so oblivious that she sleeps while he commits suicide. This puts Teddy and Seymour in similar situations, and these two characters both deal with it by running away from the superficial characters. Teddy seems to go into in his own world and focus on spirituality by himself. Seymour escapes the materialism around him by spending time with young children who don't care much about wealth.
Another similarity between "Teddy" and "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" is that Teddy and Seymour both die at the end of their stories, and both seem relatively calm about death. Teddy knows he is either going to die the day the story takes place or when he's 16, so his death doesn't really surprise him. Throughout the story, he's calm whenever he talks about death. This could be because he believes in reincarnation, so death just means moving on from one life and going to the next. Seymour commits suicide, and he also doesn't appear to be afraid of death. It seems like Seymour is disgusted with materialism and since it's all around him, he believes that death is the best option.
Perhaps the most interesting similarity between Teddy and Seymour is that their philosophical ideas seem to be related in some ways. Teddy believes that people need to "unlearn" things that they have already learned in order to achieve spiritual enlightenment; they have to "spit out the apple." Seymour thinks that people overindulge in material pursuits and this makes them superficial; they need to "stop eating so many bananas." Both characters think that people's brains are full of thoughts that they have to remove in order to improve themselves.
Teddy and Seymour are both wise characters who are stuck in the midst of some superficial, materialistic characters. Teddy's shallow parents always cut him off when he says his observations and philosophical ideas aloud. Muriel probably cares about Seymour, but she doesn't realize how much Seymour is struggling during the story. She is so oblivious that she sleeps while he commits suicide. This puts Teddy and Seymour in similar situations, and these two characters both deal with it by running away from the superficial characters. Teddy seems to go into in his own world and focus on spirituality by himself. Seymour escapes the materialism around him by spending time with young children who don't care much about wealth.
Another similarity between "Teddy" and "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" is that Teddy and Seymour both die at the end of their stories, and both seem relatively calm about death. Teddy knows he is either going to die the day the story takes place or when he's 16, so his death doesn't really surprise him. Throughout the story, he's calm whenever he talks about death. This could be because he believes in reincarnation, so death just means moving on from one life and going to the next. Seymour commits suicide, and he also doesn't appear to be afraid of death. It seems like Seymour is disgusted with materialism and since it's all around him, he believes that death is the best option.
Perhaps the most interesting similarity between Teddy and Seymour is that their philosophical ideas seem to be related in some ways. Teddy believes that people need to "unlearn" things that they have already learned in order to achieve spiritual enlightenment; they have to "spit out the apple." Seymour thinks that people overindulge in material pursuits and this makes them superficial; they need to "stop eating so many bananas." Both characters think that people's brains are full of thoughts that they have to remove in order to improve themselves.
Friday, February 5, 2016
Bananafish
"A Perfect Day for Bananafish" is one of my favorite short stories that we've read so far, although it is also a confusing one. I had to read this story three times before I started to understand it.
I hadn't really thought much about the title until we discussed the story in class. I'm still not quite sure what the significance of the bananafish story is, but I have come up with two possible interpretations:
1. Bananafish are like soldiers before they go to war. Just like soldiers are "normal" people, bananafish are "normal" fish--until they enter war or a banana hole. Banana holes are like wars, because both are dangerous (grenades and mines are more dangerous than bananas, but Seymour probably had to pick something that wouldn't scare Sybil). After the bananafish go into the holes, they eat lots of bananas. This might be similar to soldiers experiencing the horrors of war. The bananafish then get banana fever, the ichthyoid equivalent of PTSD. The bananafish are so crippled by their illness that they are unable to come out of the banana holes, just as many soldiers are so affected by war that they are unable to completely return to society. Unfortunately, bananafish die from banana fever just like some soldiers who are not able to adjust to society end up committing suicide.
2. Bananafish are like "normal" people before they become materialistic. After bananafish enter banana holes, they gorge on fruit until they become so big and ill that they cannot squeeze out of the holes anymore and eventually die. This is similar to the way in which people might indulge themselves in materialistic things so much that they become shallow. Although people do not necessarily die from being too materialistic, this story makes it seem like the focus on wealth kills their personalities in some ways. Muriel, for example, is so caught up with material pursuits, as evidenced by the smells of calfskin luggage and nail-polish remover in her hotel room, that she brushes off her mother's concerns about Seymour and fails to realize that Seymour is struggling.
What do you think the bananafish story represents?
I hadn't really thought much about the title until we discussed the story in class. I'm still not quite sure what the significance of the bananafish story is, but I have come up with two possible interpretations:
1. Bananafish are like soldiers before they go to war. Just like soldiers are "normal" people, bananafish are "normal" fish--until they enter war or a banana hole. Banana holes are like wars, because both are dangerous (grenades and mines are more dangerous than bananas, but Seymour probably had to pick something that wouldn't scare Sybil). After the bananafish go into the holes, they eat lots of bananas. This might be similar to soldiers experiencing the horrors of war. The bananafish then get banana fever, the ichthyoid equivalent of PTSD. The bananafish are so crippled by their illness that they are unable to come out of the banana holes, just as many soldiers are so affected by war that they are unable to completely return to society. Unfortunately, bananafish die from banana fever just like some soldiers who are not able to adjust to society end up committing suicide.
2. Bananafish are like "normal" people before they become materialistic. After bananafish enter banana holes, they gorge on fruit until they become so big and ill that they cannot squeeze out of the holes anymore and eventually die. This is similar to the way in which people might indulge themselves in materialistic things so much that they become shallow. Although people do not necessarily die from being too materialistic, this story makes it seem like the focus on wealth kills their personalities in some ways. Muriel, for example, is so caught up with material pursuits, as evidenced by the smells of calfskin luggage and nail-polish remover in her hotel room, that she brushes off her mother's concerns about Seymour and fails to realize that Seymour is struggling.
What do you think the bananafish story represents?
Friday, January 22, 2016
Unbelievable
Many of O'Brien's stories seem to have some element of fiction to them, whether it's something as trivial as a made-up name or as significant as an imaginary daughter. It seems like O'Brien cares more about conveying feelings and emotions to the reader than giving accurate accounts of his experiences in Vietnam, even if this means mixing real events with imagined ones.
Sometimes in the middle or end of stories, O'Brien explicitly points out specific parts that he has fabricated. Although he doesn't do this in "The Ghost Soldiers" some events from this story seem unbelievable.
Tim wants revenge on Jorgensen so badly that he decides to scare Jorgensen with suspicious noises while he is on watch duty. Granted, he isn't on the front lines of battle when he does this, but making noise still seems quite risky. If Jorgensen had mistakenly thought that Azar and Tim were enemy soldiers, he could have killed them.
Throughout The Things They Carried, O'Brien seems to use made up stories to teach the readers about war. Most readers are probably not veterans and are not familiar with the psychological effects of war. An outside reader might not understand why a soldier would want to kill a comrade. Perhaps "The Ghost Soldiers" was written to show what could possibly cause a major conflict within a troop. Maybe O'Brien wants the readers to feel the pain that he experienced because of a new medic and to understand why he might have considered killing Jorgensen.
Sometimes in the middle or end of stories, O'Brien explicitly points out specific parts that he has fabricated. Although he doesn't do this in "The Ghost Soldiers" some events from this story seem unbelievable.
Tim wants revenge on Jorgensen so badly that he decides to scare Jorgensen with suspicious noises while he is on watch duty. Granted, he isn't on the front lines of battle when he does this, but making noise still seems quite risky. If Jorgensen had mistakenly thought that Azar and Tim were enemy soldiers, he could have killed them.
Throughout The Things They Carried, O'Brien seems to use made up stories to teach the readers about war. Most readers are probably not veterans and are not familiar with the psychological effects of war. An outside reader might not understand why a soldier would want to kill a comrade. Perhaps "The Ghost Soldiers" was written to show what could possibly cause a major conflict within a troop. Maybe O'Brien wants the readers to feel the pain that he experienced because of a new medic and to understand why he might have considered killing Jorgensen.
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