How Did Baldwin's Life Affect The Harlem Renaissance
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Many other writers were all affected by Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance. These events paved the way for many future writers. One of these writers was James Baldwin. James Baldwin was an extremely intuitive writer. In 1942, he moved to New York when he met Richard Wright. Wright became like a mentor to Baldwin. Wright encouraged him in his literary ambitions. A few years later he moved to Paris on a fellowship. There he was able to see that where he came from was different, like no other. He was able to then write more about his racial background and personal life. In his short story, “Sonny’s Blues”, James Baldwin uses Blues music as a way for Sonny to escape the hardships of life. The narrator finds out that his brother is in jail from reading the newspaper. This then brings him back to when they were younger and his brother was wild. After Sonny got out of jail, he came to Harlem to move in with the narrator and his family. Things are a little hard at first. Sonny tries…show more content… Unfortunately, when he came back he was just older, but he still faced the same struggles and temptations. The narrator realized what Sonny was trying to explain and Sonny invited him to hear him play at the night club. Like many individuals during the Harlem Renaissance, Sonny used Blues music as his way of singing about the struggles that he endures throughout his life. “Then they all gathered around Sonny and Sonny played. Every now and again one of them seemed so say, amen” (Baldwin 1805). This shows that the people in the nightclub understood where Sonny was coming from when he sang his blues. According Heller, “He sees that Sonny’s music is an authentic response to life. He sees that one who creates music “is dealing with the roar rising from the void and imposing order on it as it hits the air.” Sonny’s brother [the narrator] then understands what Sonny was trying to