Literature and Film
This paper as the title suggests, will purely explore the works of literature and a film with the intention of highlighting and describing the common thematic strands as writers and authors in the texts display them. The literature work to be investigated is Sonny’s Blues and Bartleby the Scrivener, while the film to be incorporated will be “Local hero”. This brings the number of items to be investigated to be three. It should be noted that the three works are authored by different people e.g. Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin and hence it s obvious that they are different themes. This paper will only be concerned with themes that are common in the three works. As such therefore, I will major my research on the following themes;(i) the theme of suffering, (ii) theme of racism, (iii) theme of brotherly love,(iv) theme of search for identity, (v) theme of redemption, (vi) theme of alienation and lastly, (vii) American urban roots.
The three resource materials for the paper as hinted above are very different in their character choice, bases their plots in very different methods. However, it is clear that they all seek to reveal the social setting in America’s metropolitan communities as well as propagation of American interests in other parts of the world. The film for instance cast in a fictional village of Ferness on the coast of Scotland explores some of the above named themes in greater heights. To begin with, my paper will touch on the theme of suffering. Suffering in normal terms can be of many forms. It can be spiritual, political, economic, social, psychological etc. in the James Baldwin’s Sonny Blues the black Americans in Harlem, a New York ghetto are subjected to great suffering. The place is suffering under the menace of drug abuse with many young people becoming addicts of hard drugs like heroin. Sonny for instance confesses to his brother that he normally takes heroin to help him deal with the hardships of life. Later Sonny is arrested on heroin peddling charges. There is suffering also in the way the blacks are treated by the whites – the blacks are discriminated. An incidence of such suffering is displayed when a car driven by a white knocked Sonny’s father’s brother. The family of the narrator of this short story suffers a lot in the ensuing death of their Uncle and also when the narrator’s mother dies (James Baldwin).
In the Bartleby, the Scrivener story, a lot of suffering is displayed in the vivid description of the life of Bartleby himself. He is described as a quiet man who likes doing his work independently and who when not copying he gazes endlessly in the open through the glass window. The man seems to be in great suffering since the owner of the law from his employer discovers it later) that he uses the office as his residential house. He does not have a descent home. His suffering is compounded further by when his vision is blurred by the dim light in the office and therefore he is not able to continue offering his services as copy typist (Scrivener). The owner of the firm is forced to relocate to another office due to Bartleby’s stubbornness to vacate the office. The new occupants of the office perceive Bartleby as a menace and decide to send him to prison where he finally dies. Suffering also is seen in the story of the other two scriveners Turkey and Nippers having a good share of tribulations. Turkey is ageing and he does not seem to be a good Scrivener due to his habit of blotting papers while Nippers is suffering from indigestion problems. The owner of the law firm has been subjected to great suffering by Bartleby’s stubborn nature. He is forced to vacate his office in an effort to shake Bartleby off; he even fails to attend church service due to the discovery that Barleby is so desperate and helpless.
The movie “Local hero” displays some level of suffering by the villagers of the se shore village of Ferness. This is shown by the virtue that the villagers are tired with the hard life and want to sell their village, although they seem to feign indifference in order to attract a bigger offer from the American investors who wanted to set up a an oil refinery. MacIntyre, who was given the assignment to strike the deal of acquiring the village, is also suffering from impatience in that he wants to close the deal too fast. This is also the same case to owner of the oil firm, Burt Lancaster.
Racism is the next theme to be explored in this paper. As the name suggests racism is the mistreatment of a certain group of or an individual based on his/ her race. In contemporary America, racism is still rife despite all the efforts by concerned authorities to curb it. However, the conditions have changed for better in relation to what they were some years ago. The setting of the Sonny’s Blues short story fits in the former era when blacks were considered illegitimate in the US. Blacks were confined in dirty suburbs of cities like Harlem. This short story portrays racism although scantly. The knocking down of Sonny’s uncle by a white’s car portrays racism. The story does not show any successful legal procedures that could have followed the fatal knockdown. Therefore, a conclusion that the incident amounted to racism can be made.
The Bartleby, the Scrivener story does not show much about this theme of racism, although there is social stratification in the way the proprietor of the law firm (narrator), Bartleby and other Scriveners are described. It is evident that there is a very huge gap between the socio – economic class of the narrator and the scriveners.
Next on this line is the concept of brotherly love. This is expressed in adequate levels in the two stories analyzed in this paper. In the Sonny’s Blues story, the narrator’s mother tells him to be a good custodian of his brother (Sonny) and also to show him love and affection the way she (his mother) showed love to his father when his uncle was knocked down by a white man’s car. The narrator shows brotherly love when during his mother’s funeral he asked his brother Sonny to what he would like to do in his life. Sony says he would want to be a Jazz musician. When Sonny is arrested due to selling and consumption of heroin the narrator at first feels unconcerned but when he reflects what his mother had told him, he decides to do something with the help of sonny’s friend.
Also displayed in the three sources is the theme of identity crisis. Many are times when, human beings in the search for a bright future lose their identity. Identity crisis is occasioned by the dawning of the truth that one is inadequate and therefore struggles to hide this truth from becoming a common knowledge to others. The story of Bartleby the Scrivener for instance portrays this theme in great dimensions. Despite much efforts the narrator of this story and even others people t investigate the nature of Bartleby, his true characters, his origin, his people, his ambitions, his problems, Bartleby’s identity remains a mystery. Even at the prison where he dies no one discovers the kind of person he was.
In the Sonny Blues, narrative story the identity crisis is what has led to rampant consumption of hard drugs like heroin. Young people (Sonny and his friends) discovers that they have some shortcomings in the realization of their goals and therefore they indulge themselves into peddling and abusing of prohibited hard drugs. Sonny for instance admits to his brother (narrator of the story) that he regularly uses heroin to help deal with the hardships of life and also help in digging deep in his soul to create artist works. In the story, it is argued that Jazz music plays a major role in the shaping of destinies of many young black Americans. Identity crisis is expressed in the story; in the way, whites perceive themselves to be more superior to the blacks. The film’s expression of identity crisis is not either different from the other two literature works. The Local
hero in the film is as a product of identity crisis. The process of establishing oneself as a hero demands that, one persevere all the odds perpetrated by the society’s drawbacks. A today’s hero was once a no body and therefore it follows that to reach the hero status one has to pass through various identities. If he succumbs to the identity pressure, he is then swept by the currents and never to re-establish himself/ herself again.
Redemption follows identity crisis in this order. In many artists’ works, redemption is a common theme. It is taken to mean the act of saving someone from a certain problem. The hidden meaning of redemption s that no one can redeem oneself from the problem he or she is in, an external force must do so or else the person dies with the problem unsolved. The three sources in this paper portray this theme adequately. In the Sonny Blues, for example Sonny has a big problem. He is faced with life hardships; he also wants to be a Jazz musician. These problems push him into the abuse and peddling of drugs (heroin). Although he successfully becomes a Jazz musician, he is later put behind the bars due to peddling and abuse of heroin charges. His brother (the narrator) and his friend manages to redeem him (secure his release) from the prison. The narrator of the story and the Harlem neighborhood in general need also to be redeemed from the white domination. The film sufficiently explores this theme in greater heights as the little hero goes back and redeems his people from the tribulations they were undergoing. The film also displays other smaller incidences of redemption through out its lasting and development. In the Bartleby, the scrivener redemption is shown trough the vivid description of Bartleby’s life as a Scrivener and when he goes to the prison. Although many efforts are made by the narrator and other people to establish the kind of person Bartleby is, he decides to remain mute. His problems were beyond the redemption of human beings. Bartleby’s redemption seemed to be his silent death in the prison when the narrator went to visit him (Bartleby the Scrivener).
Alienation is another main issue, which has been portrayed in the three sources to this paper. Alienation here is taken to refer to the process of inculcating alien (strange) ideas to a person. In the story of Sonny’s Blues, the narrator brings out this theme when his brother who has been entrusted to look after by his mother decides to go against the humble background of the family and indulge himself into hard drugs. The narrator also finds it queer when Sonny decides to skip school regularly due to his playing of Jazz. Lastly, Sonny is incarcerated and hence alienating the once humble reputation of his family.
In the Bartleby’s story alienation is seen n Bartleby’s conduct in the office with his other fellow Scriveners and his boss (narrator). He is fond of using the term “I prefer” when engaged in a conversation seeking his help in the office. This term involuntarily sticks to the tongues of the other workers and they find themselves using it involuntarily. Therefore, Bartleby alienates his fellow scriveners and his boss. Bartleby also enhances this theme of alienation when he secretly opts to turn the law firm office into his residential dwelling place. The narrator describes this habit as alien and abnormal. In the film, this film is equally enhanced and developed with the film’s little hero beating all the odds and finally becoming a common story among his folks and foes.
In the movie, “Local hero” MacIntyre tries to sell the idea of selling off the beachfront by a character called Ben. Ben who is the owner of the part of the beach the Giant American oil company is seeking seems to be content with what he has. There is attempt to alienate him from his thinking and in the end with the effort of an astronomical buff, Ben is able to give in to the idea and this way he is alienated.
Lastly, this paper touches on the theme of American urban roots. All the authors of the three artistic works have addressed this theme generously. Firstly, all the three artists’ works setting is in American urban i.e. in New York and Washington D.C. These works describes the effects of urban life to its inhabitants. In the Bartleby’s, for instance Wall street is described as a commercial zone that is friendly during the day ad very forlorn during the night. The same urban setting has no place for people like Bartleby and therefore it condemns them to prisons where they die finally. The same urban setting in Sonny’s Blues is described as being unfair. Urban setting has many hardships e.g., there also temptations of drugs as happened to Sonny. The urban setting is also full of social injustices – Sonny’s uncle was knocked over by a white man for no apparent reason. In the urban centers are prisons where criminals like Sonny can be incarcerated. On positive note urban centres, also offers job opportunities e.g. the narrator was an algebra teacher in New York. The film portrays a mix of urban experiences and rural setting experiences. The main character in the Local hero film mingles freely with the rural folk in the attempt to convince them to sell their village to the company. Through his tact and assistance of others he is able to somewhat succeed.
All the seven themes and concepts discussed in the paper seek to compare and contrast works of different authors who were under very different circumstances when they authored the works. It is astonishing to note that most literary artistic works have been majoring on almost similar kind of themes. This serves to show how the society is suffering under the same problems all over the world, and how desperately it needs agents of redemption (writer and others) to solve the injustices, which have been inflicted on human beings by fellow human beings. It is therefore not a surprise to find many artistic works nowadays addressing the “universal” theme of suffering.
Works cited:
(i) Sonny blues by James Baldwin (http://www.wright.edu/~alex.macleod/winter06/blues.p
(ii) Bartleby the Scrivener, a Wall – street story.
(iii) Local Hero at the Internet Movie Database
