Brothers in Sonny Blues and Mother and Criminal in A Good Man is Hard to Find The brothers in Sonny Blues

show different characteristics. Both of them lives in Harlem. Sonnys brother, compared to Sonny, has succeeded: he has a wife, two children, and a good job as a teacher. However, he is constantly aware of Harlems darker, more dangerous side. He notes the open drug dealing that happens in the playgrounds near the housing projects, the disappearance of old homes, and, of course, his brothers ongoing battle with the world. Far from worrying solely about his familys difficulties, he frames Sonnys struggles within a larger context, situating him within the poverty, crime, and drug abuse that plague the entire community. Though the narrator is fully conscious of his communitys dark side, he tries his best to keep those problems at arms length, refusing to let any tragedy affect him too much emotionally. Unlike Sonny, the narrator has a difficult time expressing his ideas and emotions, and only when his young daughter dies does he open up and write to his brother. The narrator believes that he has been called upon to watch over Sonny, but this knowledge doesnt lessen the burden he feels. He is constantly torn by his emotions, which shift quickly from love to hate, concern to doubt. As much as he cares for Sonny, he seems to be unable to fully accept that his brother has the capacity for change. On the other hand, Sonny, from a young age, is haunted by the burden of being poor, black, and trapped within the confines of his community. As a young African American male born in Harlem, he is aware of the limits and obstacles he faces. He struggles to defy the stereotypes by moving away from Harlem and beginning a career as a musician. Unlike his brother, Sonny wants and needs an escape from Harlem and the traditional social order. Instead of being free, however, Sonny winds up being confined in prisonfar from feeling trapped in his community, he is now literally captive. Even after Sonny is released from prison, the narrator describes him as a caged animal that is trying to break free from the effects that prison has had on him and from the drug addiction that led to his incarceration. When it comes to main characters unnamed grandmother and Misfit in A Good Man is Hard to Find, they have different characteristics also. The grandmother considers herself morally superior to others by virtue of her being a lady, and she freely and frequently passes judgment on others. She claims that her conscience is a guiding force in her life, such as when she tells Bailey that her conscience wouldnt allow her to take the children in the same direction as the Misfit. She criticizes the childrens mother for not traveling to a place that would allow the children to be broad. The grandmother never turns her critical eye on herself to inspect her own hypocrisy, dishonesty, and selfishness. For example, the conscience the grandmother invokes at the beginning of the story is conveniently silent when she sneaks Pitty Sing into the car, lies to the children about the secret panel, and opts not to reveal that she made a mistake about the location of the house. When the Misfit systematically murders the family, the grandmother never once begs him to spare her children or grandchildren. She does, however, plead for her own life because she cant imagine the Misfit wanting to kill a lady. She seems certain that hell recognize and respect her moral code, as though it will mean something to him despite his criminal ways. She tries to draw him into her world by assuring him that hes a good man,

but even though he agrees with her assessment of him, he doesnt see this as a reason to spare her. On the other hand, the Misfit, with his violent killing, seems not to look for spiritual or moral guidance, but he demonstrates a deep conviction that the other characters lack. Unlike the grandmother, the Misfit seriously questions the meaning of life and his role in it. He has carefully considered his actions in life and examined his experiences to find lessons within them. He has even renamed himself because of one of these lessons, believing that his punishment didnt fit his crime. Because the Misfit has questioned himself and his life so closely, he reveals a self-awareness that the grandmother lacks. He knows he isnt a great man, but he also knows that there are others worse than him. The Misfit has a steady view of life and acts according to what he believes is right. His beliefs and actions are not moral in the conventional sense, but they are strong and consistent and therefore give him a strength of conviction that the grandmother lacks. He can rely on his moral code to guide his actions. The grandmother cannot, and in the last moments of her life, she recognizes his strength and her weaknesses. When we compare both characters in both stories, both of them are used to create the conflict in both stories. Sonnys brother and the grandmother are on the negative side of the conflict, while Sonny and the Misfit are on the positive side of this conflict. Sonnys brother is a succesful guy who hesitates about Sonny whether he wants to change and whether he deserves to change. So he may feel that he is superior than other lives in same environment just like the grandmother. He is unstable on his actions towards Sonny and he always hesitates what action he should take action seriously about his brother Sonny. Like the grandmother, Sonnys brother may have the same selfishness and being alone in the community by his superiority. So they can believe in only themselves to make a difference and change. When it comes to The Misfit and Sonny, they cannot change since they are inferior. Sonny and The Misfit has some sam characteristic. Both has a tend to be criminal either because of the bad environment or bad family life. And they indeed are criminal. But the thing is that they have a tend to change. Sonny tries to get rid of the community that lead him to be criminal, while the Misfit seeks for the meaning of life and get to know his own and the life itself. Both of them has a talent. Sonny has a talent to play music, while the Misfit has a talent to kill the people. When they commit their talent, actually they are suffering. Sonny can express all of his deep-seated longing and frustration by his music. Sonnys music offers him a chance at redemption, but at the same time it also threatens to destroy him. To create music, Sonny has to bear the suffering and tragedies of his life and all the lives around him. He translates that suffering into an artistic expression that ultimately, even if only temporarily, redeems his audience. There is something heroic, almost Christlike, to the way Sonny offers himself up to his music. He knows that playing music may destroy him by leading him back into a life of drugs, but he also knows that its a burden that he has to bear. The Misfit also has the same controversial side. He commits the crimes to commit his rudimentary philosophies, such as no pleasure but meanness and the crime dont matter. Actually he has an selfawareness already and he is committing his self-awareness.