User:Atcovi/ENG225/Trauma and Art - Discussion Board Eight

Prompt
The first question is a literary analysis question.

The neighborhood Sonny and the narrator grew up in and currently live plays a major role in the development of the characters and the reader's deeper understanding of the landscape that created Sonny and all the other boys in the neighborhood.

Consider this quote:

''“These boys, now, were living as we'd been living then, they were growing up with a rush and their heads bumped abruptly against the low ceiling of their actual possibilities. They were filled with rage. All they really knew were two darknesses, the darkness of their lives, which were now closing in on them, and the darkness of the movies, which had blinded them to that other darkness, and in which they now, vindictively, dreamed, at once more together than they were at any other time, and more alone.”''

What do you think Bladwin means when he writes, "their heads bumped abruptly against the low ceiling of their actual possibilities"? There is obviously no literal ceiling, so this is metaphorical. What is this "low ceiling" and the "darkness of their lives"? The narrator is talking about the boy's in the neighborhood, but he is also talking about Sonny's own experience. Talk about about how this neighborhood might influence the way young adults develop into adulthood. The second Baldwin question turns to you. I ended this week's lecture on Baldwin with a quote:

“For, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. There isn't any other tale to tell, it's the only light we've got in all this darkness.”

In relation to the story, this quote is speaking to WHY Sonny has to play music to "save his life." Playing music not only keeps him off drugs, keeps him from killing himself, but quite literally makes living possible. It is his way to deal with everything happening on the inside. But this is true not just of Sonny, but many artists as well. They create as a mode of catharsis. They turn trauma, grief, oppression, and tragedy into something beautiful.

How do you deal with your trauma? We haven't all experienced Sonny's level of trauma, but we have all had bad things happen to us. How do you deal with the darkness in your lives? How do you get it out? Do you create something? Initial post due Friday, Oct. 27 by 11:59PM

Response
When Baldwin writes "their heads bumped abruptly against the low ceiling of their actual possibilities", this displays the desire of these kids to achieve great things in their lives. For example, being a professional athlete or a doctor. But because of circumstances out of their control, they don't have the ability to set out and succeed in this way - hence their heads hitting the "low ceiling" [limit] of their possibilities. The "darknesses in their lives" refer to the immediate "bad" in their environment (poverty and crime in the neighborhood) while the "darkness of the movies" are distractions that take them away from this reality, but are in fact just as bad (smoking weed, high on opiates). They are filled with rage because they cannot go anywhere, despite the world being expansive.

I usually deal with difficulties in my life through prayer. I retreat to the mosque after hours and worship in private. People will have their obvious, some blunt, opinions on this coping mechanism of mine, but it has helped me out through many difficulties I've encountered as a semi-pro athlete. Speaking of my athletic stance, exercising is a great way to deal with pain in my life. When I'm running to my music (or nasheeds, as the more appropriate term), I feel lost in natural dopamine rather than artificial dopamine which will cause me to plunge into a deeper hole of despair (scrolling mindlessly on social media, for example).