Music Influences
...Sonny’s pain and because he doesn’t want pain like that to become apart of his life. The narrator does not write to Sonny in prison until he has experienced a loss of his own. The narrator’s little girl dies of polio, and at that point he reaches out to the only person who might be able to understand that kind of anguish his brother Sonny. When Sonny returns home, the narrator feels the “ice again” as he watches his brother for signs of addiction and hating himself for being suspicious but unable to prevent it. Sonny got addicted to drugs because he was filled with so much rage, pain and misery and he did not know how to express it, he expressed his feelings through playing the piano and he still did not perfect the skills to allow the music to flow out of his soul and through his fingers in a way that would heal him. Getting high was easier. The difference between Sonny and the narrator is the narrator is terrified this kind of naked emotion. When he feels it, it threatens to overwhelm him and he freezes into ice inside. This way is does not show on the outside except through sweat. Sonny on the other hand feels compelled to confront this emotion one way or the other; through drugs or through music whatever works and work the pain out. 2. In “The Death of Ivan Illych” a man panics when confronted with the fact that he will die soon of an undiagnosed illness, Why does he panic, since death has been certain since the day he was born? And how does his anxiety (and regret!) become resolved or changed through his relation with Gerasim? In “The Death of Ivan Illych”, the panic is caused by not knowing, not knowing when you are going to die and not knowing what you can fulfill in a minimal amount of time. Everyone who knows Ivan including Ivan himself has led a life of total disconcern for the feelings and sufferings of others. They all lead shallow lives not daring to probe into the feelings deep down inside for fear of stepping outside the lines of propriety. That is the biggest rule that people of that society follow. Do not say or show what you are thinking. Ivan Ilych’s attitude toward life is the same all the way up to his death. He was as the author put it, “…a capable, good-natured, and social man, though strict in the fulfillment of what he considered his duty: and he considered his duty to be what was so considered by those in authority.” That quote states that Ivan was solely concerned with his duties and his advancement in position by following the orders of his authorities. The relationship with Gerasim meant a great deal to Ivan. Gerasim did it all easily, willingly, simply, and with a good nature that touched Ivan Ilych. Health, strength, and vitality in other people were offensive to him, but Gerasim's strength and vitality did not m...