American Blues: Difficult Aspirations in 'The Quiet American' and 'Sonny's Blues' Anonymous 10th Grade

The novel The Quiet American, by Graham Greene, tells the story of the Vietnam War from the perspectives of three different characters. Fowler represents the British viewpoint and is also the narrator of the novel. Pyle gives the American viewpoint on their involvement in the war. Phuong symbolizes the Vietnamese and their passive role in the experience. James Baldwin’s short story Sonny’s Blues, which is set in Harlem in the year 1957, focuses on the relationship between the narrator and his brother Sonny. Sonny has a dream of becoming a jazz musician but he is restricted by his drug addiction and the harsh environment he grew up in. Sonny’s brother struggles to understand his dream throughout the story and this situation is similar to the conflict expressed in The Quiet American. One of the main characters, Pyle, is a young and naïve American coming to work in Vietnam. His dream is to spread democracy and command a Third Force to take control of Vietnam. The American Dream deferred is represented in both The Quiet American and Sonny’s Blues through the characters lives and portrays the American identity in the 1950s.

The relationships in both literary works help and hinder the characters involved in achieving their American...