Redemption Is a Theme That Is Prevalent

Redemption is a theme that is prevalent in many works of literature. As it has its basis in religious belief, religion is often an accompanying theme to stories about redemption. Two stories that involve redemption are James Baldwin's Sonny's Blues and Flannery O'Connor's Good Country People, but both do so in very different ways. While Baldwin's Sonny's Blues portrays redemption in a more traditional way, O'Connor's Good Country People demonstrates redemption in a dark and somewhat tragic way. But in both stories the characters, after some pain and suffering, do gain redemption in their own ways.

Baldwin's story is a take-off of the "prodigal son" story from the Bible with two brothers, one good and one a troublemaker. The narrator in Sonny's Blues is asked by his dying mother to take care of his younger brother Sonny who is a drug abuser.(Baldwin, 1995, pp.118-119) After an initial attempt, he turns his back on Sonny when his problems lead him to jail. The narrator is in need of redemption from the betrayal of his brother, as well as the failure to live up to the promise he made to his mother. On the other hand is the character of Hulga in O'Connor's Good Country People, who may have only one leg, but has a modern education and intelligence. Her studies have caused her to give up her belief in God in favor of a more rational, intelligent approach to life. However, her faith in her own intelligence is put to the test when a fake religious man seduces her and steals her wooden leg. Hulga is in need of redemption from her lack of faith in God and her absolute faith in herself and her intelligence.

The two stories both contain a moment when each character realizes that they are in need of redemption. The narrator in Baldwin's story comes to his decision at the moment when his own daughter dies from polio. He finally understands the pain that his brother has been forced to endure, and why he has turned to drugs. He also comes to realize that the loss of someone you love is more important than anything else, and it is a gift if you can get them back. At this moment he renews his relationship with his brother Sonny. Hulga's redemption comes in a unique moment in her life, when she thinks she has the upper hand in her relationship with Manley, the country Bible salesman. She thinks she is so much more intelligent than this bumpkin, and she believes that she is actually seducing him. But in reality it is manly who is deceiving her and after tricking her into taking off her wooden leg, he steals it, leaving her helpless. (O'Connor, 2000, pp. 290-291) She comes to realize that for all her airs of superior intelligence, she is a foolish child. Her redemption comes through learning that she is not as smart as she thinks.