In The One Who Walks Away from Omelas, Ursula K. LeGuin uses the contrast between the idyllic city of Omelas and the suffering child locked in a basement to explore the ethic of societal happiness and the nature of morality. Omelas is a utopian place of joy, prosperity, and harmony. However, this ideal society is based on the eternal suffering of a single child locked in a basement, this is a moral compromise that challenges the ethics of happiness based on injustice. Firstly, the place of Omelas is bright, fresh air with dark blue sky, music winding throughout the city streets, filled with festivals, music, and happy citizens. This vivid…

In “Recitatif”, Morrison skillfully utilizes ambiguity and the lack of explicit racial markers to explore themes of identity, memory, and racial complexity. By not explicitly informing the race of two main characters, Twyla and Roberta, the author allows the reader to guess their racial affiliation from the detailed descriptions, forcing readers to confront their own prejudices. For instance, when Twyla describes “stuck in a strange place with a girl from a whole other race” this is the first time she met Roberta at Bellevue shelter. Twyla also describes her mother’s opinion toward the other race “They never washed their hair, and they smelled funny”, and “Roberta sure did smell funny”…

In Sonny’s Blues, Baldwin’s use of Jazz goes beyond entertainment, symbolizing identity, connection, and survival. Early in the story, Sonny expresses his desire to be a Jazz musician to his older brother, but his brother, the narrator cannot understand his thoughts. In the author’s opinion, as a black man growing up in Harlem, have limited social opportunities to begin with, and choosing the path of music was unstable and difficult to live by. For Sonny, Jazz is not only a type of music but also an expression of his own experiences and inner feelings. The narrator’s initial reaction was “It sounds very far away, it sounds impossible” which represents both…