The Power of Music in Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis and James Baldwin’s Sonny’s Blues

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Music has the power to affect people in great ways. It can heal broken hearts, provide and escape from reality, and speak where words cannot. Both The Metamorphosis and “Sonny’s Blues” uses music to help the main character in life. In these pieces of work, music connects both Gregor and Sonny back to humanity and open windows that were previously closed.
Gregor, the main character of The Metamorphosis, not only woke up realizing that he wasn’t human, but also connected back to humanity through the sound of music. Music becomes an important factor in the metamorphosis of Gregor from human to insect. Most of his human life was spent doing routine tasks that didn’t benefit him, such as his job, and he lost his sight of his purpose. He lost touch with his family, even though they were always there, and began to lose himself. He started off confused about what was happening to him, but soon realized that the metamorphosis had a purpose. His transformation opened his eyes to what was around him though. The insect Gregor began to appreciate things that the human Gregor had not such as fami...

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