Kimo Gray
10.10.08
Hamilton Salsich
English 9

Love, Loss, Gain, and Music
A comparative essay
Is there truly any way for us not to lose this game of life? It seems like the more we gain every day, the more that we have to lose, the more for us to be hurt, the more for us to just succumb to the tortures of daily life. Life will always be difficult, but two characters who fought this storm of life are Dexter Green (Winter Dreams), a young successful man who was able to have anything he ever wanted- except happiness, and Sonny (Sonny’s Blues) , a poor Harlem man whose fight with drugs cost him more than he could ever imagine. Their own personal struggles each bring thoughts to one’s self that raise personal questions that can cause even the wisest of men to question their existence.
It may be hard to see a silver lining through the dark clouds of daily turpentine, but you have to believe it’s there. Sonny’s story starts way back in high school, when he started doing drugs. He carried on this addiction for years, until it finally brought him to jail, where he lost the love and respect of his brother. Once released from jail, Sonny went through his own personal retreat, so that the drugs would never take anything away from him again. Trying desperately to understand what Sonny was going through, Sonny’s brother invited him into his home, where Sonny found a new love-the piano. Sonny would play that piano for every hour, every day, every waking moment he had. It was a way to pour out his soul; all the conflicting emotions raging a fiery battle within him, so that he could finally enjoy the music that now commanded his life. Because his brother was still unable to recognize the pain that Sonny endured every day, Sonny had to leave, and escaped life through the military. When he returned, he and his brother tried many times to reconcile, but it seemed with their conflicting views they were not able to gain a brotherly relationship. In a last attempt, Sonny invited his brother to hear him play at a club, and there, with the cool jazz and mild blues playing in the background, his brother had an epiphany; Sonny had lost so much, all he needed was to do what he loved so that he could heal. The story stops there, but with the brothers reconciliation, a new foundation had been secured in Sonny’s life, so that he may never topple down again.
Even in the most diverse people and lifestyle, the simplicity of sadness can be found. Dexter Greene is a man who could not be more opposite of Sonny- He is rich, he is successful, he has the epitome of fulfillment through all his lovely possessions and accomplishes. Except Dexter has a tiny little black hole in his heart, that will never truly allow him to be happy. That hole’s name is Judy Jones, the woman who broke his heart again and again, until all that was left were shards of a man who once was. Even from boyhood, Dexter loved Judy; he quit his job as a caddy, which he was quite good at, simply so that he would not have to interact with her. In his adult years, that love intensified, with them starting a relationship that would become an on and off adventure that always kept him hanging. Ultimately, he convinced himself that she would never truly love him back, and he left, escaping to the army much like Sonny did. Years later, as he was talking with a friend, the subject of Judy Jones came up- or rather, Mrs. Lud Simms. With the new description of Judy Jones thrust upon him, now an ordinary, plain, housewife, Dexter was thrown in an ineluctable spiral that served as the final proof that his life with Judy Jones was over. His undying love for the now imaginary Judy Jones turned his life into “the story of a man who gets nearly everything he wants at the cost of nearly everything that made it worth wanting.” (Burhans Jr.) Though the end of Dexter’s story isn’t nearly as fulfilling as Sonny’s, it still serves as a horrific example of loss and gain in our lives.
Loss can be a hard thing to cope with; I recently lost a beloved grandparent, and his passing hurt me in more ways than I could have imagined. But all that means is with every loss, there is a flipside of gain; I know that I will always be able to love my Poppop, no matter what. Though Sonny and Dexter’s experiences were less than ideal, it shows how even the most untouchable people can be burned, and that music can function as a window to the soul, and that no matter what, there is no reason to ever stop on living your life. As Winston Churchill once said, “Success is the ability to go from one failure to another without loss of enthusiasm.”











Purposeful Repetition: Underlined
FAST Words: Bold
Burhans , Clinton S., Jr.. "Winter Dreams: ‘‘Magnificently Attune to Life’’: The Value of ‘‘Winter Dreams’’" Short Stories for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 15. Detroit: Gale, 1998. eNotes.com. January 2006. 7 October 2008.
http://www.enotes.com/winter-dreams/magnificently-attune-life-value-winter-dreams