Manchild in the Promised Land (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Claude Brown
- First Published: 1965
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Social criticism
- Time of Work: The 1940’s to 1960
- Setting: Harlem, New York
- Genres: Nonfiction, Autobiography, Social issues
- Subjects: 1950’s, African Americans, Family or family life, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Adolescence, Blacks, Teenagers, Music or musicians, New York City, 1940’s, Prostitution or prostitutes, Gangs, youth, Harlem, Alcoholism or alcoholics, Child abuse, Substance abuse, Inner cities or inner-city life, Robbery or robbers, Jazz music, Drug addiction or addicts, Drugs, Boxing, Reformatories
- Locales: Harlem, NY
Characters Discussed
Claude Brown, referred to as “Sonny” throughout most of the book, the first-person narrator and voice of the author. Sonny is a young black child at the opening of the novel, and this is his story of growth and survival in the streets of Harlem. His youth corresponds to the era of drugs, violence, and racial unrest in Harlem, and he learns quite young that survival depends on one’s ability to fight everything and everyone. Unhappy under the roof of his abusive father and complacent mother, Sonny considers the streets of Harlem his home, and fear is...
[The entire page is 881 words long]
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