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Comparing The Rich Brother And Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin

564 Words3 Pages

Throughout one’s life, one tends to adapt to the traditions of their family, and gain a significant bond with their loved ones, including their siblings. However, that connection a person gains can either be diminished or forgotten due to a sense of different mindsets between family members. The two stories “The Rich Brother” by Tobias Wolff and “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin indicate that sibling rivalry occurs when each member does not understand or acknowledge their sibling’s perspective, and this builds a wall barrier between the siblings. The short story, “The Rich Brother” accounts the journey of two brothers with great different personalities. After Donald, the younger naive religious brother, is kicked out of a communal farm, Pete, the older wealthier brother, goes to pick him up. Pete feels that Donald is too carefree, and that he always has to help him out of his mistakes. The tensions between these siblings are evident--they both feel that they need to prove themselves to each other; they need to provide evidence of their “prosperity” (Wolff 324). Pete more than Donald tends to always try to impress others, such as buying expressive items. He, unlike …show more content…

After hearing that his younger brother, Sonny, has been put in jail due to drug use, he remembers his childhood, and how they both never did really get along. Both Sonny and the narrator feel a sense of “darkness outside”, and this “darkness” is what creates the miscommunication between the brothers (Baldwin 338). Sonny changed his normality due to not being noticed during his childhood, and the drastic change causes the older brother to feel uncomfortable seeing his brother, because Sonny told him that “he was dead as far as [he] was concerned” (351). Their struggles caused them to lose contact, and to slowly build that invisible barrier between their

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In Tobias Wolff’s story, “The Rich Brother,” the author depicts the relationship of two opposite brothers. While one brother, Pete, is seemingly content with his financial prosperity and wealthy lifestyle, the other, Donald, finds no comfort in such things. As Pete struggles to tolerate Donald’s outlook on life, Donald struggles to find his place in the world spiritually while avoiding concerning himself with the financial aspect of it. For some this spiritual sense of completion Donald seeks is more valuable to them than any financial one, while others, like Pete, find comfort in the life they live through material wealth. Although Pete’s lifestyle lacks a spiritual aspect, he is the “richer” brother since he has obtained the way of life he desired to have the most, not due to the fact that this desired lifestyle stems from much physical wealth.

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Tobian Wolff’s, “The Rich Brother” is a short story about two brothers, Pete and Donald, are complete opposites of each other. Pete is the more established brother he is married with two daughters, owns a century 21 franchise, a sailboat, a house, and some friends. Donald, on the other hand is portrayed throughout the story as more of a disappointment when being compared to his brother. Donald was still single, lived alone, painted houses whenever he could find a job, and financially dependent on his older brother Pete. In short, as the book put it, “Pete prospered and Donald did not prosper”(654).

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At first glance, the reader can assume the “rich brother” is referring to Pete and the amount of money he has acquired throughout the years. Upon further analysis, however, the reader can understand the actual meaning of “rich” to be one’s fulfillment in life’s purpose. Pete has accepted what life has to offer him, even if it is shallow

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When one is described as “rich,” he or she is assumed to exhibit many distinctive qualities: a plethora of wealth, a beautiful home, a luxurious car, and in most cases a tendency to spend his or her wealth on personal possessions. Tobias Wolff’s short story, “The Rich Brother,” boldly presents the aforementioned word in the title of the poem, displaying it to readers before they even begin to read the story. The story recounts the experiences of two brothers, and readers could at first conclude that either brother is the “rich” brother; however, this word can undertake either a positive connotation or a negative connotation, depending on the perspective. While readers might at first describe Donald as "rich" due to his wealth in generosity,

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The narrator does not really know who his brother is, or at least not the one who is standing in front of him. He will realize this later in the story, “I suddenly had the feeling I didn’t know him at all (Baldwin 87).” This is the problem with the narrator trying to help Sonny make life choices, he does not really know who his brother is; he only remembers who his brother

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James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” is a short story depicting the relationship of two brothers, Sonny and an unnamed narrator. The story takes place in the project of Harlem, New York in the early 1950s. The narrator is a high school math teacher. His younger brother Sonny is a troubled musician struggling with his addiction to drugs. Before their mother dies, she asks the narrator promise to her he’ll look after his younger brother when she is gone.

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There are multiple ways that this can be seen, through the narrator and Sonny, the artist. In the beginning, of the story it paints a picture of Sonny as “his face had been bright and open” but later states that “I couldn’t believe it: … …… all that light in his face gone out” showing that through development of character the hardships these brothers have gone through drove Sonny into doing something he regretted. Later it shows that Sonny has grown while in prison becoming reserved and quiet, the only place that the

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There are many interpretations when it comes to the word rich. One could be rich in intellect or possibly rich in loving others. Authors often use these different definitions to make a reader think more when reading a story. When reading the title of the story, "The Rich Brother,” many readers will first assume that Pete is the rich brother because of his monetary wealth; conversely, a deeper analyzation of the story reveals that Donald is the rich brother because of the author’s non-stereotypical interpretation of the word “rich.” In the first paragraph, the author tells the reader of Pete’s monetary wealth when it says he “worked hard and made a lot of money.”

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909 Words | 4 Pages

In James Baldwin's short story, Sonny’s Blues, the reader should understand and visualize the historical context in order to understand the world being presented. The reader has to comprehend the harsh life of a male African-American who struggles with his dreams and drug addiction sometime around early 1957. I will discuss Baldwin's writing style, the life/value of an african american's life during this time, and the relationship between Sonny and his brother. Baldwin’s short story illustrates the hardships a person faces while searching for themselves in a world full of people or obstacles that stand in their way. Some of these obstacles are self inflicted, present from the beginning of their existence or appear as though they are random.

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Donald, through his religious and generous nature, obtains a sense of fulfillment. As it is clearly stated in “The Rich Brother,” Donald believes that he has a “purpose in life” while Pete is not aware of his (328). Both Donald and Pete are considered “rich,” but the two brothers hold different definitions of the word. Pete is regarded as “rich” because he has great deal of money, and Donald is considered to be rich because of his kind, generous, and religious nature. As one can conclude from Donald and Pete’s contrasting personalities, Donald finds a sense of purpose, fulfillment, and wholeness, while Pete cannot.

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