The story takes place during the 1950's in a time of segregation when the black community was facing oppression. The context of the story plays an important role because it is significant to each of the character's suffering. Although it is only lightly discussed between the characters, racism builds limitations for the people living in Harlem as well as Sonny and the narrator. The narrator describes it as much like an imprisonment.
In the story, when the narrator's mother tells him about his uncle's death it had affected his father, turning him into a more rigid and stern person. The narrator talks about how especially strict he use to be with Sonny because he was frightened for him. Afterward She tells him to look after Sonny because the