Sibling Rivalry In The Rich Brother And Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin

Psychotic Siblings and What Makes Them So Insufferable

Most people have at least one sibling to torment them for eternity. It is a fact of life for about 80 percent of the population, though some of them may wish they were not part of this statistic. Those who have no brother or sister to pull their hair or steal their allowance are blessed beyond words, but nevertheless some sibling-less children often wonder how different their life would be if they had someone to grow up with.

But what makes siblings so insufferable? Why are many children tormented by their older brothers or sisters? More importantly, why do siblings constantly fight?

The answer is simple: sibling rivalry. But what is sibling rivalry? What causes it? Sibling rivalry is the

The same-sex, small age gap relation between siblings is represented in Wolff’s story,

“The Rich Brother” while Baldwin’s story, “Sonny’s Blues” focuses on the interaction of siblings of the same gender with a larger age gap. Their interactions are true to the study, as these pairs of siblings are very dysfunctional and aggressive toward each other.

Martha Ryan:

Don't ask so many questions

Berry 2

In “The Rich Brother”, Pete is the older brother, though it is not stated just how much older he is. Donald is his younger brother, and seems to be the bane of Pete’s existence. Many signs of aggression between these two are mentioned. For example, when they were children,

Donald had intestinal problems. From what he says about their childhood, it seems that Donald might have had intestinal hernias, a condition when the abdominal wall is not strong enough to keep the intestines from jostling around, and often causes the intestines to spill out of their proper place.

This is very dangerous because the intestines could rupture, and the waste products of the body would collect and poison him from the inside. And yet Pete sought to worsen his

However, in “Sonny’s Blues” the two brothers have a larger age gap of seven years, and instead of an aggressive relationship, their relationship is more based around the older brother being a guide of sorts to his younger brother, Sonny. Of course, that doesn’t always mean that

Sonny listens to him, much to the narrator’s lament.

The story begins with the narrator, Sonny’s brother, teaching at the school where he works in Harlem. As he is walking home, he finds out from one of Sonny’s old friends that

Sonny is in jail for drug abuse.

His first reaction to the news is anger at Sonny, and at the state of Harlem where they both live. In his anger he decides to not write to his brother in jail, or to visit him at all. He remembers all of the events leading up to his brother’s arrest: their father’s death, the narrator going off to war for the navy, his return home to find that his brother had gotten kicked out of his wife’s house, his mother’s death and her wish for him to protect Sonny, his brother’s confession that he wanted to become a jazz piano player, and the birth and raising of his