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Vandalism In Sonny's Blues, By James Baldwin

728 Words3 Pages

Sonny, a jazz musician from Harlem, New York City, who took a different way from his brother and not the best decisions, but destiny took him back to his brother looking forward to starting over. Sonny’s Blues published in 1957 by James Baldwin is a true story that happened to the author. When Sonny is released after he gets caught for sealing and consuming heroin, his brother and his brother’s wife, James and Isabel received him in their house after long time not knowing a word from him. The story shows that even tough that Sonny did not chose the correct decisions about his life, he was a person with no malice, just that he raised in the wrong place. At the beginning of the story the mood of the author, James, seems to be frustrated for what he found out about his brother. The years when Sonny’s Blues was written were years where racism was all over the United States. Sonny was from a black family. In 1957 and earlier years, black families were known for being criminals. For this reason withe families used to discriminate black people. Also, withe families were evil with black people. Sonny and James’s father was victim of racist vandalism. Their fathers’ brother was killed by a group of white people with no …show more content…

However, the biggest one is the man vs. circumstances problem that Sonny has with drugs. The whole story is based on Sonny’s drugs problems. Some parts of the story are related to Sonny’s past; before he started selling and consuming drugs, and then, the present, which are the consequences of Sonny’s acts. In addition, Jame has a man vs. circumstances problem as well. The death of James’ little daughter has him mentally affected, but this helped James to value more his family. This conflict is linked with Isabel too. James thought that because of Isabel’s lost, she would not wanted to help Sonny, but in the contrary, she was happy to have Sonny again with them. Moreover, Isabel was totally disposed to help

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Using his writing as a form of self-expression, James Baldwin, an African American author, spent his life seeking to reveal the cruel reality of African American men. “Sonny Blues” Baldwin’s short fiction, was published in 1957 and takes place during the Harlem Renaissance. The literary work tells the story of Sonny and his brother (an unnamed narrator), as they seek to understand how to navigate the delicate and dangerous waters of familial relationships, their role in society and themselves. However, it is not until the end of the story when Sonny’s brother narrates the powerful, melodic sound of Sonny’s blues that he acknowledges his own pain. It is during his epiphany, when he finally begins to understand Sonny’s pain and the pain of every generation who came before him and after him.

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