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Well Sonny's Blues Analysis Essay

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Do you have any siblings? Do you ever think to yourself why you feel responsible for certain outcomes? Well Sonny’s Blues a short story by James Baldwin (1924-1987) was published (1957). This was an emotional story and I feel that I can relate to it best by the quote Am I my brother’s keeper. As I am the oldest brother of three. Sonny reminds me of the middle brother not the exact characteristics as Sonny was a victim of heroin and my brother a victim of being a follower. The narrator reminds me a lot of myself almost down to the T. I won’t say I don’t have any street sense but I am well rounded jus due to the fact of where I come from; I am not ashamed of my place of upbringing. Being brought up where I was has sculpted me into the young man I am today. Sonny wasn’t always in such a bad situation but rather he fell …show more content…

Drugs are powerful substances and it’s never ok to think you can handle it because you can’t. Sonny understood the streets and he was trying to enlighten the narrator of the situations and circumstances that you may need to be aware of. You have to know what’s going on in the streets so you won’t be caught up in the streets. You will be endangered if you are not aware of your surroundings. Even though Sonny wasn’t in the best position he was getting his brother to be better-rounded. The narrator feels he should be there for his younger sibling as I do for both of my little brothers that brings the question of Am I my brother’s keeper. I am not perfect but through being the first of my family to attend college I feel that I am going through the narrower path. In this story you also learn the importance of music and how it has played a tune in our souls for many a year’s. Dating all the way back to slavery when slaves hum a song it essentially got them through the day it can also be related to the blues. Not many will get the meaning of how spiritual music can be how it lifts the

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In contrast, the narrator internalizes his feelings by repressing them as his father did after his brother passed away. As it was the relationship of their father and uncle, Sonny and his brother grew up in Harlem, a district replete with hopelessness and poverty. Yet each individual reacts to his environment in unusual ways. On the one hand, the narrator distances himself from his community in Harlem, including his brother Sonny. The narrator may love his brother but is in general judgmental of the direction of Sonny's life struggles and decisions.

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He hasn’t seen his brother in about a year, but as he is walking out of his school he notices a familiar face and it turns out being one of his brother’s old friend. The old friend spoke to the narrator about how hard Sonny’s struggle is now and how it will still be a struggle later. The narrator went

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Sonny’s letter written to the narrator in response to the news of the narrator’s daughter dying serves an important role in the story by reestablishing the relationship between the brothers and giving the reader insight into the misery that Sonny felt as a result of his actions. It is revealed to the reader that before the narrator had written his letter to Sonny, that the two had not been on speaking terms for a long time. After hearing of the news, Sonny wrote the letter back to the narrator which formally began their newfound connection to each other. It is revealed within the letter Sonny’s reasoning’s behind his imprisonment as well as the sadness he felt within. Sonny describes himself as “trying to climb up out of some deep, real deep

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They both went through the same childhood, but handled it differently. The narrator was more mature and had set goals. While Sonny, fell into the depth of his feeling and influences. The narrator cares for his brother and feels as if he has failed him. While his brother feels like he could never truly explain anything to the narrator.

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In Sonny's Blues, many of the characters face multiple conflicts, both external and internal. One of the most central of these conflicts is the internal struggle of Sonny to cope with the stress of his own life, most notably through his use of heroin. Many other conflicts in the story, such as the narrator's frequent arguments with Sonny, revolve around Sonny's internal conflicts. An example revealing conflict within the story occurs when the narrator gets into a fight with his brother: ". . . we had a fight, a pretty awful fight, and I didn't see him for months. . . .

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“Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin is a short story that has many significant parts to it. The narrator gives readers insight on how his relationship with his brother was like, how his brother was suffering from a heroin addiction. The narrator also gives the readers insight on his own problems. Due to Sonny’s heroin addiction, he suffered quite a lot as what was implied in the story. The narrator implies and describes so many themes in this short story.

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The narrator is prosperous, he has a wife, two children, and a good job as a high school teacher. While his brother is a homeless drug addict on the erroneous side of the law. The Narrator insists that Sonny’s struggles is him being a product of his own environment.

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Next, the narrators issues with his family. Third, there is the issue of the narrator’s fight to cope with the gloom brought about by a broken promise. Lastly, the conflict between Sonny and his brother. The internal conflict of Sonny vs. himself deals with Sonny’s addiction to the dangers of drugs. Studies have proven the fatal effects of drugs when abused.

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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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The narrator took the role of being a big brother serious; however going to the military and keeping distant from Sonny affected his brother in many ways. Sandy Norton states that the narrator was in awe when it came to his brother, he didn’t know how to help Sonny, which is why he chose not to think about his brother’s addiction to heroin. “He is, in fact, A man full of fear, trying to use his relatively privileged social position to protect himself from social reality” (Norton 175-192). This quote explains how the narrator tries to avoid thinking about his little brother being hooked on

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The story is a first-person story that is narrated by Sonny ‘s brother who provides not only insight into their lives, but also the environment they lived in. The narrator addresses their storyline including the dark sides of his community although he does so with a lot of cautious. With the manner in which the narrator is narrating the story, it is clear that he has got some difficult time when he is expressing his ideas and emotions. The narrator writes after the death of her daughter where he is writing back to his brother.

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Sonny believes that the drugs will make him forget about everything he is suffering with, but really it is only making his life worse along with getting him into a load of

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But through it all, they managed to remain close and get over their differences in order to build a stronger relationship. While the story was full of emotional ups and downs, there was a certain point that confirmed to the reader the solidity of their relationship. The story begins with the main character, Sonny’s older brother, talking about his and Sonny’s childhood. He puts an extra emphasis on Sonny’s downward spiral after their mother’s death.

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In James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” the author uses Sonny’s struggle for a redeemed life to push the narrator toward the realization of his own need for rescue; through this realization, the narrator can find his identity and be free from his sadness. The narrator needs rescuing from himself. He hides behind a curtain of denial trying to protect himself from emotional reality. The narrator struggles to understand when and how Sonny began his troubles with drug addiction; he does not understand where he went wrong in being a role model for his younger brother. Now, years later the narrator is a school teacher who is trying to be a role model for the young boys in his class.

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What is one to do when ones kin is the obstacle in finding ones true identity? In “Sonny’s Blues,” the two main characters, Sonny and his brother, the narrator, grow up facing many perilous customs in the ghetto of Harlem, ultimately changing them, and eventually causes the two brothers to head towards different paths in life, allowing conflict to emerge between them. Sonny chases towards a life filled with jazz and heroine, while his brother turns to a more luxurious life with a respectable teaching position. The eldest brother, the narrator, has dubiousness over Sonny’s way of life, worrying that this will be the origin of him falling into a life emerged in darkness. However, towards the end of the short story, the narrator comes to the conclusion that it was he who was in the darkness, in which Sonny helps him escape for a brief moment.

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