In James Baldwin’s story “Sonny’s Blues” it is showing that there is an obligation toward brotherly love. The love between brothers is something that doesn’t fade away. When Sonny was in jail it showed that what his older brother was trying to tell him the difference between what is right and what is wrong, before Sonny got caught was not to do drugs. Doing what is wrong can have a negative impact on our families, friends, our communities and the relationships with our siblings. By watching out for our younger siblings after a parent passes away is the biggest responsibility for the oldest child to have to bare.
First, the obligation that comes with having a younger brother or younger sibling is the amount of love that is being given to the younger siblings by the older ones. Sometimes the amount of love that is shared between siblings can be depleted when and if they start fighting.
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Losing two parents puts more of the responsibilities on the older brother to watch, take care of, and shelter his younger sibling. Each responsibility comes along has some type of obstacles that will create some setbacks. While Sonny was safe in jail his brother took the time to start a family of his own as an example for Sonny when he got out. Every bad decision that Sonny made had a counter effect on his brother.
In conclusion, the story “Sonny Blues” it showed that a brother’s love for his sibling can help overcome any type of obstacles. So, Sonny chose to take the easier path and earn back his brother’s love. The decisions that Sonny made in the past did not matter anymore to his older brother. Sonny expresses himself through music so he doesn’t fall back into being addict and end up back in jail. So, if Sonny learned not to do drugs when he was younger what would he be doing with his life at this
“Sonny’s Blues” is about complex relationship between two brothers living in Harlem. The story is narrated with the first-person who discovers about his younger brother’s arrest in the newspaper for using and selling heroine. The narrator, who is a school teacher, reveals how life is difficult in the ghetto. In contrast, his brother, Sonny, is a musician who has led a wilder life. Since the author has real life experience of living in Harlem, he understands it problems effectively.
James Baldwin’s classic short story “Sonny’s Blues,” features emotional topics like struggles, addiction, and love. The story takes place in Harlem, New York in the early 1950’s, and revolves around the narrator’s perspective on Sonny’s life and the impact the community had around them. In their youth, both the Narrator and Sonny lived in the projects infested with drug abuse, impecuniosity, violence, and racism. Into their adulthood, both would live thoroughly different lives.
“Sonny’s Blues” is a first person narrative written by James Baldwin, a former African American author. The story is focussed on many different concepts of life and the author's life clearly defines the reason to writing the story. Born in Harlem, the setting of “Sonny’s Blues,” James saw various forms of living as he grew. The author used his younger experiences and time with the church to create this significant writing. In “Sonny’s Blues,” the narrator, an unnamed character shown as an algebra teacher, and his brother, Sonny, grew apart when Sonny found a pull towards both music and heroin.
Throughout the story of “Sonny’s Blues”, James Baldwin develops a theme that can still be related with today. The misunderstanding and lack of knowledge that the narrator experiences, about his brother, is something that many today feel, as their own family members are being prosecuted and they do not comprehend why. Within the story, there are numerous subtle ideas that are used to progress the story and theme along to the ending that is given. James Baldwin advances the theme of his story, that misfortune and anguish can be renovated into a unique art form, using characterizations, settings, and symbolisms. One of the main literary devices that is used to express the theme is characterization.
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.
That you shouldn’t let your living situations or surroundings determine your outcome. Sonny's Blues shows challenges that troubled the African-American community, and how drugs troubled the young artists and kept them bound like slaves. How those living in Harlem, felt like there was no escape to the poverty that surrounded them. How a young artist was overcoming his demons, with the support of his family and living out his dream. How one has to forgive and not let the past control one’s future, nor let the surroundings of your environment determine where you will go in
James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues" analyzes a very complex relationship between the narrator and his brother, Sonny. Before directing to the attention of the relationship between these two brothers, we have to first understand the personality of each character. Initially, the narrator has a stable job as a hardworking math teacher and makes an effort to assimilate himself to his surroundings, but has never comprehended his brother, Sonny. Sonny is the complete opposite of the narrator. Sonny separates from his brother to become a Blues musician, though becomes addicted to drugs, such as heroin, in order to control his own feelings.
The narrator keeps this in mind and tries to sway Sonny to a path he feels is right for him. Sonny wants to go into music however the narrator feels it would be
In “Sonny’s Blues,” James Baldwin wrote a different type coming of age story. At the end of the story the narrator finally develops a new understanding for his brother, and forgives him. The story’s narrator is a black algebra teacher, whose name is never revealed, who is living in Harlem, a New York City neighborhood. In the beginning of the story the narrator reads about his brother, Sonny, being busted with heroin in the newspaper.
“Sonny’s Blues,” written by James Baldwin discusses conflicts between two brothers in hopes of mending their relationship. “Sonny’s Blues” begins with the unnamed narrator reading a piece of paper with information regarding the trouble his brother Sonny has gotten himself into. The narrator has not been communicating with his brother during this period, but after the death of his two-year-old daughter Grace, he writes Sonny a letter. Once Sonny has been released, he goes back to Harlem to live with the narrator, and the narrator forces him into staying with his fiancé Isabel and her family because he believes Sonny deserves the opportunity to receive an education. Sonny makes it known to the narrator that he does not want to go back to school
The short story “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin is about a young man whom is struggling in life. The narrator, who is unnamed throughout the story, and Sonny’s older brother tells the readers in depth about his brothers battle. In the late 1900s during poverty and systematic oppression, many African Americans were subjected to one specific area in modern day known as Harlem. Not only is story about discrimination African Americans faced, it is about two brothers gaining a better understanding on each others lives. Baldwin demonstrates that acceptance over a family member’s decisions can strengthen the bond between two estranged brothers.
Although both characters were different they found an understanding by trying to feel what each other were feeling. Also by coping with their tough childhood and feelings together without directly communicating. Sonny wanted so desperately to please his brother, but couldn’t find a way to avoid Jazz but still get that feeling he craved. Sonny was clearly disappointed and embarrassed by his choice of actions and despite what anyone said, he realized the choice he made was poor and it was time to follow his dream. At the end, the narrator realizes why Sonny turned to drugs in the first place.
“Sonny’s Blues” is not just about Sonny's decisions and struggles but also about how they affect the narrator. This story is as much about family and brotherhood and the relationship between these two men as it is about the character of
Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin was a short story about the struggles of living in a tough, rundown neighborhood and looking to drugs as a way out. Baldwin’s intent on writing this piece focuses on pain and suffering. The author stresses that not everybody is born in the best circumstances. Sonny was one of those people who grew up in a rickety town where people often did not make it out successful.
Sonny Blues Paul Pearshall once said “Our most basic instinct is not for survival but for family. Most of us would give our own life for the survival of a family member, yet we lead our daily life too often as if we take our family for granted”. In this story the conflict of responsibility takes place. A brother, who happens to be the narrator, blames his self for the events that takes place in his life, such as his brother sonny’s crack addiction. The Narrator feels responsible for his brother’s heroin addiction because he believed he shut his brother’s career goals down, felt as though he went against what his mother asked him to do, and because he chose not to believe that the way he treated his brother affected his brother life.