A Dream In Sonny's Blues, By James Baldwin

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In the short story Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin readers are introduced to the Narrator’s brother Sonny who is an ex heroin addict. Readers learn about the past of both the Narrator and Sonny who were brother who grew up in Harlem. The Narrator lives a normal life with kids and a stable job, while his brother lives on the fringe while being addicted to drugs. “I want to talk to you about your brother, she said, suddenly. If anything happens to me he aint going to have nobody to look out for him” -(pg572). This was said by the mother when talking to the Narrator. The mother gave him the job to become sonny’s keeper after she is gone. Sonny is a loose cannon or a free spirit and to watch over someone like this is extremely difficult. This …show more content…

And after supper he went back to the piano” -(pg577). When sonny was living with Isabel and her parents all he would do is play the piano in his free time. This shows the persistence that sonny has when trying to accomplish his dream of being a jazz pianist. He takes every single second he had and dedicated it towards perfecting this instrument. Sonny learned this instrument by himself without the help of his brother. Sonny was forced to encourage and push himself to accomplish his dream. “I couldn’t tell you when mama died but the reason I wanted to leave Harlem so bad was to get away from drugs” -(pg584). This was said by sunny when talking to his brother about why he wanted to leave Harlem when he was still in school. This shows how sonny has a lot of drive in his life to accomplish his dreams. He knew about the dangers of drugs and he wanted more for himself but was incapable of leaving because his brother prevented it. Sonny wanted more out of his life than living in Harlem and he was the only person who was going to make that happen. “He lit a cigarette and nodded, watching me through the smoke. I just wanted to see if I’d have the courage to smoke in front of you. He grinned and blew out a great big cloud of smoke to the ceiling. It was easy”- (pg576). This was done by sonny in front of his brother when he returned back from war for his mother’s funeral. This was a bold move by Sonny and shows how much of a risk taker he is. It shows how he is willing to take risks to do things in life like accomplish his dreams. Sonny channels this kind of energy into his music and it is this energy that helped him accomplish his goal of being a Jazz

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