Response To Sonny Blue's By James Baldwin

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Sonny Blue’s Response In the story, Sonny Blue’s, By James Baldwin, the audience follows a narrator who has escaped the ghetto and has established a secure life for him and his family, regardless of the negative burdens that he witnesses damaging so many youthful African Americans, including his younger brother. The narrator is a teacher in Harlem, which is a dark place where many blacks face obstacles and hardships. In the beginning of the story, the narrator learns from reading a newspaper that his younger brother, Sonny, has been arrested for selling and using heroin. As he begins to teach his class, he suddenly realizes that his own innocent, young students can someday end up in devastating situations like his brother. The narrator and Sonny have had a difficult relationship throughout their lives. Many times the narrator would go months without talking to Sonny. The narrator contiplates whether he should write to Sonny in prison. Later, the narrators daughter, Grace, dies. This tragic event finally leads him to write a letter to Sonny. Suprisinly, Sonny writes a letter back to him which allows them to have a civil relationship. They continue to stay in contact with each other and right when Sonny gets realeased from prison, the naraartor takes "Sonny's Blues" is not just about Sonny's choices and challenges thoughout his life, but also about how they affected the narrator. This story is about the relationship between two brothers and how they faced certain obstacles. Since the narrator is also Sonny’s brother, there are definitely some advatanges the narrator has considering he is telling both his story and Sonny’s. But If It were between Sonny or his brother to narrate this story, I would easily chose his brother. Sonny would be a very unreliable narrator considering his heroin addiction. Sonny’s brother, The narrator, can offer us a glimpse of both his own life and of

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