Sonny's Blues by Baldwin

In James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues,” the unspoken brotherly bond between the narrator and his younger brother Sonny is illustrated through the narrator’s point of view. The two brothers have not spoken in years until the narrator receives a letter from Sonny after his daughter dies. He takes this moment as an important sign from Sonny and feels the need to respond. While both Sonny and the narrator live in separate worlds, all Sonny needs is a brother to care for him while the narrator finds himself in the past eventually learning his role as an older brother.

As "Sonny's Blues" opens, the narrator tells of his discovery that his younger brother has been arrested for selling and using heroin. Both brothers grew up in Harlem, a neighborhood rife with poverty and despair. Though the narrator teaches school in Harlem, he distances himself emotionally from the people who live there and their struggles and is somewhat judgmental and superior. He loves his brother but is distanced from him as well and judgmental of his life and decisions. Though Sonny needs for his brother to understand what he is trying to communicate to him and why he makes the choices he makes, the narrator cannot or will not hear what Sonny is trying to convey. In distancing himself from the pain of upbringing and his surroundings, he has insulated himself from the ability to develop an understanding of his brother's motivations and instead, his disapproval of Sonny's choice to become a musician and his choices regarding the direction of his life in general is apparent. Before her death, his mother spoke with him regarding his responsibilities to Sonny, telling him, "You got to hold on to your brother...and don't let him fall, no matter what it looks like is happening to him and no matter how evil you get with him...you may not be able to stop nothing from happening. But you got to let him know you're there" (87) His unwillingness to really hear and understand what his brother is trying to tell him is an example of a character failing to act in good faith.

In James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues,” the narrator, described as a responsible husband and father, as well as a high school algebra teacher, read a newspaper about his estranged brother, who has been arrested for selling and using heroin. On the other hand, his brother, Sonny, is a musician living in a much different life than his. The narrator does not make any contact with Sonny for several months because he prefers not to. He does not approve of Sonny’s drug use and feels isolated with his brother’s style of jazz music. However, when the narrator’s daughter dies of polio, he felt obliged to finally contact him. On his release from prison, he moves in with his brother’s family and after a couple of weeks, Sonny invites him to hear him play

Baldwin’s story presents the heart breaking portrayal of two brothers who have become disconnected through respective life choices. The narrator is the older brother who has grown past the depravity of his childhood poverty. The narrator’s profession as an algebra teacher reflects his need for a “black” and “white,” orderly outlook on life. The narrator believes he has escaped life’s sufferings until the death of his daughter and the troubling news about his brother being taken in for drug possession broadside him to the reality of life’s inevitable suffering. In contrast, his brother, Sonny has been unable to escape his childhood hardships and has ended up on the wrong side of the law. While their lives have taken ...

In James Baldwin’s ‘Sonny’s Blues,” an unnamed narrator attempts to understand his brother’s way of life. The two men experience the suffering that goes along with living in the projects of Harlem, New York. After a conversation with his mother, the narrator promises he will take care of his brother, Sonny. The story in and of itself is a constant struggle between the narrator trying to keep the promise to his mother and trying to understand Sonny’s life choices. When Sonny is arrested for using a dealing heroin, one of his friends gave the narrator full disclosure when he tells him Sonny’s life has and always will be difficult. The narrator writes to Sonny on jail after he experiences grief. Sonny writes back, trying to describe how his choices have led him to this point in life. At the end of the story, the two brothers watch a street revival. Sonny relates the revivalist’s voice to how heroin feels and explains his drug addiction and suffering. Following that, Sonny invites the narrator to watch him play. The narrator hears Sonny’s struggles within the music and understands why music is life or death for Sonny. The ability to cope with suffering is explored. The short story Baldwin’s

At a quick glance, Sonny's Blues, by _______ Baldwin, appears to be a short story about lives shaped by poverty and lack of opportunities, but if the reader looks closely they will find that the stronger theme is about brotherhood. Baldwin could have easily named the book 'Brotherhood's Blues' as it is a story about the relationship between two brothers. Relationships with siblings are never easy and Baldwin's narrator and his brother struggle with their place in each other's lives. The narrator constantly fees the guilt of not looking out for his brother as his mother had asked 'use that quote' This guilt haunts him throughout his relationship with Sonny

In James Baldwin’s short story Sonny’s Blues, an African American school teacher from Harlem New York, struggles to deal with the harsh realities of the city, and difficulties of helping his heroine addicted brother Sonny. The narrator is a main character and gives insight on Sonny’s past as well as his own. The narrator faces challenges emotionally and physically multiple times. Throughout the story, it becomes apparent that the narrator is a prisoner externally, but also a prisoner of his own inner self.

James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” is relatable for those who have a sibling. Family is universal, making this short story relatable whether drugs are involved. In the beginning, an unnamed narrator is introduced. He discovers through reading a newspaper that his brother, Sonny, has been arrested. Sonny had been using and selling heroin at the time of his arrest. The narrator is an algebra teacher preparing to teach his class. His class happens to be filled with majority young boys. He realizes that some of his students could someday end up like Sonny, considering the hardships that they had to go through as children growing up in Harlem. At the end of the school day, the narrator begins heading home when he thinks he has spotted Sonny. Instead

In the story of “Sonny’s Blues,” by Baldwin, the beginning of the story finds Sonny’s brother on his way to work reading about Sonny’s predicament. Sonny got arrested for “peddling and using heroin.” He didn’t want to believe that his brother was in trouble. While teaching his algebra class he was thinking about the past. He remembered when he first suspected his Sonny of using Heroin. He was always under the impression that Sonny was, “wild, but he wasn’t crazy. And he’d always been a good boy.” So he refused to believe that his brother was in trouble and needed him.

The short story "Sonny Blue's" is about an African American family in Harlem, New York sometime in the 1950's; it deals with their personal problems and issues. It is about family and the different turns we may take in life as family members. A story about how people should embrace each other with respect and understanding: about respect for others, our responsibility as family members. The narrator, Sonny Blues' brother, goes through three major phases. The narrator reads in a newspaper that his brother, Sonny was arrested for using and selling drug, something he feels is morally and ethically wrong. T...