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theme of sonny's blues complex relationship
point of view in sonnys blues
Describe the relationship between the narrator and Sonny in James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues.”
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The Changes in the Narrator's View of Sonny
Can one know another's thoughts? Through dialogue, actions, and events, the thoughts and views of a man of whom we know not even a name are shown. The man is the narrator of "Sonny's Blues" and his thoughts we are shown are those directed towards his brother. Over the course of the story, there are three major stages or phases that the narrator goes through, in which his thoughts about his brother change. We see that those stages of thought vary greatly over the narrator's life, from confusion about his brother to understanding. Each phase brings different views of his own responsibility toward his brother, his brother's manhood, and his brother's sense of reality.
Through out the story, three of the narrator's view are changed, the first of which is Sonny's manhood. During the first phase, early in the story, the narrator showed that he viewed Sonny as a child. "I was beginning to realize that I'd never seen him so upset before... [and decided this was] one of those things kids go through and that I shouldn't make it seem important."(49) This quote is an example of how the narrator viewed his brother. He not only thought
Sonny acted as a kid, but was also too young to be planning a future or career.
"He still wasn't a man yet, he was still a child, and they had to watch out for him in all kinds of ways."(51) The narrator decided that he would plan Sonny's future and when Sonny rebelled, the narrator saw it as yet another childish action. Another way in which the narrator's overall view changed was his view on whether
Sonny's idea of reality was sound. Still in the first phase, the narrator often presents his view of reality and when Sonny rejects it, the narrator feels Sonny is being unreasonable. For instance, "'Well Sonny,' I said, gently, "you know people can't always do exactly what they want to do-' 'No I don't think that,' said Sonny, surprising me."(49) Actually, Sonny understood life much more clearly than the narrator, but the narrator did not realize that then. He thought that perhaps Sonny was just too young or too high on drugs to understand what life was about.
Finally, the third view changed was the narrator's responsibility towards Sonny.
Before the brothers' mother died, the narrator promised he would take it upon himself to take care of Sonny shou...
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... finally started caring about Sonny instead of try to care for Sonny. He no longer saw him as just something to be taken care of, he finally began to see him as a brother. He became sensitive to what offended
Sonny and took caution to avoid them. He was willing to be interested in what
Sonny interested in. Finally, he was willing to sit and listen to Sonny instead of telling him how to run his life. All of these were drastic changes from when their mother had first died and improved the brothers' relationship.
Through out the story it is as if the narrator is descending a stair well. Each stage that the narrator goes through is another flight of stairs and each flight of stairs he descends brings him closer to an understanding of Sonny. The narrator descended one flight and it changed his views one way, another flight and his views changed again. During the whole ordeal he can see Sonny, yet his views of Sonny are distorted or blurred. After each stage he believes his new view is the correct one, however it is not until he reaches the ground that he gets a true idea of what Sonny is like. It is then that he brings himself down to Sonny's level and begins seeing Sonny as an equal.
In both "Sonny’s Blues" and "The Rich Brother", one of the two brothers encounters success through his life whereas the younger one does not follow the same path and constantly disappoints the other. Pete and Sonny’s brother unconditionally love their own brothers for numerous different reasons and they feel an obligation to the other. They believe that it is their duty to take care of Donald and Sonny, but at the same time they cannot or at least in the beginning understand what drives their brothers in life and moreover the reasons that push them to make the choices they are constantly making. Although Sonny’s bad decisions put him through a lot, he finally reinvents himself and proves to his brother his value. Unfortunately Donald does not evolve enough to meet his brother’s expectations. Both young brothers fail in their lives but for very different reasons. Sonny’s drugs addiction puts him to jail and Donald’s quest for the faith of his soul results in many issues with Pete. Nevertheless, Sonny’s brother sees and witnesses what his brother is really capable of, while sadly for Donald, Pete definitely cannot live with his brother’s way of living. "Sonny's Blues" and "The Rich Brother" are perfect examples of how brothers relationships are: full of love but paved with insurmountable obstacles at the same time. At the end of Sonny's story, both brothers can finally "see" each other and are able to live together, while unfortunately for Donald and Pete, it is impossible for them to reach an understanding.
According to his brother, who narrates "Sonny's Blues," Sonny was a bright-eyed young man full of gentleness and privacy. "When he was about as old as the boys in my classes his face had been bright and open, there was a lot of copper in it; and he'd had wonderfully direct brown eyes, a great gentleness and privacy. I wondered what he looked like now" (Baldwin 272). Something happened to Sonny, as it did to most of the young people growing up in Harlem. His physical journey growing up in the streets caused a great deal of inner turmoil about whom he was and what kind of life he was to have. One thing for sure, by the time his mother died, Sonny was ready to get out of Harlem. " 'I ain't learning nothing in school,' he said. 'Even when I go.' He turned away from me and opened the window and threw his cigarette out into the narrow alley. I watched his back. 'At least, I ain't learning nothing you'd want me to learn.' He slammed the window so hard I thought the glass would fly out, and turned back to me. 'And I'm sick of the stink of these garbage cans!' " (Baldwin 285).
People show either fight or flight reaction when they meet obstacles. Which means people will either approach or avoid the issues which are given to them. The two main characters in Sonny’s Blues, by James Baldwin, represent those two reactions. Obstacles, such as conflicts between brothers and social structure which is not supportive to them, equally disturb the brothers. But the brothers’ way managing and reacting to obstacles illustrates a huge contrast between them. Sonny represents a group of people who approaches and fights against his obstacles. Sonny’s older brother, the narrator of the text, represents a group of people who avoids or runs away from his obstacles. Sonny is able to persuade his brother, who had an opposite tendency, in the end of the story. Based on the result of the story, it appears that Sonny is “more right” than his older brother.
The central characters in "Sonny's Blues" afford one another a place in which to suffer. The relationships between these brothers and their mother reveal the ways in which family members allow each other moments of weakness in order to access and resolve personal grief. By allowing one another to suffer, the pain becomes easier to bear. They gain a sense of empathy that helps them to face the life ahead of them. The narrator feels "for the first time, how the stones of the road she had walked on must have bruised her feet" (439). It is this feeling of companionship that pushes these characters forward against the trouble.
After discovering what has happened to Sonny, the narrator makes it seem as if he does not care and does not want interference in the life he has worked so hard to create. This is proven when the narrator discusses what has happened to Sonny with one of his brother’s friends. As shown through this quote, the narrator is not concerned about what has happened to his brother and believes it is not his responsibili...
First of all, the identity of Sonny is contrasted sharply with his brother, the narrator. The most obvious difference between the two is their names. Sonny's name is prominent and part of the story's theme. Sonny's brother, on the other hand, is never given a name. Despite being the voice and the perspective of the story, the narrator does not have a distinct identity. He is known solely by his relationship with others, his status as a brother, a son, a husband and a father.
The story of “Sonny Blues” emphasizes two brothers building a relationship, having flashbacks, and being there for each other when they need it the most. The story starts off by making mistakes because Sonny starts using drugs and running away from home in Harlem. Then by the end of the story Sonny finds his path as a musician and becomes successful, due to listening to his older brother advice, and chasing for his dreams. Although, the story shares good moments and bad moments it inspires readers to open up their mind by being a good brother or sister to their young sibling. Everything is possible as long as we have that support, and set our self-goals and achieve them.
The most influential person in Sonny’s life has to be Elsie, his mother. Elsie continuously influences Sonny to become more than a coal miner when he grows up, because she believes that Sonny has more potential. People who should be role models to Sonny overlook him because of his failure to succeed in academics and athletics. Fortunately, Elsie pushes him to continue trying because she has hope for Sonny’s future out of Coalwood, West Virginia. Sonny has a passion for building rockets that could someday, go into space. So far in Rocket Boys, Sonny has failed to be successful for even lifting his rockets over three feet high. Homer Sr. does not believe in Sonny, and instead, puts all of his effort toward Jimmy, Sonny’s older brother, because
The narrator allows Sonny to move into his apartment. By allowing Sonny to live with him he has allowed to trust him again. For example, the narrator explains, “The idea of searching Sonny’s room made me still. I scarcely dared to admit to myself what I’d be searching for. I didn’t know what I’d do if I found it. Or if I didn’t” (pg. 91). This shows how the narrator had the opportunity to search his brother’s room, but had the ability not to. Tension grew among brothers while living under one roof. This starts the climax of both arguing in the apartment. The narrator doesn’t understand why his brother wants to be a musician. This argument was built of emotion both had and not yet discussed among each other. Such as the narrator expressing his anger towards his brother’s drug use and Sonny’s frustration towards the narrator not understanding his plan to become a jazz musician. For example, the narrator states, “I realized, with this mocking look, that there stood between us, forever, beyond the power of time or forgiveness, the fact that I had held silence – so long! – when he had needed human speech to help him” (pg.94). The argument with his brother made him realize that he abandon his younger brother when he needed him the most. He realized that if he would have spoken out and talk about his drug use that he wouldn’t have to go
" Sonny had been wild, but not crazy, he had always been a good boy and had never turned hard or evil or disrespectful the way the kids did and still do in Harlem."…His face had been bright and open, there was a lot of copper in it; and he had wonderfully direct brown eyes, and a great gentleness and privacy…." (66).
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.
Even though the narrator and Sonny grew up in the same house being raised the same they both took different paths in life. The narrator was the ambitious son that was not a trouble maker. He was the good child that had good grades in school and wanted to be successful by putting out hard work to get it. Sonny, on the other hand, was the bad that was not very ambitious through hard work but through his music.
Conflict is opposition between two forces, and it may be external or internal,” (Barker). There are two styles of external conflict that can be examined within the plot of “Sonny’s Blues”. The first of these is character versus society. This is the outer layer of the external conflict observed between Sonny and the society, which his life is out casted from. The meat and potatoes of the external conflict however, is character versus character. Sonny lives a lifestyle that his brother seems to be incapable of understanding. The internal conflict lies within the narrator. It is his struggle to understand his brother that drives the plot. The climax occurs when Sonny and the narrator argue in the apartment. The argument stems from the narrators complete inability to understand Sonny’s drug usage and life as a musician, and Sonny’s feeling of abandonment and inability to make his brother understand him. This conflict appears to come to a resolve at the resolution as the narrator orders Sonny a drink following hearing Sonny perform for the first time. It appears as though this is the moment when the narrator begins to understand, perhaps for the first time, his brother the
...n his brother’s life the theme in Sonny’s Blues would’ve have been altered. Overall, what was vital to the narrator, in this time of turmoil and frustration, was to nurture the relationship with his brother Sonny, not only because of the love he had for him but also for the obligation he had as a brother and the commitment he had toward his mother.
I feel having Sonny's brother narrate the story in the first person is Baldwin's way of telling us that Sonny's brother is also suffering but inside, unlike Sonny who takes drugs and sings the blues. Sonny's ...