Sonny's Blues Summary Sonny’s Blues is a story telling about how the author and his younger brother, Sonny, who had been jailed for drug deal, conflict to each other, communicate with each other and finally understand each other through music. Although it is a short story, however, it includes several interesting and deep themes inside its content. Before starting to summarize the story, it is necessary to introduce the background of the author. In order to better analysis the story, the summarization will be divided into three parts according to the plot. The first part of the story is generally telling the settings,background and basic events of the story. It starts with the narrator shocked by the news that his younger brother, Sonny, …show more content…
The second part serves to reveal the history of the narrator, Sonny and their parents, especially how those factors interact with Sonny and the narrator thus influence them in the future. Their father died when Sonny was fifteen. Although it seems that his father and Sonny has different personalities: his father seems very loud-talking while Sonny is quite most the time, they have the same privacy. And from the narrator’s mom talking we know that his uncle died of run over by some drunken white men driving a vehicle. This is also the reason why his father pretended to be looking big and tough, but actually was very weak in front of narrator’s mom. His mom also told the narrator to watch over Sonny. It can be inferred here that his mom doesn’t want Sonny to be hurt like his dad did. Thus the narrator gets the responsibility for Sonny and this becomes one factor causes the future plot. After their mom’s funeral the narrator and Sonny talks and tries to figure out what Sonny will do in the future. The answer from Sonny surprised the narrator very much — Sonny plans to become a jazz musician and play the piano, however, the narrator doesn’t understand and thinks it is a bad idea so they have an argument about this. From this point the relationship between Sonny and the narrator gets worse. At last they both make a compromise that Sonny will live with Isabel's parents who have a piano in their house. However, Isabel’s parents figure out that Sonny actually doesn’t go to school, instead, he goes to hang with his music friends. Then Sonny leaves hometown and goes to navy. Thus the relationship between them gets even worse and they don’t write to each other for a long time. The part two generally tells audience the details of the past which kind of clarifies the cause of the conflict between Sonny and the narrator — the latter doesn’t understand Sonny’s dream and
Buddha has famously been attributed saying that “No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.” In life others pave pathways that we must take that may seem suitable, and if we diverge we are seen as rebellious. The short story Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin, is narrated by Sonny’s older brother who shares from his perspective the struggles in life he and his brother go through growing up in the projects of Harlem, New York. Using imagery that makes readers feel as though they are experiencing it as well, the author vividly portrays the difficulties of finding a path in life through the various factors that inhibit one such as family, friends, and the cultural standard ascribed to one. In the story,
Sonny’s brother has been distant towards him, but recently, he has been trying to understand him and help him. Sonny decides to take his brother to a concert to see if he will understand what he is trying to convey through music. Sonny hasn’t played the piano for “over a year” and he is a little bit rusty (147). Sonny also says he isn’t on “much better terms with life” than he was a year ago (147). In a way though, he is in a much better place, because his brother is there for him.
The theme of "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin focuses on whether a person should be conventional in making decisions for their life, or if they should follow their heart and do what is right for them. A person begins with strengths, many of which they lose along the way. At some point along their heroic journey a person may regain their strengths and develop new ones. Each phase of this journey will have an effect on them and others around them.
Sonny’s Blues By James Baldwin Sonny’s Blues the author is presenting the past from the perspective of the present in order to understand his own feelings concerning the role of a father. The two brothers in the story had different life choices. Both Sonny and the narrator have found their own mode of escaping the violence and harshness of the ghetto, different though those modes might be. After the death of the mother the narrator feels he is his brother’s keeper, because of the promise he made to the mother. He is not exactly happy about it and especially Sonny’s life style. Nevertheless, this is his only brother and he made a promise not to turn his back on him. Sonny was more like his uncle a music lover. Before the mother died she told him about his father and the pain he went through after the death of his brother. His father’s brother was a music lover and somewhat like Sonny. So, by telling this story it would help the narrator to understand Sonny. Now he knows a little about his family background and roots. At the end the narrator was finally able to see and understand what music did for Sonny; it allow him to be himself and express himself to other. Explore the implications of the allusion to the Book of Isaiah 51:17-23 in the concluding sentence. What has the narrator learned as the result of his experience? All of the desolation, destruction, famine, sword things that we (the narrator) go through in this life, are learned through other who have shared these same experiences. Our oppressor (Satan spiritually, mankind physically) causes a trembling in our lives; but just like Jerusalem, who was and still is oppressed; God has already taken our “cup of trembling”. We are delivered through the sharing of our experiences with one another, freeing ourselves from one who causes the trembling.
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
We all have fears and risks we face everyday. In Sonny’s Blues there are numerous accounts of genuine fear and unbelievable risks. The narrator of the story is the elder brother to Sonny. Sonny and the narrator go through hard times when their lives separate because of Sonny’s heroin addiction. He was arrested and the narrator resented him and his choices.
Thesis Statement: Men and women were in different social classes, women were expected to be in charge of running the household, the hardships of motherhood.
...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.
The narrator's disapproval of Sonny's decision to become a musician stems in part from his view of musicians in general. His experiences with musicians have led him to believe that they are unmotivated, drug users, seeking only escape from life. He does not really understand what motivates Sonny to play music until the afternoon before he accompanies Sonny to his performance at a club in Harlem. That afternoon, Sonny explains to him that music is his voice, his way of expressing his suffering and releasing his pent-up feelings.
Sonny’s Blues written by James Baldwin appears to suggest that family and faith are important aspects in someone’s life and that each person has a different way of dealing with their own demons. The author writes with an expressive purpose and narrative pattern to convey his message and by analyzing the main characters, the point of view of the narration, the conflict in the story and the literary devices Baldwin utilizes throughout his tale, his central idea can be better understood.
Feeling the regret and pain, the narrator does not know what to do with Sonny. Not only is he dealing with Sonny’s arrest, his daughter
The narrator took this as to be the father of sonny and care for him in that perspective. She states “If anything happens to me he ain’t going to have nobody to look out for him”. When she eventually dies, the narrator cannot keep his promise and Sonny is left on his own. Finally, when Grace dies, the narrator goes to Sonny for help. A connection is made when, after Sonny is left out of jail and they can finally comprehend each other, and sort out each other’s problems. The narrator has been suffering for as long as he’s been in Harlem and after Grace’s death. The difference is that he’s been in denial about his suffering the entire time. Baldwin writes: “He didn’t answer me and he wouldn’t look at me. “Sonny, you hear me?”. He pulled away. “I hear you”. “But you never hear anything I
James Baldwin’s Sonny’s Blues tells the story of the narrator and his brother and the hardships that they must endure. As Kahlil Gibran States “Out of suffering have emerged the strangest souls, the most massive characters are seared with scars.” (Gibran). In that very quote the real light is shown as it informs the reader that with suffering comes growth and once the person whomever it may be emerges out of the darkness they may have scars but it has made them stronger. The theme of light and darkness as well as suffering play a vital part in this story. For both men there are times in which they have the blues and suffer in the darkness of their lives but music takes the suffering from them.
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...
"Sonny's Blues" is filled with examples of music and how it makes things better. The schoolboy, the barmaid, the mother, the brother, the uncle, the street revivalists, all use music to create a moment when life isn't so ugly, even though the world still waits outside and trouble stretches above. Music and the tale it tells provide hope and joy; instead of being the instrument of Sonny's destruction, introducing him to the world of drugs, music is his way out of some of the ugliness. For Sonny and the other characters in this story, music is a bastion against the despair that pervades stunted lives; it is the light that guides them from the darkness without hope.