James Baldwin's Sonny's Blues
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James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues" takes place during the middle of the 20th century, a time when jazz music was at its peak of popularity in Harlem. It is a story about two brothers who love each other but have a very difficult time understanding each others lives. "All they really knew were two darkness's," Baldwin writes," the darkness's of their lives, which was now closing in on them, and the darkness of the movies, which had blinded them of that other darkness" (Murray 354). The older brother, who remains nameless, feels bound to his brother Sonny, not only because he is of relation, but because their mother wanted Sonny to be always protected and looked after. After reading this short story I see that there are a couple of main points.
The story begins with Sonny being picked up by the police for using heroin. Sonny's brother reads about it in the paper as Baldwin writes," I read it in the paper, in the subway, on my way to work" (Kennedy 40), and he does not know how to react primarily because they never understood one another, always argued, and rarely conversed. However, he had made a promise to his mother before she died to always look after Sonny, so eventually he writes to Sonny in jail, and they meet after he is paroled. Sonny is constantly assailed by his older brother to change his life, go to school, and find direction. However, all Sonny wants to do is play the piano in Greenwich, and his older brother doesn't understand...