Sonny's Blues

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Sonny and Johnnie, both represent the struggles that a child faces when growing up to be an adult. In Sonny’s case, he feels trapped in Harlem due to a number of reasons. Firstly, with the expectations that the people surrounding Sonny have of him, such as his family, mainly his brother. Secondly, Sonny is challenged by his internal struggles, which represent what he is supposed to do, against what he personally wants to achieve. In essence, the story Sonny’s Blues, is about Sonny’s battle with learning to understand what makes him happy, and hence finding a way to express his creativity. Johnnie, in “The Outing”, also has to deal with a familiar sort of expectations from the religious family that he is a part of. Moreover, the estranged relationship …show more content…
However the relationship that he has with his brother is broken long before he gets arrested. After getting released from jail he moves in with his brother’s family, and both the brother and Sonny try to reconnect. However, Sonny’s brother does not understand his desire to be a musician and remarks “I simply couldn’t see why on earth he’d want to spend his time hanging around nightclubs, clowning around on bandstands, while people pushed each other around a dance floor. It seemed-beneath him”, [Sonny Blues p120], hence making Sonny feel constrained on many levels, This, coupled with the shutdown of Sonny’s plan to leave Harlem during high school for the navy, makes Sonny turn to drugs, which he believes is his only escape. Sonny’s brother expects him to follow the same path he did, which he considers is best for Sonny and will eventually lead him to success. Therefore, this is an example of Sonny’s potential as a musician getting abandoned by his family. In case of Johnnie, he feels isolated at many different stages in “The Outing”. Mainly, this was due to the fact that Johnnie is at an age where he is experiencing puberty, and therefore struggling to understand his own sexuality. Furthermore, his case is not helped by the fact that the people that surround him are extremely religious (with his 2 friends being the exception). Therefore, Johnnie is restricted and afraid to …show more content…
But now where there had been peace there was only panic and where there been safety, danger, like a flower opened”, [The Outing p57]. On the other hand, Sonny finds the start of a promising relationship with his brother by the end of the story, plus the warmth and comfort that comes to playing jazz with creole’s band, “Then they all gathered around Sonny and Sonny played. Every now and again one of them seemed to say, amen. Sonny’s fingers filled the air with life, his life”, [Sonny’s Blues p140]. I believe this contrast between our Johnnie and Sonny’s future can be accounted for the fact that a person’s age plays a key role in determining the sort of treatment they are subjected to by the society and their families. In Johnnie’s case, he is a mere 14 or 15 yr. old, therefore any sort of resistance that he displays to his superiors is frowned upon regardless of whether it be justifiable or not. However, Sonny on the other hand is a grown up individual, and is shown to have matured with age regardless of his
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