Sonny's Blues Literary Analysis

Words: 834

Pages: 4

Open Document

Have you ever tried to love a heroin addict? It can be a long, winding and exhausting road. In the short story Sonny’s Blues, James Baldwin portrays the internal struggles of a heroin addict, Sonny, and the rollercoaster relationship between him and his brother. There are many examples throughout the story that displays the narrator attempting to be Sonny’s rock. There are times where the relationship drifts further away than other times but in the end the love and support for each other shines through more than ever. The theme brotherly love is the most evident in this particular story because Sonny is shown love and encouragement by his brother even though he has done wrong many times. From the start of the story it is made clear that …show more content…
Also on page fifty-nine, their mother said, “You’ve 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 he gets. Let him know you’re there.” The narrator understood what his mother was telling him back then when he figured out what Sonny went to jail for. He decided to help Sonny and take Sonny’s problems into his own hands. He started writing to Sonny all the time. On page sixty, when Sonny got out of jail, he invited Sonny to stay in his wife’s house and he tried to talk to Sonny about what he wanted to do in life. Sonny explained that he wanted to be a Jazz pianist and the narrator dismissed it and told him that he needs to finish school. This demonstrates how the narrator is trying to push his brother to be better. This shows the narrator demonstrating his unconditional love for Sonny.
The last example of brotherly love in this story is when the narrator and Sonny got into a fight and distanced themselves for a while but Sonny ended up coming back and inviting his brother to a gig that he would be playing piano at. Pages seventy through seventy-one describe how Sonny shows his passion for the music on

'A Literary Analysis Of Sonny's Blues'

In the story of Sonny’s Blues, The narrator is intrigued by a student’s whistling. “A boy was whistling a tune it wasn’t very complicated and even simple. It was like the tune was pouring out of him as though he were a bird, and it sounded very cool.This tune was moving through all that harsh, bright air, only just holding its own through all those other sounds" (176). In this quote the reader is supposed to remember at that moment that there will be sounds over top of one another, voice imposed…

Words 306 - Pages 2

Sonny's Blues Literary Analysis Essay

Sonny’s Blues – A Journey Inwards to Self-actualization Despite of Unfavorable Circumstances I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions. Stephen Covey, note speaker, author. How can one change his fate of being born into an economically deprived family, living a life encircled by poverty, hardship, social inequality and disadvantage? Sonny’s Blues, a short story by James Baldwin, illustrates the impacts of economic poverty on one’s life, and pointing out those who…

Words 950 - Pages 4

A Literary Analysis Of Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin

I will be connecting the new Jazz Age and the creation of bop with the story by James Baldwin, called Sonny's Blues. The main theme of the story is how drugs, primarily heroin, takes control of Sonny's life and how he tries to cope with his drug addiction. In the story, you have the two main characters, Sonny's brother, whom does not have a name, and Sonny the main focus of the story. Sonny's brother is the narrator and we see the world through his eyes. The narrator saw his brother trying to escape…

Words 419 - Pages 2

James Baldwin's Sonny's Blues: World of Music Essay example

Nicole Snowden September 22, 2014 English II Section 80683 Literary Analysis Essay 1 Music: A calming soul James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues" is told from the viewpoint of the title character's brother, a schoolteacher, who lives a much different life than Sonny himself. As the story opens, the unnamed teacher has just learned that his younger brother has been arrested for possession and sale of heroin: "It was not to be believed and I…

Words 769 - Pages 4

Analyzing Sonny's Blues Essay

Analysis of "Sonny's Blues" "Sonny's Blues" was written in 1957, but carries a vital social message in our society today of people trying to understand one another and find their identity. "Sonny's Blues" not only states dramatically the motive for Baldwin's famous polemics in the cause of Black Freedom, but it also provides an esthetic linking his work, in all literary genres, with the cultures of the Black ghetto (Reilly 56). To truly understand Baldwin's purpose in writing "Sonny's Blues" about…

Words 2126 - Pages 9

First-person Narrative and Story Essay

1.“Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway has one of the most interesting point of views I have read in a short story. In school, the narration I have been taught is first person limited, having several personal narrate (unlimited), or third person narration (omniscient). While “Hills Like White Elephants” has omniscient narration, it is very detached. The whole story is told as though you, the reader, are a person sitting on a barstool eavesdropping on a conversation that an American is…

Words 2320 - Pages 10