Two Brothers In Sonny's Blues, By James Baldwin

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The author of "Sonny's Blues," James Baldwin, tells of a relationship between two brothers that are born seven years apart. The older brother whose name we don't know tells the story. The differences in their ages seem like a chasm, and the older brother wonders if they will ever be able to bridge that gap (Baldwin 79). They seem as though they are opposites; for example, one is an algebra teacher and the other a musician who doesn’t even finish high school and eventually get hooked on drugs; and one does military service in the Army the other chooses the Navy. They lose their father at the tender ages of 22 and 15, and their mother asks her oldest son always to look out for the youngest. The narrator insists that nothing is ever going …show more content…
The narrator although educated, still is not free from the poor neighborhood he grew up in. Sonny is hooked on drugs and incarcerated but has managed to free himself from the neighborhood through music. During an argument about how Sonny chooses to live, Sonny tells the narrator to consider him dead. At this point the narrator ceases all contact with Sonny, even though his mother has instructed him to always watch out for him no matter what. When the narrator finally does get in contact with Sonny, he begins to remember little things like how he was there for Sonny’s first words, his first steps and how he kept Sonny from falling when he walked from his mother arms to his. From the very beginning of Sonny’s life he was his brother’s keeper. However, these two brothers got lost in their own different worlds and now they have found each other again, by the death of baby Grace. For the first time, the narrator is able to understand and feel what music is to Sonny; it is life. Just as the narrator was giving back through teaching, Sonny was giving back through music. This freedom is now felt by the narrator; he learns that by keeping his brother, his brother is keeping

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