I have been an Instructor of English at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, LA. for fourteen years. My courses include Freshman Composition (English 101 & 102); Short Stories & Novels (English 255); Poetry & Drama (English 256); Technical Writing (English 368). These essays were posted by students in my English 255 class after reading and discussing F.Scott Fitzgerald's "Babylon Revisited." They provide an interesting insight into this generation of young people and tell me that our future is in good hands.
Has there ever been a time in your life when what you wanted to do went against the norm? I know that there was a time in my life where what I wanted to do with the rest of my life was not what my family felt I should. My granny once told me, “Sometimes we have to do what we don’t want to do, to be able to do what we want to do.” I have learned that she is right. However, some people do not have the ability or the self-motivation to do what their hearts tell them to. In James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blue” we encounter the same situation. The unnamed narrator tries to convince his brother that he cannot do what he wants, but must do what he has to do. In the end, the narrator, like most of us at some point, realizes that if we just learn to do what our hearts tell us, it will never lead us in the wrong direction. Sonny, the younger brother of the narrator, realized that “[He was] going to be a musician” early in his life. Being that I am an older sibling, I find myself acting just like the narrator. I find that I try to be very protective of my younger siblings and want them to do what I think is right. “I won't let nothing happen to Sonny “(11). The narrator made a promise to his mom, “You got to hold on to your brother," she said, "and don't let him fall, no matter what it looks like is happening to him and no matter how evil you gets with him.” (11), but the promise he chose was not exactly the one his mom wanted him to keep. Instead of letting Sonny do what he wanted to with his life, he chose to act as a parent. I realize that sometimes in life we try to fix people instead of letting them fix themselves.
Growing up in a rather strict religion, people thought that if we didn’t follow in the footsteps of our preacher that we didn’t love God. Some parents still think the same way. Some parents want their children to grow up to become doctors and lawyers. But, what some people don’t realize is that even though you want the best for your children, you should let your children decide. “I just don't altogether get it, that's all”. However, if we would just pay attention to the fact that when we go to a restaurant, that stage singer is someone’s child too, we may be more accepting to what children want from life. Had the singer been a doctor, then who would have sang to you? The narrator did that. He wanted Sonny to go to college and that wasn’t what Sonny wanted. The narrator wanted Sonny to be safe, but if we try to be too safe it could hurt us in the end. “You're just hung up on the way some people try-it's not your way” (20).
Someone once told me, “If you look for the bad in people you’re sure to find it, so look for the good in them instead.” As humans, we always seem to notice the bad in people. That’s what the narrator did. He always saw the bad, never the good. He never realized that, “for, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard” (24). Sonny finally realized that this music would set him free “Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at last, that he could help us to be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we did” (24). The narrator finally saw that he did not have to be Sonny’s keeper. He had to be his friend and his brother. As I get older I find that I am more protective of my friends and my family. I am learning that what my parents tried to save me from I am doing the same with my younger family. At some point in my life I realized, just like the narrator, that I have to let them go. Everyone is human. We all make mistakes, but they have to be our mistakes. The narrator wanted to save his brother from a world of pain. Had he just let Sonny go, he could have saved him from the world of pain that he caused. Sometimes we have to learn when to listen, act, or walk away. In this world we live in we will always have pain, death, love, and happiness, but who decides that? I have to learn for myself, and so does everyone else.
English 102, 3TC October 14, 2008 Sonny’s Blues Essay A Supporter, Not a Dictator Because all of us experience pain when someone we care about seems to be headed in the wrong direction, our first instinct is often to change the direction in which they are going. James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” reminds us that the best way to show our love for someone who is struggling with himself is not to insist on changing him, but instead to stick by him while he finds his own way. It is kind of ironic because I am currently experiencing something very similar. One of my close friends has turned toward a very self-destructive behavior. Her family and I have warned her about where this road leads and begged her to stop, but just as I see in this story, her ears are closed. “Sonny’s Blues” takes us into the lives and minds of two brothers living in Harlem. They both care a great deal for each other; this seems to be a source of conflict. The narrator relates his side of the story about Sonny, his younger brother, and Sonny’s drug addiction and musical aspirations. They cannot seem to communicate well verbally with one another, which inevitably causes friction, but if we read into their actions, only briefly, we see how deeply they really care. From the start I see Sonny’s brother, our nameless narrator, struggling to understand the motives behind Sonny’s behavior. A hint of his confusion is given when he asks Sonny’s childhood friend, who has been using drugs since his and Sonny’s teenage years, “Why does [Sonny] want to die” (4)? In the narrator’s mind, the only logical reason for Sonny’s drug use was suicide; though, to me, that obviously is not Sonny’s motive. “Sonny has never been talkative” (8); this passage tells me that Sonny was the silent type. He probably never explained his feelings, so the narrator had no real idea about anything that Sonny was going through. This seemed to push them apart and leave the narrator without any desire to get to know Sonny’s heart because I noticed that they went long periods of time without contact with each other. After not speaking for years they began keeping in constant touch, visiting whenever it was possible, and thus began repairing their relationship. The narrator’s reason for his own sudden change of heart is that “[He] had begun, finally, to wonder . . . about the life that Sonny lived inside” (5-6). I think it is clear that he means he is at last interested in attempting, at least, to understand Sonny’s heart, what he felt, why. Clearly, his interest in Sonny’s private thoughts and feelings is a wonderful thing; however, too much of a good thing can be harmful. When the narrator was speaking with his and Sonny’s mother shortly before she died, she advised him, the way most mothers do, “’You got to hold onto your brother,’ she said, ‘and don’t let him fall, no matter what it looks like is happening to him and no matter how evil you gets with him. You going to be evil with him many a time. But don’t you forget what I told you, you hear?’” (11). He promised her that he would do what she asked, naturally, but he seems to misinterpret what she really meant. I believe that she really meant to tell him to support Sonny. She knew that Sonny could not possibly be protected from every harmful substance or situation. She wanted him to be there for Sonny; although, he thought he was supposed to shelter Sonny from everything and make sure he made the right decisions. When the narrator remembers that “When [Sonny] started to walk, he walked from [their] mother straight to [the narrator]. [He] caught [Sonny] just before he fell when he took the first steps he ever took in this world” (6), I think it shows us that he sees himself as Sonny’s father figure and protector. Now we all know that what one person may see as right and just, another may see as wrong or irresponsible. This does not mean that object or action is wrong for everyone, just wrong for the person that perceives it as such. This is the case with Sonny and his brother. The only thing that Sonny wants to do, which is to become a musician, the narrator sees as wrong and tries to force this opinion on Sonny. There actually is not anything wrong with being a musician. Also, I think Sonny had the right idea when he told his brother, “I think people ought to do what they want to do, what else are they alive for?” (13). Why should we waste our time, which is irreplaceable, on things that we do not actually need or want to do. Sonny knew that his time would be spent more wisely pursuing his dreams, rather than sitting in school and learning nothing but drugs. As the healing stage of their relationship begins, I see both brothers wanting desperately to have their feelings exposed or, better yet, to have their feelings understood. This became evident to the narrator when he saw “the baby brother [he’d] never known [look] out from the depths of his private life, like an animal waiting to be coaxed into the light” (6). They both wanted to be closer, but that seems to be hard for Sonny. Or maybe it is just hard for Sonny’s brother to draw him out and make him feel safe enough to open up. I think this is really where the problem lies. Sonny’s friend Creole, a fellow musician, seems to know exactly how to deal with him. Creole knows what Sonny needs, but he waits for Sonny to go at his own will, instead of forcing him to do anything before he is ready. “He wanted Sonny to leave the shoreline and strike out for deep water” (23). As Creole and Sonny are playing with the band, Creole wants Sonny to get into the music more, but he waits until Sonny takes the initiative to go out on his own. Meanwhile, as the narrator is listening to them play, he finally begins to fully understand his brother. He now hears the message that Sonny is sending out with his music; not only that, but he has learned to translate it as well. He also realizes that “Freedom lurk[s] around [us] and [he] understood, at last, that [Sonny] could help us to be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we did” (24). This was the breakthrough, the turning point, that Sonny and his brother needed in order to shatter their separation and gain that close brotherly bond. This is a very touching story. I think it has showed me a more effective way to approach my situation. Instead of preaching at my friend, I think just being there for her through this and supporting her may have a more positive effect. Trying to pilot someone else’s life usually has adverse effects, as we have been told, but this story makes it so real that it jumps off of the pages and into your inner most thoughts.
Sonny’s Blues Every young man needs support from those in his life who are close to him. This support can come from his family, friends, or even co-workers. In order for humans to function, they need people to be around to help along the way. If this support isn’t there, then the individual can go astray or down the wrong path whether that be drugs or violence, much like in James Baldwin’s story, “Sonny’s Blues.” Without support from our loved ones or anyone at all, our dreams may fade with time. Most of us won’t have the needed determination to strive for our dreams. In ‘Sonny’s Blues”, the narrator faces some problems with his brother Sonny, and he doesn’t agree with Sonny’s dreams. The narrator’s lack of support for his brother will be an issue the narrator will eventually have to come to terms with. In the story Sonny’s Blues, the narrator made a promise to his mother to look out for his younger brother because he was all Sonny had left. He thinks by trying to live Sonny’s life he is fulfilling that obligation to his mother, but he loses contact all together with his brother. He is suddenly brought back to reality when he reads about Sonny’s arrest in the newspaper. He realizes he has failed at the only thing his mother had asked him to do. All he had to do was just simply be there for Sonny when he needed someone and be a refuge in times of need, but the narrator was nowhere to be found. The narrator wants to reestablish the lost relationship they once had when they were younger. But when Sonny tries to explain to his brother that he wants to seek a career in music, his brother simply laughs at him and tells him that his dream is a joke. This is shown when the narrator tells Sonny “Well, you may think that it’s funny now, baby, but it’s not going to be so funny when you have to make your living at it, let me tell you that” (12). The narrator won’t even listen to what Sonny has to say; he just thinks Sonny needs to get a “real job” and just be a normal person in society. At this point, the narrator must see that he needs to get a whole new attitude towards Sonny and his dream, or he will never be able to keep his promise to his mother. Throughout Sonny’s life he has faced many rough times, and all he knows to escape his problems is through drugs and trouble narrator. When he finally moves to Isabel’s parent’s house, he uses the piano as an escape from a world that put him down and shook him up. In life, a person needs a sense of escape from the real world, a reassurance that everything is going to be alright. He finally finds reassurance in music so he can make something of his life and leave behind the destruction and turmoil. However, his brother, the person he thinks he can trust, is one of the first people to tell him that being a musician is a joke. When a loved one says your dream is a joke these words can tear a person apart. Negative words can cause a person to lose a dream or make that person work harder to prove others wrong. Sonny chooses to not let his brother’s words break him. The reader knows this when Sonny says,” Everything takes time,” He said, “and-well, yes, sure I can make a living at it. But what I don’t seem to be able to make you understand is that it’s the only thing I want to do”(14). All he wants to do is prove to his unbelieving brother that he can succeed in his life. In order to have a close relationship with someone, attitudes and opinions sometimes have to change. The narrator will have to change his view of his brother if their relationship is to become a close one. I think the narrator comes to realize that he must let Sonny live his life, and he should not try to control every move that Sonny takes. He realizes that he has to give Sonny a chance to live his life the way he wants to live it, so Sonny can be happy and not go back to his old way of life. When Sonny asks the narrator to go with him to the club to watch his performance, I think the narrator realizes that Sonny has made up his mind and is going to do what he has to do to play his music. During the performance, he sees that Sonny really is talented, and his music brings joy to Sammy and other people watching and listening to the beautiful music being played on the piano by his brother. This is shown when the narrator tells us, “Sonny’s fingers filled the air with life, his life. But that life contained so many others” (23). The Narrator now sees and understands Sonny’s love of the piano when he says “He seemd to have found, right there beneath his fingers, a damn brand new piano”(24). The narrator can now accept all that Sonny ever wanted in the first place is to have a chance to prove that being a musician is worthwhile, and he can in fact be a success. Brotherhood is a strong bond that is often crippled by lack of understanding. The narrator in Sonny’s Blues did not want to understand a life that was out of the ordinary. Fortunately, the narrator has a moment of insight during Sonny’s performance, and he feels bad for his lack of support for Sonny’s dream to be a musician. James Baldwin reminds us that not all people have the same dream and ideas, but those who love each other will learn to accept the dreams of their loved ones allowing them to pursue their dreams.
Living with Suffering Everyone experiences suffering in their lives, but what makes each of us different is how we choose to deal with that suffering. My grandfather once told me to be myself, because life’s too short to be anyone else. I think his thoughtful words apply not only to this story, but also to everyday life. In James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” the narrator deals with suffering by trying to avoid it entirely and looks down on his brother for the way he deals with his own afflictions. The narrator believes that if he makes his life perfect, he will be able to prevent experiencing any kind of pain. Sonny, however, accepts suffering and chooses to deal with it in various ways. The ways in which they choose to deal with suffering causes conflict between the two brothers, but in the end they are able to finally understand one another. The narrator attempts to make everything and everyone around him perfect in hopes that nothing bad will ever happen to him. The narrator shows his efforts to make life perfect in his statement, “It might be said, perhaps, that I had escaped, after all, I was a school teacher; or that Sonny had, he hadn't lived in Harlem for years” (7). He thinks that, because he has become successful as a schoolteacher, he has escaped Harlem and all its troubles. The narrator’s attempts to avoid his troubles in life prove to be unsuccessful which is seen through the quote, “When I finally did, it was just after my little girl died, and he wrote me back a letter which made me feel like a bastard”(5). Even though the narrator has become successful, he must still endure the tragedy of his daughter’s death and must suffer just like everyone else. The narrator never wants to accept the way his brother chooses to deal with his own pain in life, believing that school followed by some type of employment is the only path in life to take. This is seen in his response to Sonny’s statement that he wants to be a musician: “Doesn't all this take a lot of time? Can you make a living at it?” (13). He believes that for Sonny to be happy, he needs to go to school so that he can get a job, even if that’s not what he really wants to do. Sonny and his brother are in constant conflict with one another because the narrator believes he knows what’s best for his brother, but Sonny knows what will really make him happy in life. Sonny’s outlet for his own suffering is music, which he knows is the only thing in life that will bring him satisfaction. Sonny cannot make his brother understand that music is the only thing he wants to do in life, and believes people should do exactly what they want to make themselves happy. He shows this through his statement, “And-well, yes, sure, I can make a living at it. But what I don't seem to be able to make you understand is that it's the only thing I want to do” (13). Sonny is not concerned with making money as his brother is and knows that playing music is the only thing he wants to do with his life. Sonny plays the piano as a way to cope with the world around him. Instead of drugs, he is now turning to the world of jazz as a sanctuary from the tough streets of Harlem. The peace Sonny finds in music is seen through the statement, “Yet, there was no battle in his face now, I heard what he had gone through, and would continue to go through until he came to rest in earth” (24). Sonny finds tranquility through music and is able to let go of the internal battle he is constantly fighting. Although the narrator and his brother are in constant disagreement about how you should live life, they eventually are able to understand one another. In the end Sonny and his brother are able to find common ground when the narrator is able to accept the fact that suffering will happen no matter how perfect you try to make the world around you. The narrator is able to accept Sonny for who he is and acknowledges all of the suffering he has experienced in his own life. This is shown through the statement, “And it brought something else back to me, and carried me past it, I saw my little girl again and felt Isabel's tears again, and I felt my own tears begin to rise” (25). As Sonny is playing, the narrator remembers all the difficult things he has been through and is finally able to come to terms with it. He no longer tries to avoid suffering, and instead acknowledges it and can now deal with it. Sonny and his brother at last, can empathize with one another and are finally at peace in the end. This is shown through the quote, “He didn't seem to notice it, but just before they started playing again, he sipped from it and looked toward me, and nodded” (25). This small gesture of recognition demonstrates that the two brothers finally understand and appreciate one another. Because the narrator wants to protect Sonny instead of just being there for him, the two brothers are never in agreement. Through music Sonny is able to deal with his hardships, while his brother tries to avoid suffering entirely. Once the narrator is able to let his own pain and difficulty in, he can finally appreciate Sonny for who he is and his choices in life. Suffering is something that everyone must deal with in life no matter how much we try to avoid it. By letting go of trying to avoid suffering, we can better cope with it and are more able to sympathize with others and the struggles they go, just as the narrator does with Sonny.
Sometimes I have an enormous amount of feelings and stress built up inside of me and I do not know how to let it out. Then I listen to music, mainly R&B, and all my thoughts and feelings seem to fade away. The story “Sunny’s Blues” by James Ballwin takes place in Harlem, New York. The main characters are Sonny’s mother, the narrator which is Sonny’s brother and Sonny. Sonny’s mother wants his brother to support Sonny no matter what path he chooses in life and be there for Sonny whenever he may stumble. As Sonny makes his decision to become a musician, his brother tries to steer him away from the idea of being a musician and never tries to fully understand why Sonny is pursuing musicianship. Sonny does not talk much about his feelings and tries to explain to his brother the importance of how the blues lets him express his feelings. In this story, James Ballwin shows us the importance of music as a key to understanding one’s own suffering and how we can free ourselves if we take the time to listen to the music that is being played around us everyday. At the beginning of the story, Sonny tells his brother that he needs to get out of Harlem because Sonny knows that his surroundings will eventually suck him into the negativities of his environment. Sonny says “I guess I was afraid of something or I was trying to escape from something and you know I have never been very strong in the head” (pg.5). Music is Sonny’s only way to escape from the harsh reality of the surroundings he grows up around in early Harlem. I can relate to Sonny’s situation because I do not talk about my feelings to often. I also use music as an escape tool from my stressful environments such as work, college and my family. As Sonny grows up, he builds up so much emotion inside of him that he can no longer hold it inside, so he finds a way through music to release his thoughts and feelings. Sonny chooses blues because he can relate to other artist such as himself. Sonny enjoys the melody and harmony in blues. Sonny understands the soul, the emotions involved, and pain within the blues. Sonny tries to tell his brother this but instead of listening to Sonny; the narrator just tries to talk Sonny out of it and reacts like he still knows what is best for Sonny. Sonny’s brother continues to misunderstand why Sonny wants to be a musician. Sonny tries to get the narrator to understand when Sonny says “You can't talk it and you can't make love with it, and when you finally try to get with it and play it, you realize nobody's listening. So you've got to listen. You got to find a way to listen.” Sonny is explaining to the narrator that the music he plays is not something he can not touch or make love to, and when he finally gets the rhythm and melody of the music he is playing, no one listens to the emotion and pain that comes out of his music or receives the message within his music. The way Sonny feels about his music is just the same as a poet when he writes poetry and the reader is just reading the poem but not reading the peom to fully understand the message within the passage. I can relate to this when it comes to music and the artist’s lyrics. Unlike many of my friends who listen to certain music because the beat or melody sounds good, I focus more on the message the artist is trying help me to receive. Many songs artist write and play that I listen to tells stories and I try to get some of my friends to listen to it. When I ask them what he or she may think, they simply say it sounds good but they have no clue of what the message is in the songs. It is kind of like when we go to church and your mother asks you are you paying attention to the pastor or priest. Then when you get home she asks you what was the message and you can not make it out because you only listen to hear him or her, but not to listen to understand them. The misunderstanding mainly starts when the narrator argues with Sonny about his career choice when he tells Sonny he will not be able to make any money as a musician. Then Sonny says “I can make a living at it. But what I don’t seem to be able to make you understand is that it’s the only thing I want to do.” It hurts Sonny to know his brother disapproves of his dream to become a musician and pursue a career in music. Sonny and the narrator grow further apart though out their lives together because the narrator believes that a person must choose a career while Sonny believes that a person should be whatever they want to be. At this moment the narrator fails to keep his promise to their mother. Their mother says "You got to hold on to your brother, ‘she said, ‘and don't let him fall, no matter what it looks like is happening to him and no matter how evil you gets with him. You going to be evil with him many a time. But don't you forget what I told you, you hear?" The narrator promises his mother that he will be there for Sonny when ever he needs help or needs someone to lean on. The narrator takes the role of being Sonny’s father instead of being a brother or someone that Sonny can sit and talk to about his problems. The narrator finally decides to go with Sonny to hear him play. When he goes, he finally starts to hear his brother through his music. The Narrator says “Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at last, that he could help us to be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we did. Yet, there was no battle in his face now, I heard what he had gone through, and would continue to gothrough until he came to rest in earth.” The narrator is finally feeling all the pain built up in Sonny and realizes why Sonny has so much passion for his music and understands this is Sonny’s only way to escape the world for a little while. He also feels that Sonny’s music sets him as well as others free. Lots of time has past between the two brothers because the narrator chose not to listen to Sonny when he first tried to explain to him the significance of his music. The narrator tried to understand Sonny but he did it in a fatherly point of view. When someone wants us to listen to them, we must listen to understand them and not just to hear them and give advice. The narrator tried to guide Sonny in the direction that he thought would be Sonny’s cure to avoid trouble, but when he finally decides to understand Sonny, the narrator finds out that music is his cure.
Sonny’s Blues 10-18-08 Sonny’s Struggles “Chancy, you’re at the top now,” says my boss. My position at work holds many responsibilities. I am an only child, and I was raised by a single mother. Growing up, I never had an older brother or a higher male figure to look up to. My mother raised me all by herself, which is why I see her as my role model. I am the head cook at Outback Steakhouse; it took me five years to reach my position. When people are hired, they come to me first for any advice. It’s no choice, but my responsibility, to make sure everything goes as planned. If someone is in the “weeds,” management looks at me for help. When I started at Outback, I was a dishwasher. I now have worked every station to the top, in which I feel obligated to help anyone in need of assistance. In James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues,” The narrator reminds us that all young men need positive role models in their lives to lead them through the obstacles they inevitably encounter on the path to manhood. At a younger age, the narrator was very close to his brother Sonny. The story takes place in Harlem, where the narrator is reading a newspaper, in which he learns that his brother Sonny has been arrested. This information strikes the narrator. Sonny is much younger than his brother. The narrator feels like has done something wrong, as if he was supposed to protect his younger brother, keep him out of trouble. In the beginning of the story, the narrator says, “I remember that I had been there when he was born; and I had heard the first words he had ever spoken. When he started to walk, he walked from our mother straight to me. I caught him just before he fell when he took the first steps he ever took in this world” (11).The importance of this statement goes far beyond the narrator’s love for his brother. It sets the role of him being a father figure for his brother. Even more vital, he explains how he has always tried to catch Sonny as he falls. This is symbolic of the actions a father would display. The narrator’s statement shows the love he has for his brother, and the pain he is feeling seeing his brother in this position. Because Sonny and his older brother lost their father at a young age, the narrator, who is the older brother, feels that most of the responsibility rests on him. The narrator’s mother cannot be the father figure as well as being the mother. The narrator’s mother tells him, “You 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 you gets with him. You may not be able to stop nothing from happening. But you got to let him know you's there” (18). The narrator doesn’t look deep enough into what his mother is saying. The narrator already feels like he has let Sonny down. He feels like he has let his mother down the most. The narrator looks at his mother’s saying, meaning to just keep Sonny out of trouble. At first the narrator wanted what was best for Sonny, thinking school was his best option. Sonny wanted to do many other things and school wasn’t an option. The narrator even let Sonny move in with his side of the family. Sonny always wanted to be a musician, but his brother never backed him up on his goals. His brother laughed at him saying that being a musician wasn’t a career. Sonny has moved overseas to work on his music and he and his brother fell off the map for a while. It wasn’t until the narrator had a family crisis that Sonny and his brother reunited. By this time, Sonny has reached an age of understanding. Sonny and his brother can now talk more on a social and friendly vibe, rather than Sonny just taking orders from his older brother. The narrator finally decided to go with Sonny, to a nightclub, and listen to his music. While listening to Sonny’s music the narrator states, “I seemed to hear with what burning he had made it his and what burning we had yet to make it ours, how we could cease lamenting. Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at last, that he could help us to be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we did” (22). This statement is very significant, describing the narrator realizes Sonny is hurting too. He had been hurting the whole time but he could only express it through music. This recognition allows the narrator to soothe and comfort Sonny. The narrator knew Sonny was puzzled and lost growing up, but now he understands his pain. The narrator’s role model figure was displayed all through the story. The narrator, who was responsible for this position, struggled for understanding what it meant; however he did eventually recognize this position fully. My father walked out of my life, leaving just my mother and I. Some of my friends never had a father in their lives, and they are always getting in trouble. I see some of my friends in and out of jail, not making anything of themselves. Unlike some of my friends, Sonny and I have found a way out. I decided to go back to school and make something of myself. Sonny has developed his love for music, using it to express his every which way. The narrator thought that Sonny using drugs was a cry for help or the only thing that was letting Sonny truly express himself through music. The narrator and Sonny came to the realization that music is the drug.
Sometimes when we don’t understand people, we tend to regard them as a fool. In life when we don’t understand people’s point of view and their way of thinking, we tend to underestimate their ideas. We need to give everyone a chance to explain themselves and tell their side of the story. We need to look at the world, not only from our own point of view, but also the way other people see it. This provides us an opportunity to understand the thinking process of the one we are listening to. Understanding them would lead to accepting them as they are. James Baldwin tries to prove the same point in “Sonny’s Blues.” He shows us that, although no two people are alike, it is hard to accept someone else’s point of view, especially when it vastly different from our own. This difference among individuals leads to conflicts and difficulties if the people concerned are related to each other. Sonnys Blues conveys the message that a relationship depends heavily on understanding and communication. The story “Sonny’s Blues” revolves around two main characters: the narrator and Sonny. They are brothers, but the ways they think about life are completely different. This leads them to different paths. The elder brother, narrator, becomes a teacher and leads a routine life. It’s a life that he thinks is secure for him and his family. Sonny, on the other hand has aims to achieve his dreams of becoming a jazz musician and follow what he loves. Their different views about life are visible when they argue about Sonny’s future. The narrator says, “You know people can’t always do exactly what they want to do”. Sonny replies by saying, “No I don’t know that, . “I think people ought to do what they want to do, what else are they alive for?” This conversation is a reflection of their contradicting viewpoints. The narrator wants Sonny to finish his schooling and get a degree, which would help him lead a better life according to the narrator. Sonny argues that he doesn’t like studying and doesn’t see a reason to be in school. Sonny tells his brother he has a passion for music and wants to make a career out of playing jazz. Sonny is even ready to join the army or navy to prove that he desperately wants to get out of Harlem and his school as soon as possible. In the beginning the narrator is never able to understand Sonny. He wants to help him, but he tries to help him by confining his talents. He wants him to have a secure life, one which he had promised his dying mother he would give Sonny. He promised that he “ won't let nothing happen to Sonny." The narrator blames himself for being careless about his own brother. He takes the blame for Sonny being addicted to drugs and going to jail. The narrator fails to understand that their mom never wanted him to lead the path for Sonny. She always wanted him to be by Sonny’s side and be his pillar of support. She made it apparent by saying, "You may not be able to stop nothing from happening. But you got to let him know you's there." The narrator tries to take control of his brother’s life but this ends up in Sonny’s life becoming a mess. Upon being told by Sonny that he wants to lead the life of a musician, the narrator goes through an emotion of disbelief. He finds it hard to believe that his brother has picked music as his career. He also states, “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, somehow.” The narrator looks down upon this career choice. He wants Sonny to realize his true worth and go for a career choice which justifies his caliber. Since Sonny wants to lead his life his way, he dismisses his brother’s suggestions. Sonny wants to gain control of his life and seems tired of the intrusions. He wants his voice to be heard. By the end of the story, the narrator begins to understand Sonny and what he wants. The narrator understands the passion Sonny has for music and why music means so much for him. He understand that music is a way to relieve Sonny of his pains and sufferings. He finally admits that, “I seemed to hear with what burning he had made it his, and what burning we had yet to make it ours, how we could cease lamenting. Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at last, that he could help us to be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we did.” The narrator finally learns to listen ad appreciate his brother’s music. He realizes what his mother always wanted to tell him and what took him so long to understand It’s human nature to believe that our way is the right way. Hence, we tend to impose our beliefs on our loved ones, especially when they are too young to make choices that guarantee security and safety. In an attempt to impose our beliefs on others, we completely overlook their views. This story teaches us that it is more important to understand than to be understood. In order to really appreciate someone we need to look at things from their point of view. This is what helps us to accept others for who they are.
Dealing with Suffering I think that the key of being a good brother is represented by the level of understanding one of the siblings has for the other. I am pretty familiar with the relationship between siblings because I have a young sister, and I know how it feels to argue with a loved person because I want what is the best for her. As an older brother, I also have the tendency to protect my sister more than I should, habit that I have formed unconsciously at a fragile age. I have to specifically focus on my actions if I want to avoid this strong tendency. Sometimes, I wish that my sister would not have to pass through the same situations I have passed through once already, in order to realize that she is wrong at a certain moment. I wish that she would just listen to me and trust me, but this situation will probably never occur. This bias to preserve my sister from suffering is normal because I love her, and it is tough to accept that she has to face, at one point, the same circumstances that I have faced in the past. Yet, I also realize that she has to develop her own personality, and that I must not take away from her the life experiences, and that is why I try to border my responsibility, as a brother, only to wise advices. In “Sonny’s Blues” I think that most of the actions of the main character are related to suffering, feeling that lies, especially, in the relationship between the two brothers. The story actually starts with Sonny’s brother regret regarding what his younger brother has to pass through due to addiction to drugs: He had been picked up, the evening before, in a raid on an apartment down- town, for peddling and using heroin. I couldn’t believe it: but what I mean by that is that I couldn’t find any room for it inside me. I had kept it outside me for a long time…I didn’t want to believe that I’d ever see my brother going down, coming to nothing (1).
At this point, Sonny’s brother is unable to offer him any kind of moral support because the narrator himself cannot handle the anguish yet. We can see in the previous quote the narrator’s denial towards Sonny’s suffering because his disposition does not allow him to expose his feelings and accept what his brother has been through. I do not think that the narrator understood completely his mother’s message when she told him that “You may not be able to stop nothing from happening. But you got to let him know you's there” (11). His brother wants the best for Sonny, and that is why he tries to strongly enforce his own point of view about what his brother should do in the future. Regarding Sonny, the narrator’s intensions are too protective, and that is why he does not choose the right method, and that is also why he overprotects his brother. Automatically, by overprotecting his brother he imposes only his own point of view, and consequently, he doesn’t listen anymore to what his brother has to say, “I hear you. But you never hear anything I say” (15). It is obvious that the relationship between the two brothers is very tense, especially at the beginning of the story, mainly because of the differences between their activities which is amplified by the distance between them. All the suffering is basically driven by the arguments between the brothers, concerning Sonny’s future. In the beginning, the narrator does not want to accept any other life style than the one he expects from Sonny saying, “Well, you may think it's funny now, baby, but it's not going to be so funny when you have to make your living at it, let me tell you that” (12). The narrator is very concerned about Sonny’s future, and he simply rejects the idea of following the personal wishes for a life career, which is another reason of argument. At one point, Sonny and his brother were not actually saying to each other what they are deeply thinking, and at one point all these refrained thoughts burst out: “So I got mad and then he got mad, and then I told him that he might just as well be dead as live the way he was living. Then he stood up and told me not to worry about him in life any more, that he was dead as far as I was concerned” (16). These statements have a strong impact on both brothers, but especially on the narrator because he feels this conflict more intense than Sonny. Consequently, they did not talk to each other for more than one year until Sonny’s brother’s daughter died. This situation is also a very strong suffering test for any man in this world, the moment when his own daughter dies. The narrator says, “I think I may have written Sonny the very day that little Grace was buried. I was sitting in the living room in the dark, by myself, and I suddenly thought of Sonny. My trouble made his real” (17). The narrator does not want to describe his personal feelings regarding the tragedy that has occurred in his family, but instead, he mentions the situation of the relationship between him and his brother. The moment when the narrator’s daughter died changes something in his behavior because after this unfortunate incident, he starts approaching Sonny in a brother to brother relationship. In the last part of the story, we can notice that the two brothers have changed; they are more mature at this point, and they have almost passed over the suffering stage. The most important fact is that they can communicate with each other: “Something told me that I should curb my tongue, that Sonny was doing his best to talk, that I should listen” (20). The narrator finally comes to the point when he starts listening because he senses a change in his brother’s behavior. After one year of being away from his brother, Sonny acknowledges the state that he has been through, and he is mature enough to talk about it: “I've been something I didn't recognize, didn't know I could be. Didn't know anybody could be” (21). His only escape from this stage that he was passing through is represented by music, the only one factor that Sonny embraces with all his heart. This desire is also approved by the narrator towards the end of the story because he realizes how important is for Sonny to become a musician. I think that the narrator’s denial and frustration regarding his brother’s ideas and opinions about life are generated by Sonny’s suffering. He wants to protect his younger brother from any kind of troubles that might have been inflicted by either drugs or a wrong decision in choosing a personal career. The narrator’s attitude in the first part of the story of being close minded seems very logical to me because he lost his confidence in Sonny due to the addictive habit that Sonny embraced in his unfortunate past. It takes time for the narrator to regain confidence in his brother, and this situation occurs toward the end of the story when he becomes more open minded; that is the point when the two brothers start communicating and understand each other.
Even if every time I have a broken heart it seems like the radio only plays depressing love songs, I couldn’t imagine my life without music in it. I can always depend on the soothing sounds of a melody to help me get through a crummy day. Often, I find myself humming a previously heard tune, not even realizing how it sets my mind to ease. No matter if I’m using music for a celebration or just a way to relax; my world would be a dull place if music was never discovered. Music is often said to have healing powers. In James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues,” the troubled Sonny struggles to convince his older brother that his music is what will set him free and change his life for the better. When the narrator finally accepts this concept, he and his brother rediscover their brotherhood while acknowledging each other’s different worlds. In the story “Sonny’s blues” it is evident Sonny is trying to escape from something. We know this because in a letter Sonny writes to his brother he states, “I guess I was afraid of something or I was trying to escape from something and you know I have never been very strong in the head.” But what is Sonny trying to escape from? The narrator, Sonny’s brother, could never quite figure that out. Maybe he was trying to escape from the darkness of life growing up in early Harlem, a place where kids grow up too quick only to find their lives have passed them by. Maybe he was escaping from a place that could turn a once innocent girl into a battered face semi-whore. It is possible he was running from the kids who do not play games in the light of day but rather only choose to come out in the darkness of night. Most people have methods of dealing with the realities of growing up in a place like this. The narrator believed having a tedious work habit and thinking logically would get him through the journey of this harsh life. Sonny was more of a dreamer. He believed his music could set him free from the chains of his surroundings. I found Sonny’s love for music fascinating. Music was more than a past-time for Sonny; it was his dream, passion, and the way he could tell his story.
Be the Person That Makes You Happy Throughout my life, I have constantly been told what I should be and what I should do with my life. I know that all my parents want is the best for me. They want me to succeed and make the best of myself. My parents constantly try to keep me on the “right track,” which actually means their track. I don’t say much, because I know they mean well, but there are times where I just want to scream, “LET ME BE ME!” I find myself giving up things that make me so happy just to please them, and after I give it up, all that comes from it is my unhappiness. Trying to please everyone is absolutely impossible, and it has taken me a long time to figure out that pleasing me should be my number one priority. I have to make my own decisions for my future, and those decisions have to make me happy. Having my parents’ approval means a lot to me, but their dreams for me cannot affect my dreams for me. All of us have our own ideas about the person we want to be, but we are also usually affected by the dreams that others have for us. At some point in our lives, most of us will have to decide whether we are going to make that choice based on our desire for someone else’s approval or based on what will make us happy in the long run. This struggle is the basis for the conflict in James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues.” Sonny’s older brother never really admired the way Sonny lived his life. He always had this idea of what Sonny should be and could accept nothing else. He had the idea in his head that he had to protect Sonny from everything. What he really needed to do was let Sonny live, let him make his own choices and decisions for his life. Although Sonny’s decisions may not have always been the wisest ones, his brother had to let him decide for himself. Sonny’s brother took the safe road. He took what he believed was the right path to take, and, even though he was successful, he lacked the most important thing, happiness. Everything the narrator does, he does because he believes he has to, not because he wants to, and that results in his unhappiness. Sonny, on the other hand, does what he wants to do. He wants to be happy, and what other people want him to be doesn’t matter. Sonny’s brother tells him, “You know people can’t always do what they want to do,” (13). Sonny simply responds, “I think people ought to do what they want to do, what else are they alive for?” (13). Sonny lives by this concept, and, if everybody in the world lived by it, the world in general would be a much happier place. Trying to be what your parents, or siblings, or society thinks you should be is wrong. We should be what makes us happy or, like Sonny says, what else are we alive for. It is sort of in our nature to criticize people by the way they look, act, and what they do with their lives. We tend to judge people by their outside appearance. When people do what we think is not right, we don’t approve of them, even if we don’t know them. For example, early in the story, the narrator runs into one of Sonny’s old friends. His reaction to this young man says a lot about the narrator’s judgmental attitude: “I didn’t like the way he carried himself, loose and dream like all the time, and I didn’t like his friends.”(16) Sonny’s brother criticized Sonny and all of his friends because he saw them as different. He had it in his mind what these people should be and how they should look, and any other way was unacceptable to him. We all have this idea of how people should act or what they should do with their lives, but frankly what we think doesn’t matter one bit. Everyone is different and that’s what makes the world a beautiful place. It takes all kinds of people to make the world go round, and everyone needs to be themselves, no matter what the stereotype may be. If we try to please everyone, we will never be happy for ourselves. Having the approval of others is important to some, but if you ask me it’s not important whatsoever. Being yourself and being proud of it, is the most important and beautiful thing you can possess. Being different is nothing to be ashamed of; it’s something to praise because, in the world today, finding an individual in the midst of all these replicas is sort of impossible. We can’t truly be free until we are completely who we want to be. Letting go of everything and being you is freeing, and finally understanding that that’s what needs to happen is amazing. Sometimes we need to be shown or taught for us to understand that people live their lives for them and no one else. Either we will come to respect and appreciate someone’s decisions, or we will never understand them. “Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at last, that he could help us be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we did.” (24) Sonny’s brother finally realizes that Sonny is doing good with his decisions in his life, and he doesn’t, and never did need his help. He understands that if he would just listen to Sonny play, and listen to what he has to say then he would be free from worry. Sonny’s brother would finally be able to let go of all his worries and be who he really wants to be, instead of who he thinks he has to. Sonny could finally be free if his brother would just understand him and respect the decisions he makes. Being myself is very important to me. I have learned that I can’t be everything to everybody, but I will be everything to me. I will do all the things I want to do. My future has to be what I want it to be or I will never be happy. I can’t go on living my life doing something that someone else wants for me. Taking into consideration what other people think I should do is ok, but ultimately none of that will matter. I will make my decisions for me and no one else. Happiness is something very precious, and doing everything that is right for me will make me completely happy.
Surviving with a Lifetime of Suffering On a daily basis, everyone undergoes some type of suffering throughout their lives. Choosing how to deal with that suffering is what makes everyone a unique individual. One can lay out their suffering for everyone to see; however, another can just keep their suffering inside and deal with it internally. James Baldwin shows us this in “Sonny’s Blues” and how the relationship between two brothers is affected by the way they choose to deal with suffering. The narrator chooses to not even deal with his suffering by putting it on the side, avoiding it completely. He thinks that, if he lives his perfect life, suffering will never affect him. On the contrary, his brother, Sonny, accepts his suffering and deals with it through his music. This difference in each of their characters causes conflict between them, but eventually they learn to get past their difference and understand one another. The narrator chooses not to deal with his suffering by keeping it locked up inside. After reading about the news of his brother, the narrator states, “I couldn't believe it: but what I mean by that is that I couldn't find any room for it anywhere inside me.” He shows us that he has kept everything inside and has chosen not to deal with it because it just might hurt too much. By keeping everything inside, the narrator tries to make everything around him perfect. He says, “It might be said, perhaps, that I had escaped, after all, I was a school teacher; or that Sonny had, he hadn't lived in Harlem for years” (1). This shows us that the narrator thinks that because of his job that he has escaped Harlem, when in fact he has not. Trying to avoid suffering finally catches up to him when his own tragedy happens in his life. This is shown when he states, “And I didn't write Sonny or send him anything for a long time. When I finally did, it was just after my little girl died, and he wrote me back a letter which made me feel like a bastard” (5). This proves that even though he has become a successful school teacher he still has to deal with suffering through his daughter’s death. He could never understand Sonny and his wanting to be a musician; he has always believed that once you finished school a job was the only thing you needed to live a successful life. He is concerned for Sonny and states, “Can you make a living at it?”(13). He thinks that it would be in Sonny’s best interest to go back to school and get a job, rather than play music, which is the only thing Sonny cares for. Because of this they are constantly fighting, the narrator believes that he knows what is best for Sonny because he is the older wiser brother, but Sonny knows what will make him happy in life. Sonny channels his suffering through playing music, because he knows that it is the only way to express his suffering and receive happiness. Sonny tries his hardest to make his brother understand that people should do what they want to do to make themselves happy, but his brother never gives in to his ways. Sonny states, “But what I don't seem to be able to make you understand is that it's the only thing I want to do” (13). He tries to get his brother to accept the fact that all Sonny wants to do is play music, but his brother just shut him out. Sonny doesn’t care about making money or having enough to survive, he only cares about his happiness, and playing music is the only way for him to deal with the world around him. Turing away from drugs Sonny has channeled his suffering into his music and receives serenity. This is shown when the narrator says, “Yet, there was no battle in his face now, I heard what he had gone through, and would continue to go through until he came to rest in earth” (24). Through his music he can let go of all the fighting with him-self and with others and just be at peace. Even though the narrator and Sonny are always disputing about Sonny’s life, they eventually come to an understanding about each other. At the end of the story, the narrator changes he view on suffering when he accepts the fact that even though the world around you is perfect doesn’t mean anything bad will happen to you. This is shown through the statement, “And it brought something else back to me, and carried me past it, I saw my little girl again and felt Isabel's tears again, and I felt my own tears begin to rise” (25). When the brother watches Sonny play his music, it brings back all the suffering he has had in his life and he realizes that the world isn’t perfect and there will be suffering that one has to endure in order to be human. He stops trying to avoid the pain and lets it run through him for the first time. Their understanding of each other is shown through this statement, “He didn't seem to notice it, but just before they started playing again, he sipped from it and looked toward me, and nodded” (25). They are both at peace and can understand each other a little bit better now. Because the narrator is never able to understand Sonny and his wanting to play music they are always at conflict with each other. The narrator is always looking to protect Sonny and never sees what truly makes Sonny happy. They both deal with their suffering is different ways by playing music or completely avoiding it. Once the narrator lets his own suffering inside and doesn’t disregard it he can now see Sonny’s experiences and appreciate what Sonny has chosen for his life. We all deal with suffering in different ways, but learning to let go helps us to avoid more suffering and allows us to be true to ourselves like Sonny.
I am sure most of your parents, like my own, have made their share of mistakes in life and use their experiences as guidelines to raise their own children. My mother married at a very young age and became a mother soon before she should have. Although she never regrets her actions, she does sometimes mention that she wishes she would have just dated other guys, experienced every aspect of high school, and waited a little longer to settle down and have a family. She told her story time and again and I listened the way most teens do; I heard the words but they just lingered. I did not get the lesson she was trying to teach me. When I was only thirteen I became interested in dating, probably because most of my friends were doing it! I dated a couple guys and then I ended up with one guy for a long four years! My mother fussed about the situation constantly knowing that I would be happier if I would just be friends with everyone and not consider myself ‘taken’ at such a young age. Throughout the entire relationship was on an emotional rollercoaster, but did not know a way out because I was so young when I got involved. My mother noticed and tried so many ways to keep me from experiencing the pain, but I did not listen. As a result, my mother and I fought all the time, I became rebellious, and I insisted on finding things out on my own instead of learning from her mistakes. Because all of us experience pain when someone we care about seems to be headed in the wrong direction, our first instinct is often to change the direction in which they are headed. The short story, “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin reminds us that the best way to show our love for someone who is struggling with himself is not to insist on changing him, but instead to stick by him while he finds his own way.
The narrator in “Sonny’s Blues” was a polished and successful teacher who made his way through the negativity of Harlem. Sonny on the other hand, was free-spirited and had a tendency to get caught up in his surroundings. The narrator believed that Sonny’s way of living was not very promising of a creditable future. Sonny struggled in Harlem, lost interest in school, and the narrator did not believe Sonny had any dreams for his future. The narrator believed it was his responsibility to keep Sonny from falling because it was the last thing his mother asked of him, “You got to hold on to your brother and don’t let him fall (11).” The narrator listened to what his mother told him, but he did not know how to be there for his brother without imposing his own views of life.
Sonny’s mother was only asking the narrator to be supportive of Sonny and to let him know that he would always be there for him no matter what. The narrator did not know how to play that role in Sonny’s life, but he knew that he would do whatever it took to keep Sonny from falling. “Look, brother. I don't want to stay in Harlem no more, I really don't (14)," Sonny expressed his eager desire to leave Harlem and all of its hatred and suffering. Sonny even mentioned joining the army or navy, and the narrator just blew it off telling him, "You must be crazy. You goddamn fool, what the hell do you want to go and join the army for (14)?" The narrator would not listen to Sonny nor did he realize how desperate Sonny was to get out of Harlem. The narrator forced Sonny to live at Isabel’s with her parents and continue his schooling. The narrator believed that would be the best way to monitor Sonny and keep him out of trouble, but Sonny eventually disobeyed his brother’s demands and ran off to the navy. When someone is forced into something he is more likely to become rebellious and put no effort into making the forced situation possible.
Every person has hopes and dreams for their future, and although it may differ vastly from our own we should still be accepting and supportive. The narrator was very surprised and disappointed when Sonny shared his dream of becoming a jazz musician, “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 (12).” The narrator did not believe Sonny’s dream was very realistic or mature. The narrator did not understand Sonny’s passion for music or how Sonny used music as an escape of his past. Sonny knew his brother did not approve of his dream, but he wanted to prove how important music was to him so he invited his brother to a local nightclub to listen to his music. The narrator had a sudden insight into his brother’s music and learned to listen to the words and feel what they were saying, “I seemed to hear with what burning he had made it his, and what burning we had yet to make it ours, how we could cease lamenting. Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at last, that he could help us to be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we did (24).” The narrator realized Sonny’s music was his way of expressing his struggles and suffers. By listening to Sonny he learned that he could not run away from his sufferings; he had to face them and find his way of coping. Sonny’s dream of becoming a musician not only benefitted himself, but he helped his brother unbury his past and open up to suffering in order to be really free.
Just as Sonny found his way, I found mine. Once my mother told me she was giving up and letting me choose my path, I chose the one she was leading to me. I got out of the relationship and I had a completely different outlook on life. My mother and I finally had a relationship again and I became this happy person with a positive outlook on life. I felt there was nothing in my way anymore of becoming what I knew I could. Just as the narrator, my mother decided to stop trying to lead my life and just let me choose, but she always assured that no matter what she would always be there for me. Although I now know that I should have listened to her long before I did, I am thankful that I did not. Instead of living and learning from her mistakes I now live and have learned from my own which makes the lessons much more powerful. After reading “Sonny’s Blues” and thinking back on my personal experience I believe that the only way to help someone we love is to guide him in the right direction. Although we hate seeing a loved one experience pain and suffering, it is inevitable. All we can do is assure him we will be there when he needs help getting back on his feet. Just as that saying goes, “You can pull a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.” My mother and I have learned that all you can do is guide someone through life and hope he makes the right decisions. You cannot make decisions for him or keep him over protected. Believe in his dreams and be supportive, more than likely the outcome will be much more rewarding for the both of you just as it was for my mother and I and the characters in “Sonny’s Blues.”
Stand by Me It was the day of my little brother’s second birthday party, when my mother found out my sister was in jail. She was my older sister who was involved with a boy who did many drugs. My parents never approved of this person, and insisted she left him alone, but they made her completely stop talking to him when she was in jail for possession of drugs. I had always looked up to my sister and almost lost complete hope in her when I found out the disturbing news, but I refused to give up on her. In James Baldwin’s short story “Sonny’s Blues”, the two main characters undergo a similar conflict. The story is about two brothers, the older brother, whose name is unmentioned, and the younger brother Sonny who have not talked to each other in years, and the older brother finally realizes it is almost too late when he sees an article about Sonny’s arrest for possession of heroin. Because all of us experience pain when someone we care about seems to be headed in the wrong direction, our first instinct is often to change the direction in which they are headed. “Sonny’s Blues” reminds us that the best way to show our love for someone who is struggling with himself is not to insist on changing him, but instead to stick by him while he finds his own way. The narrator, who is the older brother, is an educated teacher who thinks that his brother went down the wrong path and disagrees with everything he does. Throughout the story, it is clear that Sonny is a nomad and his brother tries to convince him to complete school like he has done. Sonny, on the other hand, has his own views of life and does not want to be told how to live: Narrator, “You know people can’t always do exactly what they want to do”(13). “No I don’t know that, said Sonny, surprising me “I think people ought to do what they want to do what else are they alive for?”(13). Even though we know the narrator only intended to help Sonny, if he would have just supported him and listened to him, he would realize he would be helping him all along. When reading “Sonny’s Blues” I notice plenty communication problems. Sonny and his brother had not talked in years and when they finally do talk again, it seems like the narrator completely tunes out Sonny and ignores his dreams and feelings: Narrator, “Sonny, you hear me, and Sonny responded, “Yea I hear you but you never hear anything I say”(15). It is apparent that the narrator only wishes that Sonny could go to school and be just like him. He obviously thinks that anything Sonny has to say is foolish or nonsense. It seems like if the narrator would have talked to Sonny a little more, Sonny would not be so discouraged, and he would not want to leave Harlem. When the narrator discovers that Sonny wants to be a musician, he disagrees completely and tells him that he cannot make a living from that. I think the narrator is the kind of person who thinks his view of life is the right one and I do not believe that is fair to Sonny. I don’t think anyone should be something they don’t want to be, I think no matter what, they should be supported in doing what makes them happy. However, the narrator in this story certainly did not see it that way: “ I simply couldn’t see why he’d want to spend his time hanging around nightclubs, clowning on bandstands, while people pushed each other around a dance floor. I had always put jazz musicians in a class with what daddy called ‘good-time people’”(12). At the end of this story, we conclude that the narrator finally realizes the passion Sonny has for music. The narrator sees Sonny play the piano and for a moment, he feels everything Sonny feels and realizes the suffering he went through. I find myself in a similar position as the narrator, however I never gave up on my sister. Instead of not talking to her because of her mistakes, my family and I influenced her to do better for herself. Now, she is almost finished pursuing her bachelors’ degree while maintaining two jobs. She regrets every moment of dating the person she was with, especially now that she has to pay a lot of money to get that removed from her record. I am glad that unlike the narrator I never stopped talking to my sister because I do not know where she would be today if I had.
For starters, the day you see a 90-year old fighting over the lasts in the cookie jar is the day the world is in trouble. What I mean is as people grow, so does their thought and spirit grow. Individual growth in life from a young age is based off the same concept yet even more key. Everyone has responsibility, whether it is young or old; when the action takes place to “become” your responsibility, is the time true understanding of that purpose takes place. As a kid I soaked up every conversation my grandparents talked about. My folks would often complain about how curious I was. Unknowingly, I extracted a few traits from each; the developmental process had begun to take place. With my personal example at hand, it illustrates to perfection that the events kids see and take place in have a huge impact on what they are to become. This developmental stage starts with the child’s surroundings. I was fortunate enough to be raised under a roof with both parents, several older brothers, and one younger brother. This idea alone is more vital than many people consider it to be. The story points out the importance of a male role model in every young man’s life; however, it also shows that their role model must be understanding and respectful to the ideas of that young man as he grows. Early in the story, the narrator eludes “I remember that I had been there when he was born; and I had heard the first words he had ever spoken. When he had started to walk, he walked from our mother straight to me. I caught him just before he fell when he took the firsts steps he ever took in this world.” The importance of this statement goes far beyond the narrator’s love for his brother. It sets the role of him being a father figure for his brother. Even more vital he explains how he catches him as he falls. This is symbolic of the action a father would display. Our narrator was naive, and he had no clue as to what meaning he played upon his brother. In their entire growing period they did not gripe or complain about a father; they had no idea of what having a father was like. Being raised in a single-parent home is extremely different than being raised in a stable two-parent home. Boys growing up in such environment struggle for understanding what they ought to be. Often they do look up to an older brother, uncle, or some other man-like figure. A lack of even that is detrimental because now the child grows up “learning on the fly.” Ultimately they have to experience everything and learn from it rather than being taught about it prior to any incident. Above is what Sonny had to go through his entire life because he had no father and his brother was far from understanding what needed to be done. The mother left the narrator with some strong words that complicated yet impacted him. She said, “You 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 you gets with him. You may not stop nothing from happening but you got to let him knows you there.” The significance of the words his mother tells him is more than being a “Big Brother.” It complicated him in a way that he only recognized her saying be a ‘Big Brother.” The idea of our narrator being young plays a part in his recognition of those words. As the narrator grew wiser about life he understood his ROLE should include allowing Sonny to make his own mistakes yet always be there to embrace and encourage Sonny’s trouble. This understanding came much later in the narrator’s life because he was still young, developing himself as a person, and living his own life. “As a child, I thought like a child. Now that I am a man, I have put away those childish ways.” This newly perceived concept was adapted to very quickly; the narrator wanted to act upon his Brother Sonny’s life right away. Upon the narrator’s newly gained insight he said, “I seemed to hear with what burning he had made it his, and what burning we had yet to make it ours, how we could cease lamenting. Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at last he could help us to be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we did.” The narrator realizes Sonny is hurting too. The only picture the narrator was looking at was why his little brother was selling himself short, why he isn’t eager to go a different route in life, and why Sonny doesn’t think like him. He finally realizes not everybody is like him; he was consistent in rejecting Sonny for who he was. This sole concept hurt Sonny more than what he was already hurting. He had been hurting the whole time but he could only express it through music. His brother place so much emphasis on disapproving what Sonny does that he eventually tuned out Sonny’s feelings. This recognition allows the narrator to soothe and comfort his brother. Emphasis was placed on the role model figure throughout the story. The person who was responsible for this position struggled for understanding what his role consisted of; however he did eventually comprehend completely. I can vouch that kids who lack a role model are less fortunate because they lose out on teachings and an education of a lifetime; they lose out on concepts that are far greater than math equations. I think of myself as having decent understanding, and I thank my many role models for making me who I am. If you have any role models, show them your appreciation by thanking them. If you believe you can fill the shoes of a role model then do just that. Remember to be positive through your journey filled with obstacles they inevitably encounter on the path to adulthood.
Many people do not know what it is like to have siblings, but I know what it’s like to have siblings because I have two, a brother and sister whose names are Lerman and Jovan. I love both of them with all my heart even though we have our differences from time to time. We get into arguments all the time, and sometimes we don’t even talk to each other for a great period of time, but at the end of the day we still love one another. I really love my brother and sister even though I don’t tell them I do often. I have heard that people never realize what they have until they lose it, and I lost something I really love and care about, my brother. My brother and I had a love/hate relationship, but we still cared for each other. We could never get along, and if we did get along, it wasn’t for a long period of time. Months before my brother was killed, we developed a good relationship with one another. We stopped arguing and fighting with one another, and we were then for each other. When I left home for school, my brother told me he was going to keep in touch with me, and he owned up to his words. He called me on the day of my birthday to wish me a happy birthday, and he asked me when I was coming home because he missed me, and we hadn’t seen each other in a while. I told him we could do something for spring break, and he was ok with that. One morning my mother woke me up and told me to get up and put some clothes on, and I had a feeling it had something to do with my brother, and I was right. That’s when she told me somebody had murdered my brother, and I couldn’t do nothing but break down and cry because I hadn’t seen him in a while. He left this world without me getting a chance to say goodbye. On top of that, I never remembered telling him I loved him, but I told him I did when I was looking at him lying in that hospital bed. It was the worst day of my life, and I remember saying I would always remember what I had because I never want to lose it. We are our brother’s keeper, brotherly support amounts to more than control, it requires listening and true understanding in a time of tragedy and suffering. When I was younger, I saw my brother hanging with the wrong crowd. In “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin, the narrator said, “I think people ought to do what they want,” (13), and he was hanging with a group of boys who sold drugs. I remember telling him that he needs to stop hanging with them “thugs,” but he did not listen to me. That’s when I told my mother, but he didn’t listen to her either. He was stubborn and hard headed, and he was right no matter what anybody was telling him. One day one of my friends found some drugs under his mattress, and I brought them to our mother who gave them to his father. I knew he was going to receive several punishments, which he did. I remember my brother calling me a snitch after that day for about two weeks, but I thought it was funny because I did not know what it meant at the time. I was telling him that I only did that because I did not want to lose him to the mean streets of New Orleans and because I really care about him. I knew he was going to be successful at whatever he did, but selling drugs wasn’t going to be one something he can excel at, and I was trying to see to it that he did not sell drugs, but I was unsuccessful. In the story, “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin, the narrator states, “I didn’t want to believe that I’d ever see my brother going down, coming to nothing, all that light in his face gone out, in the condition I’d seen so many others,” (2) and my brother did not complete high school because he was not dedicated, nor did he have the drive and determination to finish high school. He wanted to hang out with his friends who sold drugs all day every day, and eventually, he started selling drugs. I must say he was a good drug dealer up until the day he was arrested and sentenced to eighteen months in prison, so I guess he wasn’t as good as I thought. When he called home, he used to tell me that prison wasn’t a place he wanted to be, and that he never wanted me to go to prison. I tried to tell him that he should not be selling drugs because I did not want him to end up in prison. When he was released from prison, he was destined to get his life back on the right track, but he was trapped in the mean streets of New Orleans, and he started selling drugs all over again. Since my family and I couldn’t get him to stop selling drugs, we just told him to be careful because we didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. One day, some dudes did a drive-by, which they shot at my brother and his friends, but nobody was harmed. That’s when my family and I began to stress because we were scared for him. One day, my brother and his friend were sitting outside one evening in which the boys who shot at them the first time returned and opened fire towards my brother and his friend. My brother managed to get away, but his friend was shot and killed, and I was with his friend two days prior to the day he was shot and killed. After my brother’s friend was killed, I told him that he needed a new path because the direction he was headed in was leading to his death. That’s when he stopped selling drugs and got a job, but he quit his job after three months, and started selling drugs all over again. I did not agree with that decision because all of his friends were either dead or in jail. About six months after he started selling drugs again, he was shot and killed, and my heart was crushed because I would have never thought the lord would have called my brother home so soon. As many people know, not all siblings have the best relationships, but I am more than sure they love one another. My brother and I have a love/hate relationship, and as we grew older and began to mature, we took care of each other without the arguing and fighting all the time. So in the end, we are our brother’s keeper, brotherly support amounts to more than control, it requires listening and true understanding in a time of tragedy and suffering.
Learning From Life’s Lessons Life itself is unpredictable; at some point as we travel this journey, we all will experience the challenges life offers. As an older sister, I have witnessed many of my siblings’ challenges and also experienced my share of them. We just have to be mature and learn from our past mistakes and choices. In the story “Sonny’s Blues,” by James Baldwin, we all can relate to some of these experiences between the narrator and his younger brother and learn from them. The story explores some of the topics many of us struggle with from day to day. Some of the struggles are drugs, education, and relationships with our loved ones. I experienced a very bad relationship with my first love. Instead of listening to my parents’ and grandparents’ advice, I chose to do things my way and ended up learning the hard way. In the story, Sonny also learns the hard way, by getting arrested for drug use. It wasn’t until after his arrest that he realized he was on a path of destruction. As young people, we forget that the elders have traveled this journey before we get the chance to do so. They have much more wisdom than we do. Sonny luckily has his older brother to turn to for advice. When I rebelled against my parents and dated the guy they didn’t approve of, I felt they didn’t listen to what he or I had to say. Later my parents allowed me to date him. After I started dating him, his true colors were revealed, and this opened my eyes. I finally saw all the things they were trying to show me all along. I have two younger sisters, and now I see in them all the things my parents saw in me back then. I now understand that it’s hard to sit back and watch loved one travel down the wrong paths in life. So I can understand where the narrator is coming from when he doesn’t support his younger brother when he feels he is traveling in the wrong direction. The reason Sonny’s older brother is so hard on him in this story is because he has traveled a different path in life, so he wants to keep his brother on the straight and narrow path. The narrator feels, in some sort of way, that he is the only father figure his brother has since their dad has passed away. He proves this when he reminisces, “I had been there when he was born; and I had heard the first words he had ever spoken. When he started to walk, he walked from our mother straight to me. I caught him just before he fell when he took the first steps he ever took in this world” (6). Sonny’s brother feels it is his obligation to his parents and his brother to lead him in the right direction. Sonny doesn’t feel this way. He feels his brother is just trying to control his life. As experienced people in life, we may shoot down others’ dreams. The reason is that we want only what is best for them, and if we feel they will not be successful in the career they pick, we may try and detour them. We often feel it’s our responsibility to guide them in the right direction and help them choose the best career. However, what we learn in “Sonny’s Blues” is that Sonny cannot be completely happy living the life his older brother wants for him. In our life it is very important to choose a career we can be proud of and also enjoy. The narrator fails to realize his brother’s passion for music when he tries to explain his dreams to him. He is very judgmental and only visualizes his brother doing something that the narrator thinks is worthwhile. He focuses, not on the fulfillment of a career that will make Sonny happy, but on a career that provides job stability and a great salary. Sonny is frustrated with his brother’s lack of support and responds by saying, "I hear you. But you never hear anything I say"(15). It is tough sometimes to express our true feelings to one another. It is even harder when we feel that the person we are confiding in the most is not listening. We often pick a career that not only brings us joy, but one that we feel allows us to escape from this world of trouble. It is understood that we may often pick careers that bring us joy and not enough of finances to live a comfortable life. Sometimes it’s worth every cent to wake up every morning knowing we are fulfilling our dreams. This is true happiness. This is why Sonny loves music so much. He is a very shy person, thus making his problems even harder to discuss. The music he plays allows him to free the inner demons he has been fighting with all those years of his life. In my life others had different plans for my future just like the narrator had for Sonny. For instance, my grandmother always wanted me to become a model. But I have always wanted to be a nurse. It was after finishing nursing school that she accepted me being a nurse. She was finally happy for me once she saw how wonderful my career made me feel. The narrator reminds me of this situation when he witnesses his brother’s performance for the first time. At this moment he is truly proud of his younger brother and finally understands his struggle thorough the music. He witnesses Sonny’s soul being set free with very stroke of the keys on the piano. This allows the narrator to lay down the burden of worrying about Sonny that he has been carrying all of his life. The narrator expresses this when he thinks to himself, “I seemed to hear with what burning he had made it his …Freedom lurked around us and I understood…he could help us to be free if we would listen, that he would be free until we did. There was no battle in his face now, I heard what he had gone through, and would continue to go through” (25). Sonny also lifts the burden, of his brother not accepting his career choice, off his shoulder once he saw his brother’s reaction to his music. There was nothing left to prove. His brother saw why he loved music so much and finally understood him. In conclusion, the key to true happiness in life is to be oneself no matter what people say and no matter what obstacles occur. Yes, it would have been easier for Sonny and me to listen to the advice given to us, but we probably would have never found ourselves in the process. We all learn from our mistakes if we are fortunate. The key is to never repeat the same mistakes once we have learned from them. I know there will be some hard times in this life, but overall I will be happy living my life and I know Sonny will do the same.
A Special Role model Can Make a difference. Having and older or younger brother or sister coming up together is something great to experience. Sharing the same roof, eating together, and even possibly sleeping together doesn’t mean you will the same life styles. “Sonny Blues”, starts with two brothers growing up, but they’re living two extremely different lifestyles. In this case, there’s one who tries to implement his lifestyle on the yet other, yet rejection takes place. The narrator in this story doesn’t shoe the support an older should give. Sonny needs guidance; He needs some one there for him. His older brother lack of support will be an issue that the narrator has to eventually deal with and over come. Sonny and his older brother didn’t have a father figure in there life coming up. He died when they were younger. So, they had to learn form each other. Sonny’s mother watches over the two; she pleaded that the older son becomes a leader for his younger brother. She tells him the story about his daddy and his brother. This illustrates why the narrator should look after Sonny. The mother deeply encourages the narrator because she knows what can happen between brothers. As the narrator and Sonny get older they enter the stage where they start to develop there own personalities. Sonny has to come to reason with himself that he wants to become a musician. But on the other hand his brother is telling him that his decision to be a musician is a dumb idea and that he disapproves of it. “Everything takes time” ,Sonny said, “and well, yes I can make a living at it, but I what I don’t seem to be able to make you understand is that it’s the only thing I want to do”. The narrator has to realize that this is sonny decision and for him to give sonny support instead of telling him what is good for him. Encourage sonny and if he fails, it is a responsibility to make sure he keeps encouraging him to try I always look up to my older brother. His encouragement would have played an important role, more than my mother or father. You tend to look up to your peers and my brother was that. But like Sonny, I wasn’t encouraged to become something in life by my brother. In fact he encourages me to follow his ways and take on life everyday as he did. Since I have known my brother he was never headed in the right direction. Showing me all the negative to things to do instead of positive. Teaching me as if it was going to help me get somewhere in life. But not like sonny I had a father who stayed on me and was there for me to show me that my brother was a bad influence for me.
Analysis of “Sonny’s Blues” Can you think of a point of time in your life when you were criticized for choosing a career or lifestyle that your family or maybe your friends disapproved of? As you may already know, we can be persuaded to make choices that satisfy others, but which leave us empty and unhappy. Should we compromise our happiness for the rest of our lives to please others, or do what we are destined to do? For some, this is a very difficult decision, to disappoint the ones we love, but we have to be true to ourselves, follow our hearts, and not the expectations of others. In the story “Sonny’s Blues,” by James Baldwin, Sonny struggles with many issues while living in Harlem, but at the end of the story he finds freedom, a way out. Sonny makes the decision of being happy by fulfilling his dreams of becoming a jazz musician despite his brother’s objections to it. At the beginning of the story, the nameless narrator, Sonny’s older brother, does not understand Sonny’s choices in life and why he has chosen that particular path. Sonny seems to have taken a different direction in life opposed to his older brother. The narrator is particularly troubled by Sonny’s struggle with life and his reasons for use of drugs that later causes his imprisonment. The narrator explains, “I read about it in the paper, in the subway, on my way to work. I read it, and I couldn’t believe it, and I read it again” (1). He is scared for Sonny being in prison. He does not understand how Sonny’s life has become so corrupt at this point, while his own life seems to be on a proper path, with a teaching career, wife, and kids. It is hard for him to see his brother go through so much as a young black man. It is difficult for him to swallow the idea that they were both raised by the same parents, in the same household, but his brother seems to be troubled. He envisioned better for Sonny. The conflict between the narrator and Sonny is a lack of communication with one another and the lack of support the narrator has towards Sonny. He seems to close his ears when Sonny is trying to express himself. The narrator does not want to listen, but wants Sonny to listen to him and do what he says. The narrator appears to be an authority figure to Sonny because of the seven-year difference between them. The narrator expresses, “The seven years’ difference in our ages lay between us like a chasm: I wondered if these years would ever operate between us as a bridge” (6). The issues of their relationship lie heavily on the narrator’s heart because he wants nothing more than an established relationship with Sonny. The narrator has a difficult time accepting Sonny’s goal to become a jazz musician. He does not think that Sonny’s decision is wise because he does not think that Sonny can make a living as a musician. He tells Sonny with concern, “You know people can’t always do exactly what they want to do.”(13) Sonny simply replies, “No, I don’t know that. . . I think people ought to do what they want to do, what else are they alive for?”(13). The narrator has chosen his career because of monetary values, a situation which has caused him to compromise his happiness. Sonny is happy with the choice he has made to become a musician; he is fulfilled. By the end of the story, the narrator has a different view of life. The narrator sees that it is important to listen to loved ones and be supportive of their choices. Finally, the narrator and Sonny’s relationship seems to be on the right path. The narrator has changed his outlook on life. He starts to listen to Sonny and object less to Sonny’s decisions. He decides to go to the nightclub with Sonny to listen to him play the piano. As the narrator observes Sonny while he is on stage, he realizes that Sonny’s soul is into his music. Sonny is not talkative. Music is Sonny’s way of expression and the narrator understands that now. We can be miserable for doing what others want us to do or be happy with our decisions to do what makes us feel good. The narrator explains, “Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at last, that he could help us to be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we did” (24). Freedom is a personal choice, and if we do not allow ourselves to be free because of what others may think, we will never be free. Sonny is finally free from bondage because the narrator finally listens and accepts Sonny for who he is. In conclusion, it is important to do what makes one happy despite what others may think. Sonny chooses his happiness over doing what his brother wants him to do. Those who do only what others want them to do, will never be happy. It is important to listen and be supportive of loved ones. Although they may be taking the wrong path, they need support and gentle guidance. We all make mistakes and should be allowed to make them; how else we will learn? We should all be like Sonny and be true to ourselves.
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Ive’ Got Sunshine on a Cloudy Day
Has there ever been a time in your life when what you wanted to do went against the norm? I know that there was a time in my life where what I wanted to do with the rest of my life was not what my family felt I should. My granny once told me, “Sometimes we have to do what we don’t want to do, to be able to do what we want to do.” I have learned that she is right. However, some people do not have the ability or the self-motivation to do what their hearts tell them to. In James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blue” we encounter the same situation. The unnamed narrator tries to convince his brother that he cannot do what he wants, but must do what he has to do. In the end, the narrator, like most of us at some point, realizes that if we just learn to do what our hearts tell us, it will never lead us in the wrong direction.
Sonny, the younger brother of the narrator, realized that “[He was] going to be a musician” early in his life. Being that I am an older sibling, I find myself acting just like the narrator. I find that I try to be very protective of my younger siblings and want them to do what I think is right. “I won't let nothing happen to Sonny “(11). The narrator made a promise to his mom, “You got to hold on to your brother," she
said, "and don't let him fall, no matter what it looks like is happening to him and no matter how evil you gets with him.” (11), but the promise he chose was not exactly the one his mom wanted him to keep. Instead of letting Sonny do what he wanted to with his life, he chose to act as a parent. I realize that sometimes in life we try to fix people instead of letting them fix themselves.
Growing up in a rather strict religion, people thought that if we didn’t follow in the footsteps of our preacher that we didn’t love God. Some parents still think the same way. Some parents want their children to grow up to become doctors and lawyers. But, what some people don’t realize is that even though you want the best for your children, you should let your children decide. “I just don't altogether get it, that's all”. However, if we would just pay attention to the fact that when we go to a restaurant, that stage singer is someone’s child too, we may be more accepting to what children want from life. Had the singer been a doctor, then who would have sang to you? The narrator did that. He wanted Sonny to go to college and that wasn’t what Sonny wanted. The narrator wanted Sonny to be safe, but if we try to be too safe it could hurt us in the end. “You're just hung up on the way some people try-it's not your way” (20).
Someone once told me, “If you look for the bad in people you’re sure to find it, so look for the good in them instead.” As humans, we always seem to notice the bad in people. That’s what the narrator did. He always saw the bad, never the good. He never realized that, “for, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard” (24). Sonny finally realized that this music would set him free “Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at last, that he could
help us to be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we did” (24). The narrator finally saw that he did not have to be Sonny’s keeper. He had to be his friend and his brother.
As I get older I find that I am more protective of my friends and my family. I am learning that what my parents tried to save me from I am doing the same with my younger family. At some point in my life I realized, just like the narrator, that I have to let them go. Everyone is human. We all make mistakes, but they have to be our mistakes. The narrator wanted to save his brother from a world of pain. Had he just let Sonny go, he could have saved him from the world of pain that he caused. Sometimes we have to learn when to listen, act, or walk away. In this world we live in we will always have pain, death, love, and happiness, but who decides that? I have to learn for myself, and so does everyone else.
English 102, 3TC
October 14, 2008
Sonny’s Blues Essay
A Supporter, Not a Dictator
Because all of us experience pain when someone we care about seems to be headed in the wrong direction, our first instinct is often to change the direction in which they are going. James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” reminds us that the best way to show our love for someone who is struggling with himself is not to insist on changing him, but instead to stick by him while he finds his own way. It is kind of ironic because I am currently experiencing something very similar. One of my close friends has turned toward a very self-destructive behavior. Her family and I have warned her about where this road leads and begged her to stop, but just as I see in this story, her ears are closed. “Sonny’s Blues” takes us into the lives and minds of two brothers living in Harlem. They both care a great deal for each other; this seems to be a source of conflict. The narrator relates his side of the story about Sonny, his younger brother, and Sonny’s drug addiction and musical aspirations. They cannot seem to communicate well verbally with one another, which inevitably causes friction, but if we read into their actions, only briefly, we see how deeply they really care.
From the start I see Sonny’s brother, our nameless narrator, struggling to understand the motives behind Sonny’s behavior. A hint of his confusion is given when he asks Sonny’s childhood friend, who has been using drugs since his and Sonny’s teenage years, “Why does [Sonny] want to die” (4)? In the narrator’s mind, the only logical reason for Sonny’s drug use was suicide; though, to me, that obviously is not Sonny’s motive. “Sonny has never been talkative” (8); this passage tells me that Sonny was the silent type. He probably never explained his feelings, so the narrator had no real idea about anything that Sonny was going through. This seemed to push them apart and leave the narrator without any desire to get to know Sonny’s heart because I noticed that they went long periods of time without contact with each other. After not speaking for years they began keeping in constant touch, visiting whenever it was possible, and thus began repairing their relationship. The narrator’s reason for his own sudden change of heart is that “[He] had begun, finally, to wonder . . . about the life that Sonny lived inside” (5-6). I think it is clear that he means he is at last interested in attempting, at least, to understand Sonny’s heart, what he felt, why.
Clearly, his interest in Sonny’s private thoughts and feelings is a wonderful thing; however, too much of a good thing can be harmful. When the narrator was speaking with his and Sonny’s mother shortly before she died, she advised him, the way most mothers do, “’You got to hold onto your brother,’ she said, ‘and don’t let him fall, no matter what it looks like is happening to him and no matter how evil you gets with him. You going to be evil with him many a time. But don’t you forget what I told you, you hear?’” (11).
He promised her that he would do what she asked, naturally, but he seems to misinterpret what she really meant. I believe that she really meant to tell him to support Sonny. She knew that Sonny could not possibly be protected from every harmful substance or situation. She wanted him to be there for Sonny; although, he thought he was supposed to shelter Sonny from everything and make sure he made the right decisions. When the narrator remembers that “When [Sonny] started to walk, he walked from [their] mother straight to [the narrator]. [He] caught [Sonny] just before he fell when he took the first steps he ever took in this world” (6), I think it shows us that he sees himself as Sonny’s father figure and protector. Now we all know that what one person may see as right and just, another may see as wrong or irresponsible. This does not mean that object or action is wrong for everyone, just wrong for the person that perceives it as such. This is the case with Sonny and his brother. The only thing that Sonny wants to do, which is to become a musician, the narrator sees as wrong and tries to force this opinion on Sonny. There actually is not anything wrong with being a musician. Also, I think Sonny had the right idea when he told his brother, “I think people ought to do what they want to do, what else are they alive for?” (13). Why should we waste our time, which is irreplaceable, on things that we do not actually need or want to do. Sonny knew that his time would be spent more wisely pursuing his dreams, rather than sitting in school and learning nothing but drugs.
As the healing stage of their relationship begins, I see both brothers wanting desperately to have their feelings exposed or, better yet, to have their feelings understood. This became evident to the narrator when he saw “the baby brother [he’d] never known [look] out from the depths of his private life, like an animal waiting to be coaxed into the light” (6). They both wanted to be closer, but that seems to be hard for Sonny. Or maybe it is just hard for Sonny’s brother to draw him out and make him feel safe enough to open up. I think this is really where the problem lies. Sonny’s friend Creole, a fellow musician, seems to know exactly how to deal with him. Creole knows what Sonny needs, but he waits for Sonny to go at his own will, instead of forcing him to do anything before he is ready. “He wanted Sonny to leave the shoreline and strike out for deep water” (23). As Creole and Sonny are playing with the band, Creole wants Sonny to get into the music more, but he waits until Sonny takes the initiative to go out on his own. Meanwhile, as the narrator is listening to them play, he finally begins to fully understand his brother. He now hears the message that Sonny is sending out with his music; not only that, but he has learned to translate it as well. He also realizes that “Freedom lurk[s] around [us] and [he] understood, at last, that [Sonny] could help us to be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we did” (24). This was the breakthrough, the turning point, that Sonny and his brother needed in order to shatter their separation and gain that close brotherly bond.
This is a very touching story. I think it has showed me a more effective way to approach my situation. Instead of preaching at my friend, I think just being there for her through this and supporting her may have a more positive effect. Trying to pilot someone else’s life usually has adverse effects, as we have been told, but this story makes it so real that it jumps off of the pages and into your inner most thoughts.
Sonny’s Blues
Every young man needs support from those in his life who are close to him. This support can come from his family, friends, or even co-workers. In order for humans to function, they need people to be around to help along the way. If this support isn’t there, then the individual can go astray or down the wrong path whether that be drugs or violence, much like in James Baldwin’s story, “Sonny’s Blues.” Without support from our loved ones or anyone at all, our dreams may fade with time. Most of us won’t have the needed determination to strive for our dreams. In ‘Sonny’s Blues”, the narrator faces some problems with his brother Sonny, and he doesn’t agree with Sonny’s dreams. The narrator’s lack of support for his brother will be an issue the narrator will eventually have to come to terms with.
In the story Sonny’s Blues, the narrator made a promise to his mother to look out for his younger brother because he was all Sonny had left. He thinks by trying to live Sonny’s life he is fulfilling that obligation to his mother, but he loses contact all together with his brother. He is suddenly brought back to reality when he reads about Sonny’s arrest in the newspaper. He realizes he has failed at the only thing his mother had asked him to do. All he had to do was just simply be there for Sonny when he needed someone and be a refuge in times of need, but the narrator was nowhere to be found. The narrator wants to reestablish the lost relationship they once had when they were younger. But when Sonny tries to explain to his brother that he wants to seek a career in music, his brother simply laughs at him and tells him that his dream is a joke. This is shown when the narrator tells Sonny “Well, you may think that it’s funny now, baby, but it’s not going to be so funny when you have to make your living at it, let me tell you that” (12). The narrator won’t even listen to what Sonny has to say; he just thinks Sonny needs to get a “real job” and just be a normal person in society. At this point, the narrator must see that he needs to get a whole new attitude towards Sonny and his dream, or he will never be able to keep his promise to his mother.
Throughout Sonny’s life he has faced many rough times, and all he knows to escape his problems is through drugs and trouble narrator. When he finally moves to Isabel’s parent’s house, he uses the piano as an escape from a world that put him down and shook him up. In life, a person needs a sense of escape from the real world, a reassurance that everything is going to be alright. He finally finds reassurance in music so he can make something of his life and leave behind the destruction and turmoil. However, his brother, the person he thinks he can trust, is one of the first people to tell him that being a musician is a joke. When a loved one says your dream is a joke these words can tear a person apart. Negative words can cause a person to lose a dream or make that person work harder to prove others wrong. Sonny chooses to not let his brother’s words break him. The reader knows this when Sonny says,” Everything takes time,” He said, “and-well, yes, sure I can make a living at it. But what I don’t seem to be able to make you understand is that it’s the only thing I want to do”(14). All he wants to do is prove to his unbelieving brother that he can succeed in his life.
In order to have a close relationship with someone, attitudes and opinions sometimes have to change. The narrator will have to change his view of his brother if their relationship is to become a close one. I think the narrator comes to realize that he must let Sonny live his life, and he should not try to control every move that Sonny takes. He realizes that he has to give Sonny a chance to live his life the way he wants to live it, so Sonny can be happy and not go back to his old way of life. When Sonny asks the narrator to go with him to the club to watch his performance, I think the narrator realizes that Sonny has made up his mind and is going to do what he has to do to play his music. During the performance, he sees that Sonny really is talented, and his music brings joy to Sammy and other people watching and listening to the beautiful music being played on the piano by his brother. This is shown when the narrator tells us, “Sonny’s fingers filled the air with life, his life. But that life contained so many others” (23). The Narrator now sees and understands Sonny’s love of the piano when he says “He seemd to have found, right there beneath his fingers, a damn brand new piano”(24). The narrator can now accept all that Sonny ever wanted in the first place is to have a chance to prove that being a musician is worthwhile, and he can in fact be a success.
Brotherhood is a strong bond that is often crippled by lack of understanding. The narrator in Sonny’s Blues did not want to understand a life that was out of the ordinary. Fortunately, the narrator has a moment of insight during Sonny’s performance, and he feels bad for his lack of support for Sonny’s dream to be a musician. James Baldwin reminds us that not all people have the same dream and ideas, but those who love each other will learn to accept the dreams of their loved ones allowing them to pursue their dreams.
Living with Suffering
Everyone experiences suffering in their lives, but what makes each of us different is how we choose to deal with that suffering. My grandfather once told me to be myself, because life’s too short to be anyone else. I think his thoughtful words apply not only to this story, but also to everyday life. In James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” the narrator deals with suffering by trying to avoid it entirely and looks down on his brother for the way he deals with his own afflictions. The narrator believes that if he makes his life perfect, he will be able to prevent experiencing any kind of pain. Sonny, however, accepts suffering and chooses to deal with it in various ways. The ways in which they choose to deal with suffering causes conflict between the two brothers, but in the end they are able to finally understand one another.
The narrator attempts to make everything and everyone around him perfect in hopes that nothing bad will ever happen to him. The narrator shows his efforts to make life perfect in his statement, “It might be said, perhaps, that I had escaped, after all, I was a school teacher; or that Sonny had, he hadn't lived in Harlem for years” (7). He thinks that, because he has become successful as a schoolteacher, he has escaped Harlem and all its troubles. The narrator’s attempts to avoid his troubles in life prove to be unsuccessful which is seen through the quote, “When I finally did, it was just after my little girl died, and he wrote me back a letter which made me feel like a bastard”(5). Even though the narrator has become successful, he must still endure the tragedy of his daughter’s death and must suffer just like everyone else. The narrator never wants to accept the way his brother chooses to deal with his own pain in life, believing that school followed by some type of employment is the only path in life to take. This is seen in his response to Sonny’s statement that he wants to be a musician: “Doesn't all this take a lot of time? Can you make a living at it?” (13). He believes that for Sonny to be happy, he needs to go to school so that he can get a job, even if that’s not what he really wants to do. Sonny and his brother are in constant conflict with one another because the narrator believes he knows what’s best for his brother, but Sonny knows what will really make him happy in life.
Sonny’s outlet for his own suffering is music, which he knows is the only thing in life that will bring him satisfaction. Sonny cannot make his brother understand that music is the only thing he wants to do in life, and believes people should do exactly what they want to make themselves happy. He shows this through his statement, “And-well, yes, sure, I can make a living at it. But what I don't seem to be able to make you understand is that it's the only thing I want to do” (13). Sonny is not concerned with making money as his brother is and knows that playing music is the only thing he wants to do with his life. Sonny plays the piano as a way to cope with the world around him. Instead of drugs, he is now turning to the world of jazz as a sanctuary from the tough streets of Harlem. The peace Sonny finds in music is seen through the statement, “Yet, there was no battle in his face now, I heard what he had gone through, and would continue to go through until he came to rest in earth” (24). Sonny finds tranquility through music and is able to let go of the internal battle he is constantly fighting. Although the narrator and his brother are in constant disagreement about how you should live life, they eventually are able to understand one another.
In the end Sonny and his brother are able to find common ground when the narrator is able to accept the fact that suffering will happen no matter how perfect you try to make the world around you. The narrator is able to accept Sonny for who he is and acknowledges all of the suffering he has experienced in his own life. This is shown through the statement, “And it brought something else back to me, and carried me past it, I saw my little girl again and felt Isabel's tears again, and I felt my own tears begin to rise” (25). As Sonny is playing, the narrator remembers all the difficult things he has been through and is finally able to come to terms with it. He no longer tries to avoid suffering, and instead acknowledges it and can now deal with it. Sonny and his brother at last, can empathize with one another and are finally at peace in the end. This is shown through the quote, “He didn't seem to notice it, but just before they started playing again, he sipped from it and looked toward me, and nodded” (25). This small gesture of recognition demonstrates that the two brothers finally understand and appreciate one another.
Because the narrator wants to protect Sonny instead of just being there for him, the two brothers are never in agreement. Through music Sonny is able to deal with his hardships, while his brother tries to avoid suffering entirely. Once the narrator is able to let his own pain and difficulty in, he can finally appreciate Sonny for who he is and his choices in life. Suffering is something that everyone must deal with in life no matter how much we try to avoid it. By letting go of trying to avoid suffering, we can better cope with it and are more able to sympathize with others and the struggles they go, just as the narrator does with Sonny.
Music Is His Cure
Sometimes I have an enormous amount of feelings and stress built up inside of me and I do not know how to let it out. Then I listen to music, mainly R&B, and all my thoughts and feelings seem to fade away. The story “Sunny’s Blues” by James Ballwin takes place in Harlem, New York. The main characters are Sonny’s mother, the narrator which is Sonny’s brother and Sonny. Sonny’s mother wants his brother to support Sonny no matter what path he chooses in life and be there for Sonny whenever he may stumble. As Sonny makes his decision to become a musician, his brother tries to steer him away from the idea of being a musician and never tries to fully understand why Sonny is pursuing musicianship. Sonny does not talk much about his feelings and tries to explain to his brother the importance of how the blues lets him express his feelings. In this story, James Ballwin shows us the importance of music as a key to understanding one’s own suffering and how we can free ourselves if we take the time to listen to the music that is being played around us everyday.
At the beginning of the story, Sonny tells his brother that he needs to get out of Harlem because Sonny knows that his surroundings will eventually suck him into the negativities of his environment. Sonny says “I guess I was afraid of something or I was trying to escape from something and you know I have never been very strong in the head” (pg.5). Music is Sonny’s only way to escape from the harsh reality of the surroundings he grows up around in early Harlem. I can relate to Sonny’s situation because I do not talk about my feelings to often. I also use music as an escape tool from my stressful environments such as work, college and my family. As Sonny grows up, he builds up so much emotion inside of him that he can no longer hold it inside, so he finds a way through music to release his thoughts and feelings. Sonny chooses blues because he can relate to other artist such as himself. Sonny enjoys the melody and harmony in blues. Sonny understands the soul, the emotions involved, and pain within the blues. Sonny tries to tell his brother this but instead of listening to Sonny; the narrator just tries to talk Sonny out of it and reacts like he still knows what is best for Sonny.
Sonny’s brother continues to misunderstand why Sonny wants to be a musician. Sonny tries to get the narrator to understand when Sonny says “You can't talk it and you can't make love with it, and when you finally try to get with it and play it, you realize nobody's listening. So you've got to listen. You got to find a way to listen.” Sonny is explaining to the narrator that the music he plays is not something he can not touch or make love to, and when he finally gets the rhythm and melody of the music he is playing, no one listens to the emotion and pain that comes out of his music or receives the message within his music. The way Sonny feels about his music is just the same as a poet when he writes poetry and the reader is just reading the poem but not reading the peom to fully understand the message within the passage. I can relate to this when it comes to music and the artist’s lyrics. Unlike many of my friends who listen to certain music because the beat or melody sounds good, I focus more on the message the artist is trying help me to receive. Many songs artist write and play that I listen to tells stories and I try to get some of my friends to listen to it. When I ask them what he or she may think, they simply say it sounds good but they have no clue of what the message is in the songs. It is kind of like when we go to church and your mother asks you are you paying attention to the pastor or priest. Then when you get home she asks you what was the message and you can not make it out because you only listen to hear him or her, but not to listen to understand them.
The misunderstanding mainly starts when the narrator argues with Sonny about his career choice when he tells Sonny he will not be able to make any money as a musician. Then Sonny says “I can make a living at it. But what I don’t seem to be able to make you understand is that it’s the only thing I want to do.” It hurts Sonny to know his brother disapproves of his dream to become a musician and pursue a career in music. Sonny and the narrator grow further apart though out their lives together because the narrator believes that a person must choose a career while Sonny believes that a person should be whatever they want to be. At this moment the narrator fails to keep his promise to their mother. Their mother says "You got to hold on to your brother, ‘she said, ‘and don't let him fall, no matter what it looks like is happening to him and no matter how evil you gets with him. You going to be evil with him many a time. But don't you forget what I told you, you hear?" The narrator promises his mother that he will be there for Sonny when ever he needs help or needs someone to lean on. The narrator takes the role of being Sonny’s father instead of being a brother or someone that Sonny can sit and talk to about his problems. The narrator finally decides to go with Sonny to hear him play. When he goes, he finally starts to hear his brother through his music. The Narrator says “Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at last, that he could help us to be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we did. Yet, there was no battle in his face now, I heard what he had gone through, and would continue to gothrough until he came to rest in earth.” The narrator is finally feeling all the pain built up in Sonny and realizes why Sonny has so much passion for his music and understands this is Sonny’s only way to escape the world for a little while. He also feels that Sonny’s music sets him as well as others free.
Lots of time has past between the two brothers because the narrator chose not to listen to Sonny when he first tried to explain to him the significance of his music. The narrator tried to understand Sonny but he did it in a fatherly point of view. When someone wants us to listen to them, we must listen to understand them and not just to hear them and give advice. The narrator tried to guide Sonny in the direction that he thought would be Sonny’s cure to avoid trouble, but when he finally decides to understand Sonny, the narrator finds out that music is his cure.
English 102 3TC
Sonny’s Blues
10-18-08
Sonny’s Struggles
“Chancy, you’re at the top now,” says my boss. My position at work holds many responsibilities. I am an only child, and I was raised by a single mother. Growing up, I never had an older brother or a higher male figure to look up to. My mother raised me all by herself, which is why I see her as my role model. I am the head cook at Outback Steakhouse; it took me five years to reach my position. When people are hired, they come to me first for any advice. It’s no choice, but my responsibility, to make sure everything goes as planned. If someone is in the “weeds,” management looks at me for help. When I started at Outback, I was a dishwasher. I now have worked every station to the top, in which I feel obligated to help anyone in need of assistance. In James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues,” The narrator reminds us that all young men need positive role models in their lives to lead them through the obstacles they inevitably encounter on the path to manhood.
At a younger age, the narrator was very close to his brother Sonny. The story takes place in Harlem, where the narrator is reading a newspaper, in which he learns that his brother Sonny has been arrested. This information strikes the narrator. Sonny is much younger than his brother. The narrator feels like has done something wrong, as if he was supposed to protect his younger brother, keep him out of trouble. In the beginning of the story, the narrator says, “I remember that I had been there when he was born; and I had heard the first words he had ever spoken. When he started to walk, he walked from our mother straight to me. I caught him just before he fell when he took the first steps he ever took in this world” (11).The importance of this statement goes far beyond the narrator’s love for his brother. It sets the role of him being a father figure for his brother. Even more vital, he explains how he has always tried to catch Sonny as he falls. This is symbolic of the actions a father would display. The narrator’s statement shows the love he has for his brother, and the pain he is feeling seeing his brother in this position.
Because Sonny and his older brother lost their father at a young age, the narrator, who is the older brother, feels that most of the responsibility rests on him. The narrator’s mother cannot be the father figure as well as being the mother. The narrator’s mother tells him, “You 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 you gets with him. You may not be able to stop nothing from happening. But you got to let him know you's there” (18). The narrator doesn’t look deep enough into what his mother is saying. The narrator already feels like he has let Sonny down. He feels like he has let his mother down the most. The narrator looks at his mother’s saying, meaning to just keep Sonny out of trouble. At first the narrator wanted what was best for Sonny, thinking school was his best option. Sonny wanted to do many other things and school wasn’t an option. The narrator even let Sonny move in with his side of the family.
Sonny always wanted to be a musician, but his brother never backed him up on his goals. His brother laughed at him saying that being a musician wasn’t a career. Sonny has moved overseas to work on his music and he and his brother fell off the map for a while. It wasn’t until the narrator had a family crisis that Sonny and his brother reunited. By this time, Sonny has reached an age of understanding. Sonny and his brother can now talk more on a social and friendly vibe, rather than Sonny just taking orders from his older brother. The narrator finally decided to go with Sonny, to a nightclub, and listen to his music. While listening to Sonny’s music the narrator states, “I seemed to hear with what burning he had made it his and what burning we had yet to make it ours, how we could cease lamenting. Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at last, that he could help us to be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we did” (22). This statement is very significant, describing the narrator realizes Sonny is hurting too. He had been hurting the whole time but he could only express it through music. This recognition allows the narrator to soothe and comfort Sonny. The narrator knew Sonny was puzzled and lost growing up, but now he understands his pain.
The narrator’s role model figure was displayed all through the story. The narrator, who was responsible for this position, struggled for understanding what it meant; however he did eventually recognize this position fully. My father walked out of my life, leaving just my mother and I. Some of my friends never had a father in their lives, and they are always getting in trouble. I see some of my friends in and out of jail, not making anything of themselves. Unlike some of my friends, Sonny and I have found a way out. I decided to go back to school and make something of myself. Sonny has developed his love for music, using it to express his every which way. The narrator thought that Sonny using drugs was a cry for help or the only thing that was letting Sonny truly express himself through music. The narrator and Sonny came to the realization that music is the drug.
Sometimes when we don’t understand people, we tend to regard them as a fool. In life when we don’t understand people’s point of view and their way of thinking, we tend to underestimate their ideas. We need to give everyone a chance to explain themselves and tell their side of the story. We need to look at the world, not only from our own point of view, but also the way other people see it. This provides us an opportunity to understand the thinking process of the one we are listening to. Understanding them would lead to accepting them as they are. James Baldwin tries to prove the same point in “Sonny’s Blues.” He shows us that, although no two people are alike, it is hard to accept someone else’s point of view, especially when it vastly different from our own. This difference among individuals leads to conflicts and difficulties if the people concerned are related to each other. Sonnys Blues conveys the message that a relationship depends heavily on understanding and communication.
The story “Sonny’s Blues” revolves around two main characters: the narrator and Sonny. They are brothers, but the ways they think about life are completely different. This leads them to different paths. The elder brother, narrator, becomes a teacher and leads a routine life. It’s a life that he thinks is secure for him and his family. Sonny, on the other hand has aims to achieve his dreams of becoming a jazz musician and follow what he loves. Their different views about life are visible when they argue about Sonny’s future. The narrator says, “You know people can’t always do exactly what they want to do”. Sonny replies by saying, “No I don’t know that, . “I think people ought to do what they want to do, what else are they alive for?” This conversation is a reflection of their contradicting viewpoints. The narrator wants Sonny to finish his schooling and get a degree, which would help him lead a better life according to the narrator. Sonny argues that he doesn’t like studying and doesn’t see a reason to be in school. Sonny tells his brother he has a passion for music and wants to make a career out of playing jazz. Sonny is even ready to join the army or navy to prove that he desperately wants to get out of Harlem and his school as soon as possible.
In the beginning the narrator is never able to understand Sonny. He wants to help him, but he tries to help him by confining his talents. He wants him to have a secure life, one which he had promised his dying mother he would give Sonny. He promised that he “ won't let nothing happen to Sonny." The narrator blames himself for being careless about his own brother. He takes the blame for Sonny being addicted to drugs and going to jail. The narrator fails to understand that their mom never wanted him to lead the path for Sonny. She always wanted him to be by Sonny’s side and be his pillar of support. She made it apparent by saying, "You may not be able to stop nothing from happening. But you got to let him know you's there." The narrator tries to take control of his brother’s life but this ends up in Sonny’s life becoming a mess.
Upon being told by Sonny that he wants to lead the life of a musician, the narrator goes through an emotion of disbelief. He finds it hard to believe that his brother has picked music as his career. He also states, “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, somehow.” The narrator looks down upon this career choice. He wants Sonny to realize his true worth and go for a career choice which justifies his caliber. Since Sonny wants to lead his life his way, he dismisses his brother’s suggestions. Sonny wants to gain control of his life and seems tired of the intrusions. He wants his voice to be heard.
By the end of the story, the narrator begins to understand Sonny and what he wants. The narrator understands the passion Sonny has for music and why music means so much for him. He understand that music is a way to relieve Sonny of his pains and sufferings. He finally admits that, “I seemed to hear with what burning he had made it his, and what burning we had yet to make it ours, how we could cease lamenting. Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at last, that he could help us to be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we did.” The narrator finally learns to listen ad appreciate his brother’s music. He realizes what his mother always wanted to tell him and what took him so long to understand
It’s human nature to believe that our way is the right way. Hence, we tend to impose our beliefs on our loved ones, especially when they are too young to make choices that guarantee security and safety. In an attempt to impose our beliefs on others, we completely overlook their views. This story teaches us that it is more important to understand than to be understood. In order to really appreciate someone we need to look at things from their point of view. This is what helps us to accept others for who they are.
Dealing with Suffering
I think that the key of being a good brother is represented by the level of understanding one of the siblings has for the other. I am pretty familiar with the relationship between siblings because I have a young sister, and I know how it feels to argue with a loved person because I want what is the best for her. As an older brother, I also have the tendency to protect my sister more than I should, habit that I have formed unconsciously at a fragile age. I have to specifically focus on my actions if I want to avoid this strong tendency. Sometimes, I wish that my sister would not have to pass through the same situations I have passed through once already, in order to realize that she is wrong at a certain moment. I wish that she would just listen to me and trust me, but this situation will probably never occur. This bias to preserve my sister from suffering is normal because I love her, and it is tough to accept that she has to face, at one point, the same circumstances that I have faced in the past. Yet, I also realize that she has to develop her own personality, and that I must not take away from her the life experiences, and that is why I try to border my responsibility, as a brother, only to wise advices. In “Sonny’s Blues” I think that most of the actions of the main character are related to suffering, feeling that lies, especially, in the relationship between the two brothers.
The story actually starts with Sonny’s brother regret regarding what his younger brother has to pass through due to addiction to drugs:
He had been picked up, the evening before, in a raid on an apartment down- town, for peddling and using heroin. I couldn’t believe it: but what I mean by that is that I couldn’t find any room for it inside me. I had kept it outside me for a long time…I didn’t want to believe that I’d ever see my brother going down, coming to nothing (1).
At this point, Sonny’s brother is unable to offer him any kind of moral support because the narrator himself cannot handle the anguish yet. We can see in the previous quote the narrator’s denial towards Sonny’s suffering because his disposition does not allow him to expose his feelings and accept what his brother has been through. I do not think that the narrator understood completely his mother’s message when she told him that “You may not be able to stop nothing from happening. But you got to let him know you's there” (11). His brother wants the best for Sonny, and that is why he tries to strongly enforce his own point of view about what his brother should do in the future. Regarding Sonny, the narrator’s intensions are too protective, and that is why he does not choose the right method, and that is also why he overprotects his brother. Automatically, by overprotecting his brother he imposes only his own point of view, and consequently, he doesn’t listen anymore to what his brother has to say, “I hear you. But you never hear anything I say” (15). It is obvious that the relationship between the two brothers is very tense, especially at the beginning of the story, mainly because of the differences between their activities which is amplified by the distance between them.
All the suffering is basically driven by the arguments between the brothers, concerning Sonny’s future. In the beginning, the narrator does not want to accept any other life style than the one he expects from Sonny saying, “Well, you may think it's funny now, baby, but it's not going to be so funny when you have to make your living at it, let me tell you that” (12). The narrator is very concerned about Sonny’s future, and he simply rejects the idea of following the personal wishes for a life career, which is another reason of argument. At one point, Sonny and his brother were not actually saying to each other what they are deeply thinking, and at one point all these refrained thoughts burst out: “So I got mad and then he got mad, and then I told him that he might just as well be dead as live the way he was living. Then he stood up and told me not to worry about him in life any more, that he was dead as far as I was concerned” (16). These statements have a strong impact on both brothers, but especially on the narrator because he feels this conflict more intense than Sonny. Consequently, they did not talk to each other for more than one year until Sonny’s brother’s daughter died. This situation is also a very strong suffering test for any man in this world, the moment when his own daughter dies. The narrator says, “I think I may have written Sonny the very day that little Grace was buried. I was sitting in the living room in the dark, by myself, and I suddenly thought of Sonny. My trouble made his real” (17). The narrator does not want to describe his personal feelings regarding the tragedy that has occurred in his family, but instead, he mentions the situation of the relationship between him and his brother.
The moment when the narrator’s daughter died changes something in his behavior because after this unfortunate incident, he starts approaching Sonny in a brother to brother relationship. In the last part of the story, we can notice that the two brothers have changed; they are more mature at this point, and they have almost passed over the suffering stage. The most important fact is that they can communicate with each other: “Something told me that I should curb my tongue, that Sonny was doing his best to talk, that I should listen” (20). The narrator finally comes to the point when he starts listening because he senses a change in his brother’s behavior. After one year of being away from his brother, Sonny acknowledges the state that he has been through, and he is mature enough to talk about it: “I've been something I didn't recognize, didn't know I could be. Didn't know anybody could be” (21). His only escape from this stage that he was passing through is represented by music, the only one factor that Sonny embraces with all his heart. This desire is also approved by the narrator towards the end of the story because he realizes how important is for Sonny to become a musician.
I think that the narrator’s denial and frustration regarding his brother’s ideas and opinions about life are generated by Sonny’s suffering. He wants to protect his younger brother from any kind of troubles that might have been inflicted by either drugs or a wrong decision in choosing a personal career. The narrator’s attitude in the first part of the story of being close minded seems very logical to me because he lost his confidence in Sonny due to the addictive habit that Sonny embraced in his unfortunate past. It takes time for the narrator to regain confidence in his brother, and this situation occurs toward the end of the story when he becomes more open minded; that is the point when the two brothers start communicating and understand each other.
English 102, 3t
Sonny’s Blues Essay
10-12-08
Music as a Cure
Even if every time I have a broken heart it seems like the radio only plays depressing love songs, I couldn’t imagine my life without music in it. I can always depend on the soothing sounds of a melody to help me get through a crummy day. Often, I find myself humming a previously heard tune, not even realizing how it sets my mind to ease. No matter if I’m using music for a celebration or just a way to relax; my world would be a dull place if music was never discovered. Music is often said to have healing powers. In James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues,” the troubled Sonny struggles to convince his older brother that his music is what will set him free and change his life for the better. When the narrator finally accepts this concept, he and his brother rediscover their brotherhood while acknowledging each other’s different worlds.
In the story “Sonny’s blues” it is evident Sonny is trying to escape from something. We know this because in a letter Sonny writes to his brother he states, “I guess I was afraid of something or I was trying to escape from something and you know I have never been very strong in the head.” But what is Sonny trying to escape from? The narrator, Sonny’s brother, could never quite figure that out. Maybe he was trying to escape from the darkness of life growing up in early Harlem, a place where kids grow up too quick only to find their lives have passed them by. Maybe he was escaping from a place that could turn a once innocent girl into a battered face semi-whore. It is possible he was running from the kids who do not play games in the light of day but rather only choose to come out in the darkness of night. Most people have methods of dealing with the realities of growing up in a place like this. The narrator believed having a tedious work habit and thinking logically would get him through the journey of this harsh life. Sonny was more of a dreamer. He believed his music could set him free from the chains of his surroundings. I found Sonny’s love for music fascinating. Music was more than a past-time for Sonny; it was his dream, passion, and the way he could tell his story.
Be the Person That Makes You Happy
Throughout my life, I have constantly been told what I should be and what I should do with my life. I know that all my parents want is the best for me. They want me to succeed and make the best of myself. My parents constantly try to keep me on the “right track,” which actually means their track. I don’t say much, because I know they mean well, but there are times where I just want to scream, “LET ME BE ME!” I find myself giving up things that make me so happy just to please them, and after I give it up, all that comes from it is my unhappiness. Trying to please everyone is absolutely impossible, and it has taken me a long time to figure out that pleasing me should be my number one priority. I have to make my own decisions for my future, and those decisions have to make me happy. Having my parents’ approval means a lot to me, but their dreams for me cannot affect my dreams for me. All of us have our own ideas about the person we want to be, but we are also usually affected by the dreams that others have for us. At some point in our lives, most of us will have to decide whether we are going to make that choice based on our desire for someone else’s approval or based on what will make us happy in the long run. This struggle is the basis for the conflict in James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues.”
Sonny’s older brother never really admired the way Sonny lived his life. He always had this idea of what Sonny should be and could accept nothing else. He had the idea in his head that he had to protect Sonny from everything. What he really needed to do was let Sonny live, let him make his own choices and decisions for his life. Although Sonny’s decisions may not have always been the wisest ones, his brother had to let him decide for himself. Sonny’s brother took the safe road. He took what he believed was the right path to take, and, even though he was successful, he lacked the most important thing, happiness. Everything the narrator does, he does because he believes he has to, not because he wants to, and that results in his unhappiness. Sonny, on the other hand, does what he wants to do. He wants to be happy, and what other people want him to be doesn’t matter. Sonny’s brother tells him, “You know people can’t always do what they want to do,” (13). Sonny simply responds, “I think people ought to do what they want to do, what else are they alive for?” (13). Sonny lives by this concept, and, if everybody in the world lived by it, the world in general would be a much happier place. Trying to be what your parents, or siblings, or society thinks you should be is wrong. We should be what makes us happy or, like Sonny says, what else are we alive for.
It is sort of in our nature to criticize people by the way they look, act, and what they do with their lives. We tend to judge people by their outside appearance. When people do what we think is not right, we don’t approve of them, even if we don’t know them. For example, early in the story, the narrator runs into one of Sonny’s old friends. His reaction to this young man says a lot about the narrator’s judgmental attitude: “I didn’t like the way he carried himself, loose and dream like all the time, and I didn’t like his friends.”(16) Sonny’s brother criticized Sonny and all of his friends because he saw them as different. He had it in his mind what these people should be and how they should look, and any other way was unacceptable to him. We all have this idea of how people should act or what they should do with their lives, but frankly what we think doesn’t matter one bit. Everyone is different and that’s what makes the world a beautiful place. It takes all kinds of people to make the world go round, and everyone needs to be themselves, no matter what the stereotype may be. If we try to please everyone, we will never be happy for ourselves. Having the approval of others is important to some, but if you ask me it’s not important whatsoever. Being yourself and being proud of it, is the most important and beautiful thing you can possess. Being different is nothing to be ashamed of; it’s something to praise because, in the world today, finding an individual in the midst of all these replicas is sort of impossible.
We can’t truly be free until we are completely who we want to be. Letting go of everything and being you is freeing, and finally understanding that that’s what needs to happen is amazing. Sometimes we need to be shown or taught for us to understand that people live their lives for them and no one else. Either we will come to respect and appreciate someone’s decisions, or we will never understand them. “Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at last, that he could help us be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we did.” (24) Sonny’s brother finally realizes that Sonny is doing good with his decisions in his life, and he doesn’t, and never did need his help. He understands that if he would just listen to Sonny play, and listen to what he has to say then he would be free from worry. Sonny’s brother would finally be able to let go of all his worries and be who he really wants to be, instead of who he thinks he has to. Sonny could finally be free if his brother would just understand him and respect the decisions he makes.
Being myself is very important to me. I have learned that I can’t be everything to everybody, but I will be everything to me. I will do all the things I want to do. My future has to be what I want it to be or I will never be happy. I can’t go on living my life doing something that someone else wants for me. Taking into consideration what other people think I should do is ok, but ultimately none of that will matter. I will make my decisions for me and no one else. Happiness is something very precious, and doing everything that is right for me will make me completely happy.
Surviving with a Lifetime of Suffering
On a daily basis, everyone undergoes some type of suffering throughout their lives. Choosing how to deal with that suffering is what makes everyone a unique individual. One can lay out their suffering for everyone to see; however, another can just keep their suffering inside and deal with it internally. James Baldwin shows us this in “Sonny’s Blues” and how the relationship between two brothers is affected by the way they choose to deal with suffering. The narrator chooses to not even deal with his suffering by putting it on the side, avoiding it completely. He thinks that, if he lives his perfect life, suffering will never affect him. On the contrary, his brother, Sonny, accepts his suffering and deals with it through his music. This difference in each of their characters causes conflict between them, but eventually they learn to get past their difference and understand one another.
The narrator chooses not to deal with his suffering by keeping it locked up inside. After reading about the news of his brother, the narrator states, “I couldn't believe it: but what I mean by that is that I couldn't find any room for it anywhere inside me.” He shows us that he has kept everything inside and has chosen not to deal with it because it just might hurt too much. By keeping everything inside, the narrator tries to make everything around him perfect. He says, “It might be said, perhaps, that I had escaped, after all, I was a school teacher; or that Sonny had, he hadn't lived in Harlem for years” (1). This shows us that the narrator thinks that because of his job that he has escaped Harlem, when in fact he has not. Trying to avoid suffering finally catches up to him when his own tragedy happens in his life. This is shown when he states, “And I didn't write Sonny or send him anything for a long time. When I finally did, it was just after my little girl died, and he wrote me back a letter which made me feel like a bastard” (5). This proves that even though he has become a successful school teacher he still has to deal with suffering through his daughter’s death. He could never understand Sonny and his wanting to be a musician; he has always believed that once you finished school a job was the only thing you needed to live a successful life. He is concerned for Sonny and states, “Can you make a living at it?”(13). He thinks that it would be in Sonny’s best interest to go back to school and get a job, rather than play music, which is the only thing Sonny cares for. Because of this they are constantly fighting, the narrator believes that he knows what is best for Sonny because he is the older wiser brother, but Sonny knows what will make him happy in life.
Sonny channels his suffering through playing music, because he knows that it is the only way to express his suffering and receive happiness. Sonny tries his hardest to make his brother understand that people should do what they want to do to make themselves happy, but his brother never gives in to his ways. Sonny states, “But what I don't seem to be able to make you understand is that it's the only thing I want to do” (13). He tries to get his brother to accept the fact that all Sonny wants to do is play music, but his brother just shut him out. Sonny doesn’t care about making money or having enough to survive, he only cares about his happiness, and playing music is the only way for him to deal with the world around him. Turing away from drugs Sonny has channeled his suffering into his music and receives serenity. This is shown when the narrator says, “Yet, there was no battle in his face now, I heard what he had gone through, and would continue to go through until he came to rest in earth” (24). Through his music he can let go of all the fighting with him-self and with others and just be at peace. Even though the narrator and Sonny are always disputing about Sonny’s life, they eventually come to an understanding about each other.
At the end of the story, the narrator changes he view on suffering when he accepts the fact that even though the world around you is perfect doesn’t mean anything bad will happen to you. This is shown through the statement, “And it brought something else back to me, and carried me past it, I saw my little girl again and felt Isabel's tears again, and I felt my own tears begin to rise” (25). When the brother watches Sonny play his music, it brings back all the suffering he has had in his life and he realizes that the world isn’t perfect and there will be suffering that one has to endure in order to be human. He stops trying to avoid the pain and lets it run through him for the first time. Their understanding of each other is shown through this statement, “He didn't seem to notice it, but just before they started playing again, he sipped from it and looked toward me, and nodded” (25). They are both at peace and can understand each other a little bit better now.
Because the narrator is never able to understand Sonny and his wanting to play music they are always at conflict with each other. The narrator is always looking to protect Sonny and never sees what truly makes Sonny happy. They both deal with their suffering is different ways by playing music or completely avoiding it. Once the narrator lets his own suffering inside and doesn’t disregard it he can now see Sonny’s experiences and appreciate what Sonny has chosen for his life. We all deal with suffering in different ways, but learning to let go helps us to avoid more suffering and allows us to be true to ourselves like Sonny.
Lessons Learned
I am sure most of your parents, like my own, have made their share of mistakes in life and use their experiences as guidelines to raise their own children. My mother married at a very young age and became a mother soon before she should have. Although she never regrets her actions, she does sometimes mention that she wishes she would have just dated other guys, experienced every aspect of high school, and waited a little longer to settle down and have a family. She told her story time and again and I listened the way most teens do; I heard the words but they just lingered. I did not get the lesson she was trying to teach me. When I was only thirteen I became interested in dating, probably because most of my friends were doing it! I dated a couple guys and then I ended up with one guy for a long four years! My mother fussed about the situation constantly knowing that I would be happier if I would just be friends with everyone and not consider myself ‘taken’ at such a young age. Throughout the entire relationship was on an emotional rollercoaster, but did not know a way out because I was so young when I got involved. My mother noticed and tried so many ways to keep me from experiencing the pain, but I did not listen. As a result, my mother and I fought all the time, I became rebellious, and I insisted on finding things out on my own instead of learning from her mistakes. Because all of us experience pain when someone we care about seems to be headed in the wrong direction, our first instinct is often to change the direction in which they are headed. The short story, “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin reminds us that the best way to show our love for someone who is struggling with himself is not to insist on changing him, but instead to stick by him while he finds his own way.
The narrator in “Sonny’s Blues” was a polished and successful teacher who made his way through the negativity of Harlem. Sonny on the other hand, was free-spirited and had a tendency to get caught up in his surroundings. The narrator believed that Sonny’s way of living was not very promising of a creditable future. Sonny struggled in Harlem, lost interest in school, and the narrator did not believe Sonny had any dreams for his future. The narrator believed it was his responsibility to keep Sonny from falling because it was the last thing his mother asked of him, “You got to hold on to your brother and don’t let him fall (11).” The narrator listened to what his mother told him, but he did not know how to be there for his brother without imposing his own views of life.
Sonny’s mother was only asking the narrator to be supportive of Sonny and to let him know that he would always be there for him no matter what. The narrator did not know how to play that role in Sonny’s life, but he knew that he would do whatever it took to keep Sonny from falling. “Look, brother. I don't want to stay in Harlem no more, I really don't (14)," Sonny expressed his eager desire to leave Harlem and all of its hatred and suffering. Sonny even mentioned joining the army or navy, and the narrator just blew it off telling him, "You must be crazy. You goddamn fool, what the hell do you want to go and join the army for (14)?" The narrator would not listen to Sonny nor did he realize how desperate Sonny was to get out of Harlem. The narrator forced Sonny to live at Isabel’s with her parents and continue his schooling. The narrator believed that would be the best way to monitor Sonny and keep him out of trouble, but Sonny eventually disobeyed his brother’s demands and ran off to the navy. When someone is forced into something he is more likely to become rebellious and put no effort into making the forced situation possible.
Every person has hopes and dreams for their future, and although it may differ vastly from our own we should still be accepting and supportive. The narrator was very surprised and disappointed when Sonny shared his dream of becoming a jazz musician, “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 (12).” The narrator did not believe Sonny’s dream was very realistic or mature. The narrator did not understand Sonny’s passion for music or how Sonny used music as an escape of his past. Sonny knew his brother did not approve of his dream, but he wanted to prove how important music was to him so he invited his brother to a local nightclub to listen to his music. The narrator had a sudden insight into his brother’s music and learned to listen to the words and feel what they were saying, “I seemed to hear with what burning he had made it his, and what burning we had yet to make it ours, how we could cease lamenting. Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at last, that he could help us to be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we did (24).” The narrator realized Sonny’s music was his way of expressing his struggles and suffers. By listening to Sonny he learned that he could not run away from his sufferings; he had to face them and find his way of coping. Sonny’s dream of becoming a musician not only benefitted himself, but he helped his brother unbury his past and open up to suffering in order to be really free.
Just as Sonny found his way, I found mine. Once my mother told me she was giving up and letting me choose my path, I chose the one she was leading to me. I got out of the relationship and I had a completely different outlook on life. My mother and I finally had a relationship again and I became this happy person with a positive outlook on life. I felt there was nothing in my way anymore of becoming what I knew I could. Just as the narrator, my mother decided to stop trying to lead my life and just let me choose, but she always assured that no matter what she would always be there for me. Although I now know that I should have listened to her long before I did, I am thankful that I did not. Instead of living and learning from her mistakes I now live and have learned from my own which makes the lessons much more powerful. After reading “Sonny’s Blues” and thinking back on my personal experience I believe that the only way to help someone we love is to guide him in the right direction.
Although we hate seeing a loved one experience pain and suffering, it is inevitable. All we can do is assure him we will be there when he needs help getting back on his feet. Just as that saying goes, “You can pull a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.” My mother and I have learned that all you can do is guide someone through life and hope he makes the right decisions. You cannot make decisions for him or keep him over protected. Believe in his dreams and be supportive, more than likely the outcome will be much more rewarding for the both of you just as it was for my mother and I and the characters in “Sonny’s Blues.”
English 102-(3tc)
October 27, 2008
Stand by Me
It was the day of my little brother’s second birthday party, when my mother found out my sister was in jail. She was my older sister who was involved with a boy who did many drugs. My parents never approved of this person, and insisted she left him alone, but they made her completely stop talking to him when she was in jail for possession of drugs. I had always looked up to my sister and almost lost complete hope in her when I found out the disturbing news, but I refused to give up on her. In James Baldwin’s short story “Sonny’s Blues”, the two main characters undergo a similar conflict. The story is about two brothers, the older brother, whose name is unmentioned, and the younger brother Sonny who have not talked to each other in years, and the older brother finally realizes it is almost too late when he sees an article about Sonny’s arrest for possession of heroin. Because all of us experience pain when someone we care about seems to be headed in the wrong direction, our first instinct is often to change the direction in which they are headed. “Sonny’s Blues” reminds us that the best way to show our love for someone who is struggling with himself is not to insist on changing him, but instead to stick by him while he finds his own way.
The narrator, who is the older brother, is an educated teacher who thinks that his brother went down the wrong path and disagrees with everything he does. Throughout the story, it is clear that Sonny is a nomad and his brother tries to convince him to complete school like he has done. Sonny, on the other hand, has his own views of life and does not want to be told how to live: Narrator, “You know people can’t always do exactly what they want to do”(13). “No I don’t know that, said Sonny, surprising me “I think people ought to do what they want to do what else are they alive for?”(13). Even though we know the narrator only intended to help Sonny, if he would have just supported him and listened to him, he would realize he would be helping him all along.
When reading “Sonny’s Blues” I notice plenty communication problems. Sonny and his brother had not talked in years and when they finally do talk again, it seems like the narrator completely tunes out Sonny and ignores his dreams and feelings: Narrator, “Sonny, you hear me, and Sonny responded, “Yea I hear you but you never hear anything I say”(15). It is apparent that the narrator only wishes that Sonny could go to school and be just like him. He obviously thinks that anything Sonny has to say is foolish or nonsense. It seems like if the narrator would have talked to Sonny a little more, Sonny would not be so discouraged, and he would not want to leave Harlem.
When the narrator discovers that Sonny wants to be a musician, he disagrees completely and tells him that he cannot make a living from that. I think the narrator is the kind of person who thinks his view of life is the right one and I do not believe that is fair to Sonny. I don’t think anyone should be something they don’t want to be, I think no matter what, they should be supported in doing what makes them happy. However, the narrator in this story certainly did not see it that way: “ I simply couldn’t see why he’d want to spend his time hanging around nightclubs, clowning on bandstands, while people pushed each other around a dance floor. I had always put jazz musicians in a class with what daddy called ‘good-time people’”(12).
At the end of this story, we conclude that the narrator finally realizes the passion Sonny has for music. The narrator sees Sonny play the piano and for a moment, he feels everything Sonny feels and realizes the suffering he went through. I find myself in a similar position as the narrator, however I never gave up on my sister. Instead of not talking to her because of her mistakes, my family and I influenced her to do better for herself. Now, she is almost finished pursuing her bachelors’ degree while maintaining two jobs. She regrets every moment of dating the person she was with, especially now that she has to pay a lot of money to get that removed from her record. I am glad that unlike the narrator I never stopped talking to my sister because I do not know where she would be today if I had.
For starters, the day you see a 90-year old fighting over the lasts in the cookie jar is the day the world is in trouble. What I mean is as people grow, so does their thought and spirit grow. Individual growth in life from a young age is based off the same concept yet even more key. Everyone has responsibility, whether it is young or old; when the action takes place to “become” your responsibility, is the time true understanding of that purpose takes place. As a kid I soaked up every conversation my grandparents talked about. My folks would often complain about how curious I was. Unknowingly, I extracted a few traits from each; the developmental process had begun to take place. With my personal example at hand, it illustrates to perfection that the events kids see and take place in have a huge impact on what they are to become. This developmental stage starts with the child’s surroundings. I was fortunate enough to be raised under a roof with both parents, several older brothers, and one younger brother. This idea alone is more vital than many people consider it to be. The story points out the importance of a male role model in every young man’s life; however, it also shows that their role model must be understanding and respectful to the ideas of that young man as he grows.
Early in the story, the narrator eludes “I remember that I had been there when he was born; and I had heard the first words he had ever spoken. When he had started to walk, he walked from our mother straight to me. I caught him just before he fell when he took the firsts steps he ever took in this world.” The importance of this statement goes far beyond the narrator’s love for his brother. It sets the role of him being a father figure for his brother. Even more vital he explains how he catches him as he falls. This is symbolic of the action a father would display. Our narrator was naive, and he had no clue as to what meaning he played upon his brother. In their entire growing period they did not gripe or complain about a father; they had no idea of what having a father was like. Being raised in a single-parent home is extremely different than being raised in a stable two-parent home. Boys growing up in such environment struggle for understanding what they ought to be. Often they do look up to an older brother, uncle, or some other man-like figure. A lack of even that is detrimental because now the child grows up “learning on the fly.” Ultimately they have to experience everything and learn from it rather than being taught about it prior to any incident. Above is what Sonny had to go through his entire life because he had no father and his brother was far from understanding what needed to be done.
The mother left the narrator with some strong words that complicated yet impacted him. She said, “You 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 you gets with him. You may not stop nothing from happening but you got to let him knows you there.” The significance of the words his mother tells him is more than being a “Big Brother.” It complicated him in a way that he only recognized her saying be a ‘Big Brother.” The idea of our narrator being young plays a part in his recognition of those words. As the narrator grew wiser about life he understood his ROLE should include allowing Sonny to make his own mistakes yet always be there to embrace and encourage Sonny’s trouble. This understanding came much later in the narrator’s life because he was still young, developing himself as a person, and living his own life. “As a child, I thought like a child. Now that I am a man, I have put away those childish ways.” This newly perceived concept was adapted to very quickly; the narrator wanted to act upon his Brother Sonny’s life right away.
Upon the narrator’s newly gained insight he said, “I seemed to hear with what burning he had made it his, and what burning we had yet to make it ours, how we could cease lamenting. Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at last he could help us to be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we did.” The narrator realizes Sonny is hurting too. The only picture the narrator was looking at was why his little brother was selling himself short, why he isn’t eager to go a different route in life, and why Sonny doesn’t think like him. He finally realizes not everybody is like him; he was consistent in rejecting Sonny for who he was. This sole concept hurt Sonny more than what he was already hurting. He had been hurting the whole time but he could only express it through music. His brother place so much emphasis on disapproving what Sonny does that he eventually tuned out Sonny’s feelings. This recognition allows the narrator to soothe and comfort his brother.
Emphasis was placed on the role model figure throughout the story. The person who was responsible for this position struggled for understanding what his role consisted of; however he did eventually comprehend completely. I can vouch that kids who lack a role model are less fortunate because they lose out on teachings and an education of a lifetime; they lose out on concepts that are far greater than math equations. I think of myself as having decent understanding, and I thank my many role models for making me who I am. If you have any role models, show them your appreciation by thanking them. If you believe you can fill the shoes of a role model then do just that. Remember to be positive through your journey filled with obstacles they inevitably encounter on the path to adulthood.
Many people do not know what it is like to have siblings, but I know what it’s like to have siblings because I have two, a brother and sister whose names are Lerman and Jovan. I love both of them with all my heart even though we have our differences from time to time. We get into arguments all the time, and sometimes we don’t even talk to each other for a great period of time, but at the end of the day we still love one another. I really love my brother and sister even though I don’t tell them I do often. I have heard that people never realize what they have until they lose it, and I lost something I really love and care about, my brother.
My brother and I had a love/hate relationship, but we still cared for each other. We could never get along, and if we did get along, it wasn’t for a long period of time. Months before my brother was killed, we developed a good relationship with one another. We stopped arguing and fighting with one another, and we were then for each other. When I left home for school, my brother told me he was going to keep in touch with me, and he owned up to his words. He called me on the day of my birthday to wish me a happy birthday, and he asked me when I was coming home because he missed me, and we hadn’t seen each other in a while. I told him we could do something for spring break, and he was ok with that. One morning my mother woke me up and told me to get up and put some clothes on, and I had a feeling it had something to do with my brother, and I was right. That’s when she told me somebody had murdered my brother, and I couldn’t do nothing but break down and cry because I hadn’t seen him in a while. He left this world without me getting a chance to say goodbye. On top of that, I never remembered telling him I loved him, but I told him I did when I was looking at him lying in that hospital bed. It was the worst day of my life, and I remember saying I would always remember what I had because I never want to lose it. We are our brother’s keeper, brotherly support amounts to more than control, it requires listening and true understanding in a time of tragedy and suffering.
When I was younger, I saw my brother hanging with the wrong crowd. In “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin, the narrator said, “I think people ought to do what they want,” (13), and he was hanging with a group of boys who sold drugs. I remember telling him that he needs to stop hanging with them “thugs,” but he did not listen to me. That’s when I told my mother, but he didn’t listen to her either. He was stubborn and hard headed, and he was right no matter what anybody was telling him. One day one of my friends found some drugs under his mattress, and I brought them to our mother who gave them to his father. I knew he was going to receive several punishments, which he did. I remember my brother calling me a snitch after that day for about two weeks, but I thought it was funny because I did not know what it meant at the time. I was telling him that I only did that because I did not want to lose him to the mean streets of New Orleans and because I really care about him. I knew he was going to be successful at whatever he did, but selling drugs wasn’t going to be one something he can excel at, and I was trying to see to it that he did not sell drugs, but I was unsuccessful.
In the story, “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin, the narrator states, “I didn’t want to believe that I’d ever see my brother going down, coming to nothing, all that light in his face gone out, in the condition I’d seen so many others,” (2) and my brother did not complete high school because he was not dedicated, nor did he have the drive and determination to finish high school. He wanted to hang out with his friends who sold drugs all day every day, and eventually, he started selling drugs. I must say he was a good drug dealer up until the day he was arrested and sentenced to eighteen months in prison, so I guess he wasn’t as good as I thought. When he called home, he used to tell me that prison wasn’t a place he wanted to be, and that he never wanted me to go to prison. I tried to tell him that he should not be selling drugs because I did not want him to end up in prison. When he was released from prison, he was destined to get his life back on the right track, but he was trapped in the mean streets of New Orleans, and he started selling drugs all over again. Since my family and I couldn’t get him to stop selling drugs, we just told him to be careful because we didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. One day, some dudes did a drive-by, which they shot at my brother and his friends, but nobody was harmed. That’s when my family and I began to stress because we were scared for him. One day, my brother and his friend were sitting outside one evening in which the boys who shot at them the first time returned and opened fire towards my brother and his friend. My brother managed to get away, but his friend was shot and killed, and I was with his friend two days prior to the day he was shot and killed. After my brother’s friend was killed, I told him that he needed a new path because the direction he was headed in was leading to his death. That’s when he stopped selling drugs and got a job, but he quit his job after three months, and started selling drugs all over again. I did not agree with that decision because all of his friends were either dead or in jail. About six months after he started selling drugs again, he was shot and killed, and my heart was crushed because I would have never thought the lord would have called my brother home so soon.
As many people know, not all siblings have the best relationships, but I am more than sure they love one another. My brother and I have a love/hate relationship, and as we grew older and began to mature, we took care of each other without the arguing and fighting all the time. So in the end, we are our brother’s keeper, brotherly support amounts to more than control, it requires listening and true understanding in a time of tragedy and suffering.
Learning From Life’s Lessons
Life itself is unpredictable; at some point as we travel this journey, we all will experience the challenges life offers. As an older sister, I have witnessed many of my siblings’ challenges and also experienced my share of them. We just have to be mature and learn from our past mistakes and choices. In the story “Sonny’s Blues,” by James Baldwin, we all can relate to some of these experiences between the narrator and his younger brother and learn from them. The story explores some of the topics many of us struggle with from day to day. Some of the struggles are drugs, education, and relationships with our loved ones.
I experienced a very bad relationship with my first love. Instead of listening to my parents’ and grandparents’ advice, I chose to do things my way and ended up learning the hard way. In the story, Sonny also learns the hard way, by getting arrested for drug use. It wasn’t until after his arrest that he realized he was on a path of destruction. As young people, we forget that the elders have traveled this journey before we get the chance to do so. They have much more wisdom than we do. Sonny luckily has his older brother to turn to for advice. When I rebelled against my parents and dated the guy they didn’t approve of, I felt they didn’t listen to what he or I had to say. Later my parents allowed me to date him. After I started dating him, his true colors were revealed, and this opened my eyes. I finally saw all the things they were trying to show me all along. I have two younger sisters, and now I see in them all the things my parents saw in me back then. I now understand that it’s hard to sit back and watch loved one travel down the wrong paths in life. So I can understand where the narrator is coming from when he doesn’t support his younger brother when he feels he is traveling in the wrong direction. The reason Sonny’s older brother is so hard on him in this story is because he has traveled a different path in life, so he wants to keep his brother on the straight and narrow path. The narrator feels, in some sort of way, that he is the only father figure his brother has since their dad has passed away. He proves this when he reminisces, “I had been there when he was born; and I had heard the first words he had ever spoken. When he started to walk, he walked from our mother straight to me. I caught him just before he fell when he took the first steps he ever took in this world” (6). Sonny’s brother feels it is his obligation to his parents and his brother to lead him in the right direction. Sonny doesn’t feel this way. He feels his brother is just trying to control his life. As experienced people in life, we may shoot down others’ dreams. The reason is that we want only what is best for them, and if we feel they will not be successful in the career they pick, we may try and detour them. We often feel it’s our responsibility to guide them in the right direction and help them choose the best career. However, what we learn in “Sonny’s Blues” is that Sonny cannot be completely happy living the life his older brother wants for him.
In our life it is very important to choose a career we can be proud of and also enjoy. The narrator fails to realize his brother’s passion for music when he tries to explain his dreams to him. He is very judgmental and only visualizes his brother doing something that the narrator thinks is worthwhile. He focuses, not on the fulfillment of a career that will make Sonny happy, but on a career that provides job stability and a great salary. Sonny is frustrated with his brother’s lack of support and responds by saying, "I hear you. But you never hear anything I say"(15). It is tough sometimes to express our true feelings to one another. It is even harder when we feel that the person we are confiding in the most is not listening. We often pick a career that not only brings us joy, but one that we feel allows us to escape from this world of trouble. It is understood that we may often pick careers that bring us joy and not enough of finances to live a comfortable life. Sometimes it’s worth every cent to wake up every morning knowing we are fulfilling our dreams. This is true happiness. This is why Sonny loves music so much. He is a very shy person, thus making his problems even harder to discuss. The music he plays allows him to free the inner demons he has been fighting with all those years of his life.
In my life others had different plans for my future just like the narrator had for Sonny. For instance, my grandmother always wanted me to become a model. But I have always wanted to be a nurse. It was after finishing nursing school that she accepted me being a nurse. She was finally happy for me once she saw how wonderful my career made me feel. The narrator reminds me of this situation when he witnesses his brother’s performance for the first time. At this moment he is truly proud of his younger brother and finally understands his struggle thorough the music. He witnesses Sonny’s soul being set free with very stroke of the keys on the piano. This allows the narrator to lay down the burden of worrying about Sonny that he has been carrying all of his life. The narrator expresses this when he thinks to himself, “I seemed to hear with what burning he had made it his …Freedom lurked around us and I understood…he could help us to be free if we would listen, that he would be free until we did. There was no battle in his face now, I heard what he had gone through, and would continue to go through” (25). Sonny also lifts the burden, of his brother not accepting his career choice, off his shoulder once he saw his brother’s reaction to his music. There was nothing left to prove. His brother saw why he loved music so much and finally understood him.
In conclusion, the key to true happiness in life is to be oneself no matter what people say and no matter what obstacles occur. Yes, it would have been easier for Sonny and me to listen to the advice given to us, but we probably would have never found ourselves in the process. We all learn from our mistakes if we are fortunate. The key is to never repeat the same mistakes once we have learned from them. I know there will be some hard times in this life, but overall I will be happy living my life and I know Sonny will do the same.
A Special Role model Can Make a difference.
Having and older or younger brother or sister coming up together is something great to experience. Sharing the same roof, eating together, and even possibly sleeping together doesn’t mean you will the same life styles. “Sonny Blues”, starts with two brothers growing up, but they’re living two extremely different lifestyles. In this case, there’s one who tries to implement his lifestyle on the yet other, yet rejection takes place. The narrator in this story doesn’t shoe the support an older should give. Sonny needs guidance; He needs some one there for him. His older brother lack of support will be an issue that the narrator has to eventually deal with and over come.
Sonny and his older brother didn’t have a father figure in there life coming up. He died when they were younger. So, they had to learn form each other. Sonny’s mother watches over the two; she pleaded that the older son becomes a leader for his younger brother. She tells him the story about his daddy and his brother. This illustrates why the narrator should look after Sonny. The mother deeply encourages the narrator because she knows what can happen between brothers.
As the narrator and Sonny get older they enter the stage where they start to develop there own personalities. Sonny has to come to reason with himself that he wants to become a musician. But on the other hand his brother is telling him that his decision to be a musician is a dumb idea and that he disapproves of it. “Everything takes time” ,Sonny said, “and well, yes I can make a living at it, but I what I don’t seem to be able to make you understand is that it’s the only thing I want to do”. The narrator has to realize that this is sonny decision and for him to give sonny support instead of telling him what is good for him. Encourage sonny and if he fails, it is a responsibility to make sure he keeps encouraging him to try
I always look up to my older brother. His encouragement would have played an important role, more than my mother or father. You tend to look up to your peers and my brother was that. But like Sonny, I wasn’t encouraged to become something in life by my brother. In fact he encourages me to follow his ways and take on life everyday as he did. Since I have known my brother he was never headed in the right direction. Showing me all the negative to things to do instead of positive. Teaching me as if it was going to help me get somewhere in life. But not like sonny I had a father who stayed on me and was there for me to show me that my brother was a bad influence for me.
Analysis of “Sonny’s Blues”
Can you think of a point of time in your life when you were criticized for choosing a career or lifestyle that your family or maybe your friends disapproved of? As you may already know, we can be persuaded to make choices that satisfy others, but which leave us empty and unhappy. Should we compromise our happiness for the rest of our lives to please others, or do what we are destined to do? For some, this is a very difficult decision, to disappoint the ones we love, but we have to be true to ourselves, follow our hearts, and not the expectations of others. In the story “Sonny’s Blues,” by James Baldwin, Sonny struggles with many issues while living in Harlem, but at the end of the story he finds freedom, a way out. Sonny makes the decision of being happy by fulfilling his dreams of becoming a jazz musician despite his brother’s objections to it.
At the beginning of the story, the nameless narrator, Sonny’s older brother, does not understand Sonny’s choices in life and why he has chosen that particular path. Sonny seems to have taken a different direction in life opposed to his older brother. The narrator is particularly troubled by Sonny’s struggle with life and his reasons for use of drugs that later causes his imprisonment. The narrator explains, “I read about it in the paper, in the subway, on my way to work. I read it, and I couldn’t believe it, and I read it again” (1). He is scared for Sonny being in prison. He does not understand how Sonny’s life has become so corrupt at this point, while his own life seems to be on a proper path, with a teaching career, wife, and kids. It is hard for him to see his brother go through so much as a young black man. It is difficult for him to swallow the idea that they were both raised by the same parents, in the same household, but his brother seems to be troubled. He envisioned better for Sonny.
The conflict between the narrator and Sonny is a lack of communication with one another and the lack of support the narrator has towards Sonny. He seems to close his ears when Sonny is trying to express himself. The narrator does not want to listen, but wants Sonny to listen to him and do what he says. The narrator appears to be an authority figure to Sonny because of the seven-year difference between them. The narrator expresses, “The seven years’ difference in our ages lay between us like a chasm: I wondered if these years would ever operate between us as a bridge” (6). The issues of their relationship lie heavily on the narrator’s heart because he wants nothing more than an established relationship with Sonny. The narrator has a difficult time accepting Sonny’s goal to become a jazz musician. He does not think that Sonny’s decision is wise because he does not think that Sonny can make a living as a musician. He tells Sonny with concern, “You know people can’t always do exactly what they want to do.”(13)
Sonny simply replies, “No, I don’t know that. . . I think people ought to do what they want to do, what else are they alive for?”(13). The narrator has chosen his career because of monetary values, a situation which has caused him to compromise his happiness. Sonny is happy with the choice he has made to become a musician; he is fulfilled.
By the end of the story, the narrator has a different view of life. The narrator sees that it is important to listen to loved ones and be supportive of their choices. Finally, the narrator and Sonny’s relationship seems to be on the right path. The narrator has changed his outlook on life. He starts to listen to Sonny and object less to Sonny’s decisions. He decides to go to the nightclub with Sonny to listen to him play the piano. As the narrator observes Sonny while he is on stage, he realizes that Sonny’s soul is into his music. Sonny is not talkative. Music is Sonny’s way of expression and the narrator understands that now. We can be miserable for doing what others want us to do or be happy with our decisions to do what makes us feel good. The narrator explains, “Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at last, that he could help us to be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we did” (24). Freedom is a personal choice, and if we do not allow ourselves to be free because of what others may think, we will never be free. Sonny is finally free from bondage because the narrator finally listens and accepts Sonny for who he is.
In conclusion, it is important to do what makes one happy despite what others may think. Sonny chooses his happiness over doing what his brother wants him to do. Those who do only what others want them to do, will never be happy. It is important to listen and be supportive of loved ones. Although they may be taking the wrong path, they need support and gentle guidance. We all make mistakes and should be allowed to make them; how else we will learn? We should all be like Sonny and be true to ourselves.
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