The first thing I noticed about Sonny's Blues is that Sonny and his brother reminded me of two typical siblings. The older sibling makes their parents proud and the younger sibling tries not to be like the older sibling. In this case, Sonny has been hooked on drugs and Sonny's brother, who's name is never stated, finds it hard to understand. Their relationship reminds me of the relationship between Connie and her older sister in "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"
James Baldwin uses a lot of figurative language in this story. The most noticeable is his constant reference to the "darkness." I think that the darkness represents bad. In the very first paragraph, he refers to the "darkness" from outside. Before it was known that the narrator was Sonny's brother, it was obvious that he loved and cared for him. He thought about Sonny all day while he taught class and compared the younger Sonny to the boys in his classes.
When Sonny's brother talks to Sonny's friend, the reader can tell that he has little respect for him because he keeps referring to him as "boy." I think that he doesn't respect him because of his appearance, how he carries himself, and his addiction. The guy (Sonny's friend) showed his ignorance through the way he talks.
In Sonny's letter to his brother, he realizes that what happened to him hurt a lot of people. This shows that he wasn't selfish and he understood how his actions affected others. The story that their mother tells Sonny about his father's brother made me wonder if that caused Sonny's father to treat him differently than how he treated his brother.
There are so many questions that are left unanswered in this story. What did the newspaper article say? Where was Sonny before he was sent home?
4 comments:
You mentioned the roles of siblings. The older child is the one who makes the parents proud. They have made a name for themselves. the younger child struggles to find themselves. The younger child wants to shape their own identity without fitting the mold of the big brother or sister.This role is common in many families.The younger child has it much harder.
I think the story the mother tells the brother is interesting. is there anything to be said about parent's relationships with their siblings could reflect their children's relationships? I wonder if the brother took over the parental role because he didnt want to have a bad relationship with Sonny, but then ended up distancing himself....
I disagree with the realtionship. When i first read it, the two siblings didnt remind me at all of two typical siblings. The older brother had said that they hadnt talked in a long time. I feel that a typical sibling relationship they talk all the time or at least a lot. I love talking to my siblings, but can get so annoyed at them, but i dont think i could ever go more then even a week w out talking to them. I enjoyed this sibling relationship way more then that of connie and her sister. I think thats becuase connies sister really bored me and didnt have much of a personality. The two brothers in this story had so much past and personatlity. I really enjoyed it.
I think Sonny's brother found it hard to understand because he was ignorant to the world of drugs, like the husband in "Cathedral."
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