Sonnys Blues - 1514 Words

How does Baldwins real-life experience connect to his short story, Sonnys Blues? The writer was a poor boy growing up. He was also a Negro, so things were bad for him and his family in white America. He probably felt sad every day of his childhood so he turned to books for entertainment and maybe escape. When he started reading, he found that he liked it and wanted to create stories for other people to enjoy, but he was a poor Negro boy who could not expect help from the whites, so he taught himself to write. That is similar to Sonny, who taught himself to play the piano. In the final scene, Sonny performs some improvisational jazz. What is improvisational music? What do we learn about Sonny through his performance? Explain.†¦show more content†¦Back then, there probably weren’t too many white teachers in black schools, so the big brother might have had an easier time finding work as a teacher in a school for blacks than as a lawyer or a doctor. His little brother Sonny is always getting in trouble. He doesn’t go to school, he uses drugs, and he doesn’t do what he is told to do. That is because he does not like life, because the white people are so unfair. After a while and a lot of suffering, Sonny discovers something he is good at. He learns to play the piano, and he is able to do something creative and positive, be successful and have the people’s respect. Write an essay exploring the motivation behind Baldwins choice of narrator for Sonnys Blues. Why do you think he chose the older brother to narrate the story? How would the story be different if narrated from the perspective of the younger brother? Mr. Baldwin made the older brother the narrator so the reader would not feel like Sonny was a dangerous man. The older brother seemed to apologize for Sonny while at the same time try to convince himself and the reader that Sonny really was not a bad guy. Sonny is really a hero and yet an anti-hero. He is someone that seems dangerous, lazy and extreme until you get to know him. The problem is that Sonny does not let people know him. If Baldwin made Sonny the narrator, then the story would be angry and rebellious. Sonny’s inner fears and thoughts would have come out,Show MoreRelatedSonnys Blues in Harlem896 Words   |  4 Pagesus have to struggle to make ends meet and others are born with money at their feet already. â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† opens up in Harlem with the narrator on a bus reading a newspaper learning that his brother, Sonny, has been arrested for selling heroin. Sonny’s brother takes him in after he is released from jail. However, his brother is scared if he lets him back into his home he will fall into his old ways. Sonny’s true passion in life is to become a Jazz musician but his family doesn’t believe in what heRead MoreSonnys Blues Essay989 Words   |  4 Pages In James Baldwins, Sonnys Blues, the title itself is symbolic of the blues in the matrix of the African-American culture of music and suffering. To understand the significance of the blues, one must first define the blues, where the blues originated, and how it is related to suffering and how it is communicated in music. The American Heritage Dictionary defines blues as (1) a state of depression or melancholy, and (2) a style of jazz evolved from southern American Negro secular songs. ItRead MoreSonnys Blues1264 Words   |  6 PagesSonny s Blues A captivating tale of a relationship between two troubling brothers in Harlem, Sonny s Blues is told from the perception of Sonny s brother, whose name is never mentioned. 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