Report on Sonny's Blues

A detailed Summary of Report on Sonny's Blues

"Sonny's Blues," a short story by James Baldwin, illustrates a strained relationship between two brothers trying to survive in the mean streets of New York City. Told from the first person point-of-view of Sonny 's brother (a hard-working conservative schoolteacher whose name is never mentioned), the story revolves around Sonny's dream of being a jazz pianist and the obstacles that stand in his way. Unfortunately, Sonny's salvation, his love for jazz, is also the single greatest contributing factor to his heroin habit and the difficulties between Sonny and his brother. This can be determined by first examining the relationship between the music scene that Sonny was involved in and the drugs that he fell victim. Then, we will examine the strife between Sonny and his brother that was due to a combination of Sonny's impatience and his brother's ignorance of Sonny's goal.

Sonny uses the music to focus his talents in a positive direction, instead of towards the downward spiral of drugs that lands him in jail at the beginning of the story. Unfortunately, the main contributing factor to his drug problem was the scene that came along with the music he loved to play. Sonny explained to his brother that some people, not just music

As mentioned before, Sonny's brother did not understand Sonny's fascination with jazz, thought it foolish to spend his life playing music with "good-time people," and told Sonny this in so many words. Sonny's brother was a schoolteacher, and a logical man. He didn't believe in such frivolities as jazz, and paid no attention to it until Sonny forced it upon him. He was not even affected by the revival outside his window that moved Sonny in a way that his brother could never understand. He calmly analyzed the situation and proudly declared that there was little separating those who sang the glorious songs in the streets and those who listened with a heavy heart. Then he proceeded to project his beliefs upon those watching the scene, believing that those in the street felt as he did towards the hypocrisy of the impromptu choir. While Sonny had an emotional experience that he related back to the ecstasy of heroin coursing through his veins, his brother focused on the fact t!

king these blues and making them his. Sonny's passage reaffirmed his faith in himself and others faith in him, and then he knew that things would be all right.

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As far as Sonny's difficulty relating to his brother, music played an important role in tearing them apart, but also bringing them together in the end. Initially, Sonny's brother's opinion of jazz musicians was terribly low, and his ignorance towards the subject was intolerable for Sonny. For instance, after their mother's funeral, Sonny and his brother got into a large argument about Sonny's plans for the future. It wasn't something so simple as his brother feeling that Sonny was wasting potential, but a long, drawn out, emotional conversation that ill

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Approximate Word count = 1199
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels