What is James Baldwin’s Sonny’s Blues about?
James Baldwin ‘s Sonny’s Blues is the story of a young jazz musician (Sonny) from Harlem, NY who gets addicted to heroin, is arrested for using and selling drugs, and returns to his childhood neighborhood after his release from prison. Harlem was Baldwin’s hometown, and he was born there in 1924.
What is the central idea of Sonny’s Blues?
The central concern of Sonny’s Blues is suffering: Baldwin emphasizes that suffering is universal, and that it is also cyclicalthat suffering tends to lead to more suffering.
What is the ending of Sonny’s Blues?
At the very end of the story, the narrator has come to watch Sonny play piano at a nightclub, and it seems that he finally sees how talented his brother is. But more importantly, he also seems to see that music is a part of Sonny. It’s something he has to have in his life in order to function.
What happens to Sonny in Sonny’s Blues?
The unnamed narrator of the story discovers from a newspaper that his younger brother, Sonny, has been arrested for selling and using heroin.
What is the main point of Sonny’s Blues?
The idea of brotherly love extends beyond the relationship between the narrator and Sonny into the community as a whole. Harlem is plagued by drugs, poverty, and frustration, but members of the community come together to watch over and protect one another.
What is the book Sonny’s blues about?
James Baldwin ‘s Sonny’s Blues is the story of a young jazz musician (Sonny) from Harlem, NY who gets addicted to heroin, is arrested for using and selling drugs, and returns to his childhood neighborhood after his release from prison. Harlem was Baldwin’s hometown, and he was born there in 1924.
What is the thesis of Sonny’s Blues?
James Baldwin’s Sonny’s Blues argues that the most important relationships in our lives thrive if each person allows the other to grow in their own way and follow the desires they have in their heart.
Who is the central character in Sonny’s Blues?
the narrator
Where does Sonny take his brother at the end of the story?
The unnamed narrator of the story discovers from a newspaper that his younger brother, Sonny, has been arrested for selling and using heroin.
Who dies in Sonny’s Blues?
Like Cain, the narrator turns his back on his brother and fails, at first, to respond to Sonny when he is prison. He has failed to live up to his mother’s commandment that he watch over his brotherbut the failure is only temporary. By the end of the story, the narrator has taken Sonny back into his home
Why does Sonny leave Harlem?
Grace
What happens to Sonny at the end of Sonny’s Blues?
At the very end of the story, the narrator has come to watch Sonny play piano at a nightclub, and it seems that he finally sees how talented his brother is. As a gesture of this new understanding, the narrator sends Sonny a drink, which he places above him on the piano as he plays.
How does Sonny suffer in Sonny’s Blues?
While Sonny is more able to speak of his suffering than the narrator, he too seems to have been overwhelmed by suffering, which led him to addiction (itself a microcosm of self-perpetuating suffering), legal trouble, and temporary estrangement from his brother.
How long was Sonny in jail?
Throughout the story, the narrator and Sonny are constantly struggling to break free from one barrier or another. Sonny is physically imprisoned in jail as well as by his addiction to drugs. The narrator is confined to Harlem and, more specifically, to the housing projects that he clearly detests.
