Sonny s Blues A Story Of A Young Jazz Musician - 976 Words

Sonny’s Blues This is a 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. He moves in with his older brother (the story’s narrator) and his brother’s family. The two brothers sort of reconnect after a very tense few weeks during which both try to deal with their anger towards each other. Drugs are a central part of the story, but it’s also about family, music, and trying to overcome life’s struggles. The love of his brother makes him forget all the anxiety that he had lived through. Farther more it made from Sonny different person. Which is really got him improved himself. â€Å"Being family† is also about supporting each other through life’s inevitable changes. â€Å"It’s knowing that your family will be there watching out for you through thick and thin†. In any family always there is one g ets off the road, but there is always one that can help, like a family member. Also, family bonds are tied with true love, and true love involves attention, awareness, discipline, effort, and being able to care about someone and sacrifice for them, continuously, in countless every day. You put your arms around them and love them regardless, even when they’re not very lovable. And of course they do the same for you. In this story the narrator loves his brother (Sonny), he expresses the love and affection he has for his brother. He was familiarShow MoreRelatedMusic Is Exceptionally Powerful And Meaningful To People1353 Words   |  6 Pagesliterary works integrate music into their stories. In Baldwin s short story, Sonny s Blues, jazz music is an important part of the story that explores the life of one of the main characters, Sonny. During the time this short story was written, Charlie Parker, an influential jazz musician that is briefly acknowledged in the story, had an imm ense following. Charlie Parker (along with Louis Armstrong) is considered by many to have forever changed jazz and to have left a legacy that permanentlyRead MoreAnalysis Of James Baldwin s Sonny s Blues Essay1154 Words   |  5 Pagesntroduction: James Baldwin, author of Sonny s Blues, once said, I grew up with music...much more than with any other language. In a way, the music I grew up with saved my life (Session 3 Inquiry: Rudolfo Anaya and James Baldwin, 2015).   Blues becomes Sonny s drug and his addiction to it his salvation.       Even though the adults refrain from lamenting their sufferings directly to the children and telling them about the darkness, the child-narrator still intimates its marks in their facesRead MoreLiterary Canon Of The 21st Century1637 Words   |  7 Pagesmeaningful life messages that the authors try to convey to the audiences. One of them is the short story â€Å"Sonny’s Blues†, written by James Baldwin in 1957. This story shows us the reality as well as the complexity of life matters, and an overall picture of all the subcategories also really shows us the reason why it should be remained as a part of the literary canon of the 21st Century. The story is possibly considered a great one because it meets several standards that are used by critics to determineRead MoreJames Baldwins Sonnys Blues859 Words   |  4 PagesJames Baldwin s Sonny s Blues In James Baldwin s short story Sonny s Blues a young man questions his brotherly obligations after finding that his younger brother has been arrested for using drugs. In the attempt to rectify his younger brother s behavior and life, the young man faces his own feelings for his brother and comes to terms with the life his brother Sonny lives. The developments of certain elements-plot, character, point of view, setting, symbolism-in the story help accentuateRead MoreEssay on Literary Analysis of James Baldwin’s Sonny’s Blues2323 Words   |  10 Pagesreaders. Some authors create stories with a singular point of view, while others introduce more complex plots and storylines. When it comes to author James Baldwin’s short story Sonny’s Blues, there is much depth given to the storyline and the characters. Sonny’s Blues has been analyzed by many different people throughout time because the story has many elements. From Baldwin’s skillful use of m etaphors and similes to his incorporation of religious references, this story is insightfully and complexlyRead MoreAnalysis Of James Baldwin s Sonny s Blues Essay2104 Words   |  9 PagesSeveral dialectics are at play in James Baldwin’s short story â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† including a dialectic between the narrator and his beloved brother Sonny involving their opposing responses to the sense of oppression and limitation that arises from living in Harlem. This dialectic and its resolution closely parallel Baldwin’s masterful use of Blues, Jazz, and Gospel music. We follow the narrator and his brother Sonny as they traverse the complexities of their individual and interconnected Harlem livesRead MoreAnalysis Of The Movie Sonny s Blues 2020 Words   |  9 PagesBaldwin’s â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† has an apparent theme of suffering that directly relates to the title of the short story. The title of the short story has multiple meanings. The term â€Å"blues† refers to the jazz genre, which Sonny feels very passionately about, but also signifies his severe depression. Sonny is increasingly distant with his brother as time goes on, which increases his unhappiness. His happiness deteriorates with his relationships with his other family members, such as Isabel and Grace.Read MoreSelf Actualization : A Struggle For Identity1584 Words   |  7 Pagesso one might make many wrong choices. Sonny and his older brother are faced with several obstacles while being on a journey to self-actualization in â€Å"Sonny’s Blues † by James Baldwin. However, these obstacles not only come from their surroundings, but within themselves as well. The narrator himself and his younger brother, Sonny struggle with, and gradually develop their own identities while on a journey toward self-actualization. As Sonny is really young, he chooses a lot of wrong paths withoutRead MoreThe Tragedy Of The Harlem Renaissance1086 Words   |  5 Pagesracism to light as the mother warns that a similar fate could happen to sonny. Lastly it shows the oppression that the sonny and his brother but also their family had to face and try to overcome in that era. One of the main points of Sonny’s blues is the narrator and Sonny trying to strive to be better and rise above. The narrator did in fact rise by becoming a teacher and sonny try to rise above by becoming a jazz musician. The darkness that was mentioned could be viewed as sense of general hopelessnessRead MoreAnalysis Of James Baldwin s The Blues And Jazz Essay2185 Words   |  9 Pagescame from his spirit of evangelism with lyrical stylings of both the blues and jazz. Baldwin’s writings appropriate all three of these elements of African-American culture in both small, singular elements and entire story structures. All three styles — as well as Baldwin’s own writing, chronicle the Black response to an oppressive society that seeks to silent them. From the perspective of the narrator, the short story is a blues narrative as he becomes more keenly aware of his brother’s troubles in