“Sonny’s Blues”, written by acclaimed writer James Baldwin is a story of two brothers who struggle with their differences and end up going two different ways at the fork of life; molding them into their personalities which we see develop throughout the story. The differences in morals and goals, between Sonny and his brother, surface as a result of their differing views on jazz music. Baldwin’s story begins with the narrator, Sonny’s older brother, who’s name remains disclosed, reads the morning paper on the way to work and finds out that his younger brother has been sent to jail for possession of narcotics. When Sonny’s brother goes to work he sees his brother in the faces of his students and feels somehow responsible for the predicament he has been put into.
From the beginning of the story, Baldwin illustrates the difference in the characters through their varying circumstances. Sonny’s older brother is a schoolteacher who holds a respectable middle class standing. Sonny on the other hand is a drug addict who seems to have no focus in life. The story progresses as do the characters. Sonny goes through many changes throughout the story is see as being dynamically round character becaus
Sonny holds a place in his brother’s heart that no one can fulfill. He clearly lives an opposite lifestyle than his brother. The narrator, being a respectable middle class family man can be seen as a flat character. Living in the Harlem housing project, he consciously protects himself from the dangers that surround him and his family. Baldwin shows him as being the stereotypical older brother who plays the role of a father figure to his younger sibling. The narrator proves to be dynamic when he finally goes to the jazz club to watch his beloved brothers jazz performance, putting all his previous views of musicians behind him. He is astonished at what he sees and begins to appreciate his brother’s love for music. The death of the narrator’s daughter, and the promise he made to his mother compelled him to aide his brother to go towards the right direction in life. These events in his life motivated him to write to his brother. He feels content that he is fulfilling the promise he made to his mother.
As the narrator deals with his internal pain, Sonny struggles both internally and externally. Sonny fights internal battles when he gets addicted to heroin. There is so much rage, pain and misery inside of him and he was not able to express it in any way. He feels that music is his way to let it out. Sonny has an emotional distress that involves living up to his brother’s expectations and struggles to find out who he really is. Not only does sonny have internal
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