Comparing Sonny's Blues And The Rich Brother

Discuss place and how James Baldwin uses elements of setting to convey Sonny’s Blues’ larger message or theme.

Even thought Pete does not show caring emotions, his actions say all the words. For example: Donald said, "Pete do you ever dream about me?" Pete replied with, "What kind of question is that? Of course I don't dream about you." He said untruthfully. (pg.367). This is one of the only parts in this short story that shows the reader a very small part of Pete's soft side. Another example compares in a similar way that Pete does in fact have a connection with his only brother Donald. "There was something wrong with me, and you were helping me out. Taking care of me. Just the two of us. I don't know where everyone else was supposed to be." Pete said. (pg. 369) If someone were to analyze only this part of the story it would portray that in his dream he depended on Donald. When he says it was just the two of them, it gives the reader an idea that was the way it was supposed to be, that Pete didn't need anyone else in the world to help him but only needed the person he could truly rely upon. Dependency is one of the main concealed habits between siblings, not only growing up, but continuously throughout one others life. Another common inconspicuous idiosyncrasy is rivalry.

James Baldwin’s, “Sonny’s Blues,” illustrates the story between two different brothers as they struggle to discover the character of one another. “Sonny’s Blues” is narrated through the older brother’s point of view, as he portrays their difficulties in growing up, separation, and reunion. Baldwin purposely picks to tell the story in the first person point of view because of the omniscient and realistic effects it contribute to the story overall. The mother, father, and Sonny all express their accounts to the older brother, making him the perfect character to tell the story. In addition, the first person point of view allows the reader to experience the vicarious feelings that the

The story “Sonny’s Blues” By James Baldwin is about a jazz musician and his brother in 1950’s Harlem. The story centers on Sonny who uses jazz music as an escape from his depression. James Baldwin captures the art of jazz during this time period. The themes in this short story are perhaps varied, but all of them revolve around some form of suffering. One theme shows how music can promote change and understanding within relationships. A second theme reveals suffering caused by guilt. Yet another theme references the results of suffering brought about by searching for ones’ identity and how that leads to misunderstanding. There are also subthemes concerning racism and poverty.

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.

The Harlem Renaissance was a time of revival and awakening in which the African American community produced a new form of cultural identity. After years of oppression and slavery, African Americans struggled to discover their own distinctive culture. It was through the literature and artistry of the Harlem Renaissance that the African American community began to express the suffering and resentment they truly experienced. In addition, the movement allowed them to find a way to escape their hardships. James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” and Langston Hughes’ “The Weary Blues” address the addiction, poverty, and violence that surrounded African Americans and the triumph of life that was captured in their attempt to escape the suffering.

In James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues" the symbolic motif of light and darkness illustrates the painful nature of reality the two characters face as well as the power gained through it. The darkness represents the actuality of life on the streets of the community of Harlem, where there is little escape from the reality of drugs and crime. The persistent nature of the streets lures adolescents to use drugs as a means of escaping the darkness of their lives. The main character, Sonny, a struggling jazz musician, finds himself addicted to heroin as a way of unleashing the creativity and artistic ability that lies within him. While using music as a way of creating a sort of structure in his life, Sonny attempts to step into the light, a life

In any medium the last words of an author, lyricist or screenwriter are the most powerful of the entire piece. An ending can completely ruin a perfectly good piece if it isn't what it should be. It can also redeem a mostly mediocre piece by being exactly what it should be. Often the best endings are ones that do not end the way the reader wants them to, but end the way the reader knows they should. Baldwin is definitely an author who knows how to end a story.

As well as in the short story Sonny’s Blues, the main character, Sonny, is being criticized by his brother. Since the very beginning, their mother told the oldest one, ‘’ you got to hold on to your brother ’’ and that’s what he wanted to do, but Sonny took a different path than he did. Sonny was the kind of guy that was heroin-addicted and a jazz musician, but his older brother didn’t see all these sides of him. We discover all these sides by the use of flashback of the author throughout the major parts of the story. The author didn’t want us to see Sonny like his older brother was seeing him, he wanted us to see him as a poor, un-accepted guy that needed to be listened by his peers. The brother didn’t accept the journey that Sonny had taken, but if he would of saw the actual Sonny, and stop hiding in the darkness, he would of accepted him faster and understand that Sonny only wanted to show that he could do good things not only drugs. In the middle of the story, there is a flashback were we learn that actually Sonny is more experienced about life than his older brother, because Sonny was in drugs and was really affected by Harlem( the city they stayed in when they were younger). The brother had a pretty easy life; he became a teacher and had a little family. This demonstrates that we need support from our peers, to be able to continue without taking bad choices.

James Baldwin's short story, "Sonny's Blues", tells the tale of two brothers, as they come to an understanding of each other. The use of imagery and figurative language can help the reader grasp a deeper meaning of what the narrator is focusing on. In "Sonny's Blues", the predominant imageries throughout the narrative are the reoccurring contrasting images of light and darkness, symbolizing hope and despair.

The story is identical of each because both narrators have troubling accepting their brother lifestyle. For example, the narrator from “The Rich Brother” he wants to make a point that Pete is the responsible one and successful while Donald is the drifter with little control of his life but for most part it sibling rivalry. And, in “Sonny’s Blues” when narrator picks up his brother Sonny from prison while he willing to help his brother Sonny but they still unable to understand each other lifestyle. As the both stories continue to develop, in “The Rich Brother” the narrator made a point that while Pete is successful and might not understand his brother Donald but he will still be there for him because they require each other like sibling rivalry you cannot have one without the other. In “Sonny’s Blues” the situation is the same where the narrator still unsure what to verbally express to Sonny and instead he just listens when require to voice his opinion.

In the story of “The Rich Brother”, from the author Tobias Wolff, and “Sonny’s Blues” by writer James Baldwin, both stories have brothers that succeed and failed. In “The Rich Brother” Pete is the oldest and Donald the youngest, Pete has his life put together, a family, and while the youngest is trying to find himself his lost. In “Sonny’s Blues” the narrator is the oldest brother and Sonny is the youngest, the unnamed narrator is an English teacher who was in the army and has a family, Sonny is a musician that makes bad decisions. Both brothers have an age gap therefore, they view life in different ways, but they only have each other.

something for Sonny it was because his mother had wanted him to, not because he

“Sonny’s Blues”, by James Baldwin is a short story that describes the road that two brothers took to the bridge that ultimately connected their relationship. The short story describes how the narrator, who we later found out is Sonny’s brother, struggles to set aside their differences to have a clear understanding of Sonny. In the short story, Baldwin takes the reader on a ride to show the true meaning and importance of family and brotherhood. Baldwin utilizes the literary elements symbolism and point of view to effectively describe the journey that the brothers took in order to build a stronger relationship.

Sonny’s Blues is a novella with Sonny and his brother a teacher as main characters; Sonny engaged in drug use and peddling an act that landed him prison where his brother visited him and eventually on release he lived with him. Sonny’s parents died at different times during the racial segregation epoch in America, they were African-Americans who suffered victimization. Before her mother’s death, she had instructed Sonny’s senior brother - a teacher- to take care of him because the surrounding world was dark symbolic for unfriendly. The theme of brotherly love begins when their mother requests them