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Sonny's Blues Literary Analysis

Decent Essays

No one can ever say that their life is easy and without any difficulties or hardships. James Baldwin’s short story of “Sonny’s Blues” depicts this correctly. Each character has something happen to them that causes them some sort of grief. Every situation has one thing in common: the location where each takes place. The setting in the hometown of Harlem in the 1950s influences the story’s characters in many ways attributing to some of the troubles and some joys that occur throughout the narrative. Harlem is located in New York. Drugs and alcohol are prominent in the youth that live in the city. The narrator of the story and his brother were constantly faced with these issues ever since their childhood. The narrator never seemed to be greatly affected by the drugs that were available on the streets; Sonny, the narrator’s brother, was however. “He had been picked up, the evening before, in a raid on an apartment downtown, for peddling and using heroin” (Baldwin 123). The narrator did not want to believe the facts he heard. Sonny had always been a good kid; there was no way he “turned hard or evil or disrespectful, the way kids can, so quick, so quick, especially in Harlem” (Baldwin 123). Sonny had been sent out of the city to be in rehabilitation, but once he was released, the only place he could go was back with his brother to the source of …show more content…

He developed a passion for playing jazz music on the piano. During the 1950s, this type of music was popular amongst many people. Sonny was able to find other people that all went through similar situations as he did at the local night club. Sonny became very popular through his music he performs on stage. He captivates many with the songs he chooses and adds his own touch to, such as a popular blues song, “Am I Blue”. As a matter of fact, Sonny’s outlet to this popular genre of music helped the narrator understand him a little

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