Essay godfater character comparison

Sonny wasn't safe, no matter how much his brother had tried to protect him in his own way, by sending him to live with Isabel and her parents. He still got involved with drugs. The big brother syndrome kicks in again one day when Sonny had gone out. "I was trying to remember everything I'd heard about dope addiction and I couldn't help watching Sonny for signs. I wasn't doing it out of malice. I was trying to find out something about my brother. I was dying to hear him tell me he was safe" (54). He was trying to protect his brother, but there was nothing he

Eventually the narrator and invites him to live his family once he is released from prison and Sonny reluctantly agrees to live there until he finishes college. This is a big turning point in the narrator’s character because he had finally began to wonder “ about the life that Sonny had lived” (Baldwin 243) and started making his efforts to take care of his little brother like he once promised his mother.

The narrator experienced a lot of problems throughout his life but managed to emerge victoriously from most of them. Even with this, he needs to support Sonny because this was his mother's dying wish. "The death of the narrator's daughter, Sonny's failure to fit in with his own family, a stint in the navy all serve to alienate the brothers, even after their mother made the narrator promise to keep an eye on young Sonny" (Smith 22). The fact that they were born in a harsh environment, society's views in regard to their racial background, and the fact that they experienced a lot of hardships during their lives all had a severe effect on the personalities of each of the brothers.

The story, Sonny’s Blues, describes the lives of two brothers growing up in Harlem in the early 1960’s. Sonny and his brother are different in the way the go about life in general. They were both raised in the same household, yet they grew up to be totally different people. As the story progresses we see that both brothers have troubles in their lives and we get to see how each thinks and acts when facing such ordeals. While the brothers differ in the way they internalize and cope with their problems, they both show selfish characteristics, but ultimately feel remorseful for not being in each others’ lives.

Mr. Baldwin made the older brother the narrator so the reader would not feel like Sonny was a dangerous man. The older brother seemed to apologize for Sonny while at the same time try to convince himself and the reader that Sonny really was not a bad guy. Sonny is really a hero and yet an anti-hero. He is someone that seems dangerous, lazy and extreme until you get to know him. The problem is that Sonny does not let people know him.

The narrator says that he “couldn’t believe it: but what I mean by that is I couldn’t find any room for it anywhere inside me. I had kept it outside me for a long time. I hadn’t wanted to know” (Baldwin600). The narrator and Sonny haven’t spoken much since the death of their mother. The narrator wanted Sonny to stay in school and finish, and Sonny wanted to drop out and join the army or the navy, and then chase his dream of being a jazz piano player. Sonny agreed to stay in school at first, but after a while, he stopped going and eventually ran away and joined the army. After not hearing from Sonny in years, the narrator heard from him out of nowhere when he was deployed in Greece. Both Sonny and the narrator were living in New York years after the war was over. They would meet sometimes, but it would always result in a fight, and eventually the narrator and Sonny stopped speaking. Before their mother died, she told the narrator to look after his brother. She said “it ain’t only the bad ones, nor yet the dumb ones that gets sucked under” (Baldwin607). So when Sonny got arrested for heroin, the narrator felt some guilt and that it was sort of his fault, but at the same time, he felt that he wanted nothing to do with him and his troubles. The narators confusion on the matter was put to a rest when he ran into one of Sonny’s friends right after the arrest, and his friend made it clear that as soon as Sonny got out he would go

These actions, however, all have a simple explanation. Sonny’s father has two loves in his life: his family and his mine. Additionally,

Going to school was not very important to Sonny so he didn’t go which caused more problems with his family so he went to the navy (48-49). After dropping out of school and leaving Sonny’s relationship with his brother was really nonexistent, all they did was argue until one-day Sonny told his brother he was dead to him (49). Sonny’s lack of support affected him emotionally, which led to drug use and eventually landed him in jail.

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.

Sonny after Sonny's stay in the Navy, the narrator still viewed Sonny as if he

Although Sonny’s addiction to drugs and love for music seemed similar because he used both to escape reality, they were inevitably more different. The empowerment Sonny got from drugs was nothing but an illusion, unlike the strength he gained from music.

Furthermore, Sonny's individualism is a direct result of his unhappiness with conventional life. As a young man, Sonny is unable to get along with his father. He hates his home and school. His creative interest leads him to become isolated from his brother, who feels threatened by "his jazz-oriented life style and his continued attraction to Greenwich Village" (Albert 179). By the beginning of the story, Sonny has rejected his family and his home, constructing a new life as a musician and drug peddler in a new location foreign to the narrator.

His mother shared a story with him about his father and his uncle. She wanted him to promise to take care of his brother. She may have had an idea that Sonny was in trouble. After their mother died Sonny told his brother that he didn’t want to stay in Harlem anymore. His brother wanted him to finish school and stay another year. He saw the worry and concern in Sonny’s eyes, but dismissed it. This was Sonny’s way of telling his brother that he needed help before it was too late. Sonny pulled away from him and stated, “I hear you. But you never hear anything I say.”

that even though he and Sonny are both adults now he still feels the need to

As said before, there are many conflicts within the story that seem to unfold through out the story. Going deeper into the story, different types of conflict arise and really give you insight on how each character feels. Each conflict there is seems to unfold the plot more and more. There are both internal and external conflicts between Sonny and his brother. Internally,