-
Sonny's Blues
The narrator makes these remarks in relation to the music played by his brother Sonny. What he appears to be saying is that there's something in the music that his brother hears but other people do...
-
Sonny's Blues
Isabel, the narrator's wife, is important to the story because she has been so much a part of Sonny's life. She both loves him and hurts him, showing the complexity of interacting with hm. We learn...
-
Sonny's Blues
The relationship between Sonny and his brother is extremely complex, to say the least. Baldwin designs these characters to act as character foils; therefore, accentuating each's character by...
-
Sonny's Blues
Sonny uses the blues to soothe the suffering he feels. Sonny feels the harshness of growing up in Harlem more intensely than his brother does. For the most part, Sonny's pain comes from the...
-
Sonny's Blues
In "Sonny's Blues," the narrator is directly characterized as having little compassion for drug users. For instance, when Sonny's heroin-using friend comes to the school yard (and the narrator has...
-
Sonny's Blues
In "Sonny's Blues," the a-chronological frame of the story surrounds the flashback, which occurs in correct chronology. Therefore, the flashback represents, first, the exposition of the plot with...
-
Sonny's Blues
After Sonny has been living with the narrator, the narrator watches his brother who stands on the edge of the crowd that listens to the music of a street revival, music that seems "to soothe a...
-
Sonny's Blues
Sonny is a complex character who definitely cares about more than just drugs and music. Here are four of his other passions. It is clear that Sonny cares a lot about his brother (the narrator) a...
-
Sonny's Blues
Sonny and his brother representing Cain and Abel? That's a new one to me. I didn't notice one brother killing the other, or even trying to. In a general way, "Sonny's Blues" is a story of...
-
Sonny's Blues
"Sonny's Blues" depicts the universal struggle of human relationships. The narrator has always longed for Sonny to achieve greatness and happiness—by the narrator's standards. Sonny instead longs...
-
Sonny's Blues
I think it's important to consider the symbolism of ice in conjunction with the stomach, where the narrator feels it settling. Icy climates are not conducive to most forms of life. Ice symbolizes...
-
Sonny's Blues
In James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues," music is the central focus of Sonny's life—it is the only thing that seems to release him from his suffering: his addiction, growing up black, feeling alone and...
-
Sonny's Blues
Sonny's brother, the narrator of the story, has a respectable job as an algebra teacher in a Harlem high school. He has "escaped" the poverty and despair of Harlem to embrace a middle class...
-
Sonny's Blues
Music promises freedom to Sonny from the blues of his life. He has used heroin to give him a short respite from his sufferings, but Sonny realizes heroin will eventually kill him. So if Sonny were...
-
Sonny's Blues
Baldwin’s short story “Sonny’s Blues” was first published by the Partisan Review in 1957. It is set in Harlem, and centers on the relationship between two characters—an algebra teacher and his...
-
Sonny's Blues
The narrator of "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin finally talks with the brother from whom he has been alienated. Years ago Sonny would come by his house, but the narrator perceived him as "loose...
-
Sonny's Blues
There are two major characters in "Sonny's Blues," Sonny and Sonny's older brother. Each of these characters has an independent conflict and together they share another conflict. Sonny's conflict...
-
Sonny's Blues
"I had kept it outside me for a long time," Baldwin's narrator says in the fourth paragraph of his story, "Sonny's Blues." The news of his brother Sonny's arrest resurrects what the narrator has...
-
Sonny's Blues
The elements you choose are somewhat subjective. I would say that conflict plays an important role in this story, as the narrator struggles to understand why his brother, Sonny, has been arrested...
-
Sonny's Blues
It seems that your contention is that Sonny's environment is so difficult for him that he attempts to escape it through his use of heroine. For your points that will defend the threats that...
-
Sonny's Blues
"Sonny's Blues" is set in Harlem, which is the place Baldwin was born. Thus, the setting Baldwin knows so well influences the plight of Sonny. Baldwin was born to a single mother and had eight...
-
Sonny's Blues
At the heart of James Baldwin's story "Sonny's Blues" (1957) is a man trying to get his brother to listen to him. The "listening" is both literal and metaphorical: Sonny wants his reluctant older...
-
Sonny's Blues
With suffering as the main theme of James Baldwin's story, one way to examine this theme is through the development of Sonny's character along with the narrator's that are often "trapped in the...
-
Sonny's Blues
One way the narration shifts at the end of the "Sonny's Blues" is by moving to a solidly present perspective instead of relying heavily on flashbacks. Throughout the story, the narrator moves back...
-
Sonny's Blues
In one segment of a memory flashback in "Sonny's Blues," Sonny's brother recalls a conversation with their mother during which she tells a family secret about their uncle, their father's brother....
-
Sonny's Blues
I think it is important to realise when reading this story that the ordering of events, including various flashbacks, is not strictly chronological. Rather, the author has carefully chosen a series...
-
Sonny's Blues
"Sonny's Blues" is the tale of brothers who grow to understand each other as one brother has assimilated somewhat into mainstream society while the other remains marginalized. But, the two brothers...
-
Sonny's Blues
Sonny always used music as a way to escape. It is the only thing that gave him hope and kept him dreaming for a better life. His music inspired him and gave him hope for the future. His brother...
-
Sonny's Blues
"Sonny's Blues" is told in first-person point of view by Sonny's brother, and he remains nameless throughout the story. Even though the main story deals with Sonny's life, we also get the...
-
Sonny's Blues
As Kip Wheeler Ph.D. says, "Usually in medias res is a technique used to heighten dramatic tension or to create a sense of mystery." The technique of in medias res, Latin for in the middle, allows...
-
Sonny's Blues
The narrator reads about his brother Sonny in the newspaper as he rides the subway to the school where he teaches. Sonny has been arrested in a raid for selling and using heroin. Because he has...
-
Sonny's Blues
The brothers in "Sonny's Blues" go to the jazz club after having a revelatory conversation in which the older brother listens to Sonny's point of view for the first time. He learns that Sonny...
-
Sonny's Blues
There are many conflicts in this story, both external and internal. A few of the internal ones are in Sonny and his brother, the narrator. Sonny's internal conflict is about his battle with drugs...
-
Sonny's Blues
Two adjectives that may be used to describe two conflicting feelings within the narrator when he examines his feelings about his younger brother, Sonny, are shadowed and burning [participle used as...
-
Sonny's Blues
The first person narrative impacts the story in a couple of ways. One of the most significant ways is that it makes the individual narrative a universal one. The initial description that enables...
-
Sonny's Blues
[Please be advised that only one question should be asked at a time; therefore, this one has been chosen for you from the list on the web site.]******************* The narrator begins to realize...
-
Sonny's Blues
The tone is a hopeful one, which would indicate that it is an optimistic one. At the end of the story, the narrator, Sonny's brother, has an epiphany about Sonny. He realizes that Sonny's music...
-
Sonny's Blues
One point of flashback in "Sonny's Blues" occurs after the narrator takes leave of the young man who had been Sonny's friend. The narrator goes back in time to when his daughter has died, and he...
-
Sonny's Blues
One example of internal conflict in Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues" is within the narrator. The narrator is conflicted about his brother, Sonny, whom he loves but cannot help but judge. As the story...
-
Sonny's Blues
The darkness in the story is both literal and figurative. The story is set in New York City. The narrator lives in an area of the projects, which is oppressive and run down. The narrator's and...
-
Sonny's Blues
It seems that the primary form of conflict in James Baldwin's short story "Sonny's Blues" is man vs. man, but there are others as well. There are several types of conflict. They are: man vs. man...
-
Sonny's Blues
As a function of character, flashbacks provide strands of memory that provide information that cannot otherwise be incorporated into a narrative. In "Sonny's Blues," James Baldwin makes very...
-
Sonny's Blues
Baldwin intends for the reader to experience Sonny's troubles, the narrator's struggles to understand his brother, and the moment in which the two brothers come together. The attached link on...
-
Sonny's Blues
In being able to write this story, I think that you can use much of Baldwin's frame of reference to assist you. In the end, it will not be difficult to develop a situation where two brothers are...
-
Sonny's Blues
The description at the end of the passage in incredibly effective. Baldwin makes the music come alive and become a character of its own, thus enhancing Sonny's experience. This is done through...
-
Sonny's Blues
Although "Sonny's Blues" is narrated to us by Sonny's brother, Sonny is undoubtedly the most important character in this short story. He is something of a stereotype, as he is both a jazz musician...
-
Sonny's Blues
Other conflicts in "Sonny's Blues" exist between Sonny and his brother, the narrator. The narrator expects that Sonny will settle down and get a job, but Sonny has no wish for a regular job. Music...
-
Sonny's Blues
While Sonny is with Isabel's family, he certainly does take advantage of the opportunity to practice on the piano and listen to music. This becomes his life. The narrator adds that Sonny is not...
-
Sonny's Blues
When we think of point of view in literature, there are three main types that are used. Clearly, in this excellent short story, the point of view Baldwin chose to use is first person, which is when...
-
Sonny's Blues
Let us remember that the street revivial meeting occurs whilst Sonny is living with his brother, the narrator, who is becoming more and more suspicious of Sonny's behaviour and wants to search his...
