Sonnys Blues Writemode
English 1302
11 March 2015
Conflict and Characterization in “Sonny’s Blues”
“Sonny’s Blues” is a short story by the author James Baldwin. It is a story about two brothers and `their severe struggles in Harlem and the different ways in which they handled them. The author shows through the narrator and his brother Sonny how two individuals can follow two totally different life paths, be distant for most of their lives, but in the end find common ground through a shared understanding of the pain of human struggle, which this case expressed by Jazz. Through giving the main character specific character traits, the author shapes the central conflict that gives meaning to the story. The central conflict follows the formula person vs. self, because the narrator struggles between feeling the desire to take care of Sonny and the impulse to throwing Sonny to the curb because of his always values and bad decisions. The narrator starts to realize many things starting after the death of his daughter Grace and culminating with him finally listening to his brother play music. The central idea resolves it self by the Narrator empathizing with his brothers struggles in life and finally understanding through Sonny’s music how he dealt with that suffering. This allows him to realize that he must embrace the conflicting nature of his feelings for Sonny and that the bonds of brotherhood should transcend these things.
The narrator is a responsible person. He was able to avoid all the bad elements of Harlem. Doing his civic duty by joining the army. Choosing to get educated, married, and have children he fit the mold of an upstanding citizen. He followed the rules and life rewarded him with success. A teacher by profession he was able to pass on his knowledge to another generation, a whole room full of kids he was responsible for. Reading about Sonny being arrested for drugs reignited the emotions that the narrator had buried about his brother. That same day Sonny’s
11 March 2015
Conflict and Characterization in “Sonny’s Blues”
“Sonny’s Blues” is a short story by the author James Baldwin. It is a story about two brothers and `their severe struggles in Harlem and the different ways in which they handled them. The author shows through the narrator and his brother Sonny how two individuals can follow two totally different life paths, be distant for most of their lives, but in the end find common ground through a shared understanding of the pain of human struggle, which this case expressed by Jazz. Through giving the main character specific character traits, the author shapes the central conflict that gives meaning to the story. The central conflict follows the formula person vs. self, because the narrator struggles between feeling the desire to take care of Sonny and the impulse to throwing Sonny to the curb because of his always values and bad decisions. The narrator starts to realize many things starting after the death of his daughter Grace and culminating with him finally listening to his brother play music. The central idea resolves it self by the Narrator empathizing with his brothers struggles in life and finally understanding through Sonny’s music how he dealt with that suffering. This allows him to realize that he must embrace the conflicting nature of his feelings for Sonny and that the bonds of brotherhood should transcend these things.
The narrator is a responsible person. He was able to avoid all the bad elements of Harlem. Doing his civic duty by joining the army. Choosing to get educated, married, and have children he fit the mold of an upstanding citizen. He followed the rules and life rewarded him with success. A teacher by profession he was able to pass on his knowledge to another generation, a whole room full of kids he was responsible for. Reading about Sonny being arrested for drugs reignited the emotions that the narrator had buried about his brother. That same day Sonny’s