The loss of a loved one is an experience that is like no other. Unfortunately, it is an event that most people will encounter at some point in their life. Grief is the natural process that everybody goes through to get over that loss. Everyone grieves differently, however, some ways of coping are more positive than others. "Sonny's Blues" is a story about the ways that two brothers who are very different from each other grieve. The brothers are effected by two significant deaths in their lives; the loss of the speaker's child, and the loss of the boys' parents. In the story, Sonny turns to music and drugs to grieve, while the speaker always tries to reconnect with his brother.
             There are two different times in the story where the speaker experiences death, and after both times, he tries to patch up his relationship with Sonny. After the death of their mother, the speaker initiates a serious discussion with Sonny in the kitchen. When people engage in a deep conversation together, it forms a sort of bond. The speaker's attempt to form a bond with his brother was his way of dealing with the death of his mother. After the illness and death of the speaker's daughter, the two brothers reunite again, but this time they're older and more mature. Sonny is also in a very vulnerable position, and his brother's life has just changed drastically with the death of his two year old child. They are both at a time in their lives where they need a friend. "I was sitting in the living room in the dark, by myself, and suddenly I thought of Sonny. My trouble made his real" (419). Trying to salvage lost relationships is a healthy way for the speaker to cope with loss. Death, especially when it is the loss of a young child, is a hard reality check that we don't always have as much time as we would like think we do to reconnect with lost relatives or friends.
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