poe works
The short story "Sonny's Blues," by James Baldwin, tells the story of two brothers who come to understand each other. More specifically, it shows, through its two main characters, Sonny and his older brother, the two sides of African-American's experience with much of racism. The narrator, Sonny's brother, has tried to assimilate to the white society, but still feel the pain and the limits on his opportunity. On the other hand, Sonny has never tried to assimilate and has to find the way out for his pain through drugs. Analyzing the plot of "Sonny's Blues," we can understand what happened, why it happened, and why characters acted the way they do. The exposition of the "Sonny's Blues" starts when the narrator introduces characters, scene, and situation of the story. The narrator learns from a newspaper that his younger brother, Sonny, has been arrested "for peddling and using heroin." (Baldwin 83) The narrator is a high school teacher, and his wife is Isabel. Leaving the school, the narrator comes across an old friend of Sonny's in the schoolyard. They talk about Sonny's arrest and tell each other some their fears. The friend says that he "can't much help old Sonny no more." This angers the narrator
We can see that the narrator's actions and decisions are influenced by his promise with his mother. It is difficult for Sonny to rejoin with his music band since he has not played for a while. Further more, the narrator recognizes that the blues can help every one be true to what and who they are. Those are valuable experiences that the elders have learned, or even paid from their lives. "So it comes again, All right," Sonny's brother said. because it reminds him that he himself had give up trying to help his brother and not even seen Sonny in a year. The story continues as the narrator meets Sonny after Sonny get out of prison. This suggests that Sonny's action of using drug is "the accident of fate. However, he begins to play "Am I blue," Sonny takes control of the music, and becomes "part of a family again. " He can not control it; he uses drugs to "keep from drowning in" the suffering all humans have to go through.
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