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A Literary Analysis Of Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin

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In the story “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin the story is written in first person style. The story opens up with Sonny’s older brother the narrator reading about reading about his heroin bust in the newspaper. Sonny was a jazz musician. He tried to go on with his day but he could not stop thinking about brother. Sonny had a trouble past, he goes in and out of jail and his relationship with his family is strain. Sonny’s father was a drunk and moody, Sonny and he did not get along. Sonny was quiet and withdrawn. Throughout the story the narrator would have flash backs about growing up with Sonny. One day Sonny went to jail and his brother never written him. It wasn’t until Grace has die that Sonny’s brother decides to write him. Sonny writes his brother a long letter trying to explains how he got in the predicament. The two brothers stay in constant communications .Sonny is released from jail and goes lives with his brother. …show more content…
She told him of a story about his father. Their father had a brother who was a guitar player; he would perform on Saturday nights. One night a car full of drunken white men ran over his brother and left him for dead in the street. After that night his father was never the same, he thought “every white man he saw was the man that kill his brother” (46). She told him this story because he did not want him for forgets about Sonny no matter what happen.
After Sonny’s mother dies, his brother asked Sonny what he wants to do with his life. Sonny wants to be a jazz musician and play piano. His brother thinks that is not a good thing for Sonny, it’s what his father called “good-time people” (47). It is decided Sonny will live with Isabel, however he drops out of school and hang out with his jazz friends. This is when his brother thinks Sonny began using

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