Regretful Decisions There are many individuals in a child’s life that helps mold them into a well-rounded adult. In most cases, this guidance comes from the child’s parents or other older, but in Sonny’s case, this guidance was expected from his older brother. In the short narrative, Sonny’s Blues, Sonny’s life was adversely affected by the decisions that his older brother made. The decisions that his brother made include leaving Sonny to stay with his fiancée Isabel and her family while he was in the military as well as not accepting Sonny’s not accepting Sonny’s decision to become a musician. While making his first steps, young Sonny ran and fell into the arms of his older brother. Sonny running and falling into the arms of his brothers arms symbolizes the relationship between the two. This demonstrates brotherly love in that it reflects how Sonny’s older brother is supposed to be there for him when he falls and how Sonny should expect for his older brother to support him. By the time both of the boy’s parents had become deceased, Sonny was still an adolescent and still in need of guidance. While sitting next to her death bed, Sonny’s brother made a promise to their mother that he would be the guidance that Sonny needed and the guidance that she could no longer provide for him. This guidance provided by Sonny, or lack thereof, changed Sonny’s life tremendously. When Sonny told his older brother that he wanted to become a musician, he refused to accept the fact that music would be his younger brother’s future. Many people would argue that Sonny’s brother is doing this as an attempt to protect Sonny. His decision to protect Sonny stems from that fact that their uncle basically died because of his love for music. He was trying to protect Sonny from that same horrible fate. At the time, Sonny wasn’t aware of what happened to his uncle so he really couldn’t understand why his brother didn’t accept his decision to become a musician. If Sonny’s brother would have told him the story behind their uncles death, Sonny would have been able to understand his bias against him becoming a musician. Instead, his brother’s decision not to tell him led Sonny to believe that there was no justifiable reason for him not accepting his music; this started to push Sonny away. When Sonny’s brother decided to leave him with his fiancée, Isabel, and her family to join the military, Sonny pushed away even further. At this point in his life, Sonny had Isabel and her family to depend on but he still felt alone. It seemed as if the only thing that Sonny could trust was his music. After arriving home from school, the first and only thing that Sonny would do is engage in music. This isolated Sonny from Isabel and her family. With both his love for music as well as the isolation between him and his family growing stronger, Sonny moves out of the house. Sonny left so that he could find a place where he and his music would be accepted. Unfortunately, he also found heroin. If Sonny’s brother would have taken care of Sonny, much of this disaster could have been avoided. Although Isabel and her family were there to support him, they could not give him the unconditional love that can only come from a brother. Many years later, his decision not to fulfill his promise to his mother came back to haunt him. While reading through the newspaper, he was astonished to see that his younger brother Sonny has been caught in a heroin bust in Greenwich Village. Sonny’s brother feels so guilty about this that he doesn’t even reach out to Sonny until after the death of his daughter. He felt guilty because he knew that he could have been the one person in Sonny’s life who inspired him. He also feels guilty that he let his mother down. He finally reached out to him after the death of his daughter because he knew that if Sonny continued down the path that he was headed, he would have eventually died as well. After writing each other, Sonny’s brother decides to pick u Sonny so that he can come live with him Isabel and their children. When Sonny finally arrived back, his relationship was closer to Isabel than it was with his older brother. Sonny had a closer relationship with Isabel because she showed that she cared about by taking care of him while he was an adolescent. Sonny’s brother proved the opposite by leaving him, although Sonny didn’t hold a grudge against him for doing so. Eventually, Sonny invited his brother to watch him play at the Greenwich Village. The fact that his brother actually showed up to see him play proved a lot to Sonny. To Sonny, this meant that his brother was actually trying to accept Sonny’s decision to become a musician. In this story, Sonny’s brother had multiple opportunities to lead his brother in the right direction. His brother realizes that he still has the opportunity to change his life and he does. He also realizes that he is in the position to change many other people’s lives. As an algebra teacher, he is placed in the position to guide and set an example for the future generation. Sonny’s brother was able to save him from a horrible fate, the same fate that his uncle was not able to escape.

Work Cited
Works Cited
Baldwin, James. Sonny's Blues. California : Klett publishers, 1957.