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Living the Blues With Sonny. Music is a powerful language which speaks to
us, moves us, and fills us with emotion. In Sonny's Blues ...
... Sonny and Ray Charles had many of the same life ... a society where the black man struggled
to make a living. Both men used their music of rhythm and blues to gain ...
... In James Baldwin’s Sonny’s Blues this is proven to be ... he was there for him, his brother
pushed Sonny to live the safe life that he himself was living. ...
... Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues”, set in ... but more so how two brothers come to understand
each other due to their struggles and from years of living their own ...
... and the narrator in James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues." The opening ... connection between
the darkness that Sonny faced and ... quote: "These boys, now, were living as we ...
Submitted by nicholsinic4 on October 4, 2005
Category: English
Words: 1212 | Pages: 5
Views: 163
Popularity Rank: 61,753
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Music is a powerful language which speaks to us, moves us, and fills us with emotion. In Sonny's Blues, the voice of Jazz mediates the relationship between two brothers. As the older brother's appreciation of music grows, he understands better the troubles in Sonny's life and as a result realizes the hardships which also fill his life. As more music enters the brother's life, the effects of Sonny's piano playing moves him closer to his sibling.
The two brother's different perspectives on life keep them apart. The relationship they have as brothers proves that their dissimilar interests cause the separation between them. "I didn't write Sonny or send him anything for a long time." (25) Sonny is a musician and endures the day because of it. Music is a savior to him. In contrast, the other brother, who is the narrator, is an educator and worries about Sonny's convictions to finish his last year in school. The older brother reaches out to Sonny only after the death of his youngest daughter. The narrator's tragedy makes his younger brother's troubles seem real. The older brother attempts to help Sonny through these dark times because he thinks his life is in a stable place, but as music enters his life, he will realize that he and Sonny must help each other.
Before music changed the brother's viewpoint on life, Sonny's announcement of his pursuit to be a Jazz pianist annoys him. "I simply couldn't see why on earth he'd want to spend his time hanging around nightclubs, clowning around on bandstands" (32). He feels that Sonny is much better than the music these "good-time people" (32) played. Sonny was immature and stubborn with his brother, even when he offers to sample Sonny's type of music. Though the narrator wishes the best for his brother, he is skeptical about Sonny's ability to support himself by performing Jazz. His brother's response to the skepticism shows the narrator how serious Sonny is about his music. The narrator enjoys...
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