Sonny's Blues Analysis

1144 Words5 Pages
The two different short stories titled respectively "Sonny's Blues" and "This Is What it Means to Say Pheonix, Arizona" maintain several similarities throughout their particular lengths. Both observant tales of changing times and cultures, the novellas incorporate themes of brotherhood, loss, and the rekindling of relationships. Due to the resemblance between the themes and atmospheres of the two stories, an analyzation is necessary to draw assessments associating these particular tales. One of the first ways in which we can draw comparisons between the two stories can be found within the cultural differences and stereotypes that are reinforced throughout their constraints. For instance, within "Sonny's Blues", the plaguing characteristics…show more content…
"Sonny's Blues" shows a wide range of these typecasts founded upon the African-American race. For example, several characters throughout the tale become addicted to the deadly drug known as heroin. This was a problem that actually plagued the African-American community during the aforesaid period in time, and caused much of the decay that was described throughout their corresponding societies. It's a highly addictive drug that causes the mentality and physicality of the user to dwindle at a dangerously high rate, and its widespread availability made it easy to obtain. With nowhere to turn, many African-American males found themselves "shooting up" in order to face the several oppressions that faced them on an everyday basis. Obviously, Sonny and several of his cronies fell into this category, thereby reinforcing the tendencies that had befallen this group of individuals during this specific period in time. The narrator put it best, even though it was in a depressing manner, when he stated that "Yet it had happened and here I was, talking about algebra to a lot of boys who might, every one of them for all I knew, be popping off needles every time they went to the head. Maybe it did more for them than algebra could." On the other hand, "This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona" focuses on the Native American category of subjugation. Throughout…show more content…
Both stories have several similarities that span over decades and different locations, and the usage of harmful vices is a constant in both tales. The themes and atmospheres of both tales are decidedly dark, but there is some bright sides as well. An excellent portrayal of this is a quote from Sonny's Blues, which states that "He had made it his: that long line of which we knew only Mama and Daddy. . . . I saw my mother's face again . . . I saw the moonlit road where my father's brother died. And it brought something else back to me, and carried me past it, I saw my little girl again and felt Isabel's tears again, and I felt my own tears begin to rise." after hearing Sonny's music near the end of the story. It shows that, within both stories, familial and cultural ties run very deep, and the connections passed down to each generation are perpetually
Show More
Related

  • Sonny's Blues Literary Analysis

    508 Words  | 3 Pages

    Using characterization and symbolism in the story “Sonny’s Blues,” James Baldwin conveys that suffering can bring about unique insight and creativity. James Baldwin uses characterization to portray that struggle against confinement can induce unique insight and ingenuity. Although more content with it than Sonny, the narrator also believes that Harlem is a dismal place to grow up, illustrated by his observations that the boys in Harlem were characterized to be “filled with rage. All they really

    Read More

  • Sonny's Blues Literary Analysis

    468 Words  | 2 Pages

    The short story “Sonny’s Blues”, by author James Baldwin is a gripping story that depicts the love of two brothers through adverse times. The love between the two reaches beyond the relationship between the narrator and Sonny. In the story, the unnamed narrator, who is the protagonist, is conflicted as he must always watch over his younger brother Sonny. While at work, the narrator is shocked to learn that his younger brother Sonny, who is the main protagonist has been arrested for possession and

    Read More

  • Sonny's Blues Literary Analysis Essay

    618 Words  | 3 Pages

    The narrator of Sonny’s Blues never give himself a name in the whole article, but he really got himself playing the main role by making the story told in his own perspective of views. In my opinion the character made an unjust choice. The narrator is seven years older the sonny. When sonny was little, he had always being a big-brother-like brother, takes care of sonny; tells him to go to school and what instrument is better for him to play; sorts of keeps him out of troubles. I can see his love to

    Read More

  • A. S. Byatt's The Elephant In The Village Of The Blind

    961 Words  | 4 Pages

    didn’t know what an elephant was because they do not have elephants in that area. In A.S. Byatt’s “The Thing in the Forrest” it takes place in World War II era London and it would drastically change the plot if the environment were not as harsh. “Sonny’s Blues” uses the area of Harlem to help depict the darkness throughout the

    Read More

  • Sonny's Blues Thesis

    263 Words  | 2 Pages

    of by one of our a family member’s and why does this all happen in the first place?” (Meriam). The posed question aids in transitioning the first paragraph into to the following analysis in a flowing and easy to understand manner. I enjoy the way that you described James Baldwin’s fashion of telling the story “Sonny’s Blues” as, “precisely presents this situation and takes a deeper view in which how human beings deal with their suffering within life struggles due to misunderstandings” (Miriam). It

    Read More

More about Sonny's Blues Analysis

Open Document