The Importance Of Setting In Sonny's Blues

488 Words2 Pages
You can either discuss one story or compare both: how does the setting affect the story? Think about Time, Location and Atmosphere. The story took place in Harlem in 1957. The setting, especially the location of the story is important because it is part of the reason Sonny turns to drugs to evade the sense of being imprisoned by his surroundings. Driving through the streets where both Sonny and the narrator grew up, gives details of being raised in poverty stricken city. While driving through the streets, narrator of the story mentioned, “Some escaped the trap, most didn’t.” The narrator of the story escaped the gloomy environment of Harlem and became a teacher, whereas, Sonny felt isolated and abandoned by his brother and succumbed to drugs. At the end of the story, Sonny discloses he ran away from Harlem to get away from drug, but once he came back nothing changed. The narrator of the story uses the words “darkness” to describe the troubled atmosphere of Harlem. You can either discuss one story or compare both: what is the main conflict? How does the conflict relate to the theme of Family?…show more content…
The narrator is against Sonny’s desire of becoming a jazz piano player. The narrator believes that becoming a musician is a waste of time. Due to this conflict, both brother drift apart. Sonny who feels isolated from his brother surrenders himself to drugs. The conflict relate to the theme of the family by showing us that the two brother dearly love each other but fail to understand each other. Despite, rifts between both brothers, the narrator at the end tries to help and get to understand Sonny’s problems related to drugs. Our family is always there for us when we need them the
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