Literary Analysis Essay Sonny Blues Text

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length: 525 words 1.5 double spaced pages rating: red free an analysis of baldwin's, sonny's blues sipiora identifies the critcal issues in sonny's blues with the character giving his self reflections. Sipiora also says that literary characters sometimes perceive or not perceive the relationships or circumstances. We also have to judge characters in how they react to other characters whether they acted in good faith or not in good faith. We have to ask ourselves when we read literature if the character is being objective looking for personal qualities in a character when they come in contact with another character or is the character looking at another character in a judgemental, stereotypical, or preconceived way of thinking. Also is the character allowed the opportunity to share the similar things that are in common with another character or characters in the story.

The main thing in reading literature in an ethical criticism is to take note on how a character interacts with another character or characters in a story. The narrator is self reflecting his experiences with various family members such as his mother and his younger brother, sonny. The narrator was disappointed with sonny at first due to his interest in becoming a musician. He thought it was a phase he was sonny was going through and maybe it would pass.

The older brother patronized sonny with his insincere interest in music at first until it angered sonny and he told his brother don't do me no favors 82. The narrator had a judgemental, stereotype, predetermined way of thinking when it came to his past. The narrator's thoughts and feelings were cruel and hard for the drug addict childhood friend of sonny's when he told him he did not want to hear his sad story 81. The narrator has sonny's drug addiction and the friend has his own addiction to deal with. When sonny was trying to express how he felt on the inside and reveal his drug abuse, the narrator did not want to accept his younger brother's drug abuse and he 'kept putting them away.

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At the end, the narrator and sonny were able to come to a mutual understanding of each other by the sound of jazz usic. When the narrator went on sonny's territory which was the club, it was the way of his accepting sonny on his terms. The acceptance came into full circle when he was listening to the music and watching sonny play and express himeself on the piano. Where the older brother was disappointed in sonny's choice of being a musician, he now embraces it. By listening to sonny play the jazz music, the narrator was able to change his attitude about life, himself, and most of all, sonny's choice. 22 feb 2016 this piece was my best work because i felt like i understood the main character's issues with his brother.

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My brother went through a time similar to what sonny went through and i had a very hard time learning to trust my brother again. When i finally did, we were able to talk about his past and why he did some of the things that he did. Having that personal insight made me feel like i was able to connect with sonny's brother. Megan weeks 26 march 2007 drugs and addiction in sonnys blues sonnys blues is the story of two brothers trying to overcome many difficult situations in their lives. The narrator, who remains unnamed throughout the story, is not only constantly trying to overcome the racism and stereotypes of african americans in the early 1950s, but is also trying to overcome his reservations about his brothers drug use and choice of profession. The narrators brother, sonny, is striving to overcome his internal suffering and his heroin addiction.

More often than not, one may become addicted to drugs as a form of self expression. In the story, sonny tells his brother that when he was listening to the woman on the street singing, her voice reminded him of what it felt like to be high, warm and cool at the same time. In a world where white supremacy was the norm, minority groups often felt as if they had no control over their livesas if what they felt and what they said were meaningless to society. Sonny knew that if he could not get his own brother to understand and accept him, then he had little or no hope of getting society to do so.

It gave him a sense of control and expression as well as that extra edge that he felt had been missing in his life. Heroin helped him, not so much to play well, but to stand it, to be able to make it at all baldwin 2210. Another point that baldwin tried to clarify was that drug use affects not only the person actually doing the drugs, but that persons family and friends.

When the narrator first read of sonnys drug use and then arrest in the paper, it made him feel literally sick. He had suspected that sonny was using but kept himself in a sort of denial by never trying to find out the truth. When sonny responded, the narrator decided that he was anxious to see him when sonny was released.

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When they arrived at the narrators home, sonny realized that, while his older nephew remembered him, the younger one did not, though he did like his uncle. In his letter to his brother, sonny mentioned that he was glad that his mother and father were dead so that they could not see what had happened to their son. He also told his brother how he knew that he had hurt him and that he felt sorry for that, as well as hurting and letting down all of the other people who had been so helpful to him and believed in him baldwin 2198. When a person becomes dependent on any substance, the only needs or feelings that they become concerned with are their own. It took sonny going to jail and rehabilitation to finally see how much he had hurt his family. The narrator constantly considered searching sonnys room for evidence that he was using again. If it had not been for the brothers outing at the end of the story, they may never have had a chance to bond in any way again.