Addiction to Strength By: Tahara Foy The narrator’s message of “Sonny’s Blues”, written by James Baldwin in 1957, is that being an African American child growing up in Harlem in the mid-20th Century is a struggle where there was lots of violence, drugs, and rage. Becoming part of the drug culture in that era, Sonny at a young age became a heroin user. That resulted in many difficult times in his life, from his strange obsession of becoming a musician, to dropping out of school and joining the army, to getting arrested for his drug addiction. Sonny’s older brother was conflicted through his life of how to help Sonny through his difficult transitions. Whereas Sonny had an addictive personality, his brother had his own internal struggles with understanding.
The Powers of Music: “Sonny’s Blues” In the short story, “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin the author depicts how a child growing up in a bad neighborhood, the loss of parents, and drug addiction to heroin can cause many harsh realities in one’s life. The main characters include the narrator, which is the unnamed older brother of Sonny, and Sonny whom has been in and out of trouble while battling addiction to heroin. However, in “Sonny’s Blues” the narrator demonstrates that music can be used as an effective way to cope with suffering. After the death of their mother the narrator is left responsible for his younger brother, Sonny; however, the only problem is that Sonny’s brother is currently enlisted in the Army thousands of miles away.
While reading through the short story, Sonny’s Blues, the reader can agree that it touches upon racism, heavy drug use, and the importance of amending family relationships. Throughout the story the narrator develops from an emotionally withheld stranger to a emotionally intact brother whom is ultimately able to understand his younger brother’s dependence on jazz music and the piano. Towards the end of the narrative, Sonny has also come to terms with himself and has learned to become a better, drug-free, person. He has also learned to replace heroin with his love of jazz
“Sonny Blues” written by James baldwin is a story written in 1957 told in first-person singular narrative style. The story begins with the narrator, who reads about his younger brother named Sonny who has been caught in a heroin bust. The narrator then goes about his day However, he cannot get his mind off Sonny. He thinks about all the boys in his class, who don’t have bright futures and are most likely doing drugs, just like Sonny. Throughout the story the unnamed narrator struggles to embrace sonny for who is, its not until the end of the story when the narrator goes to one of Sonny’s Jazz shows, where he fully understands and truly fathoms who Sonny really is as a person and musician.
Artists use their music to depict their experiences, views, and harsh portrayals of their respective societies. Throughout this paper, five songs will be analyzed to explain how rap artist portray the harsh life style of individuals in poor communities, which are correlated with drug abuse and violence. Rappers like Nas project the ghetto as a struggling environment, where many dream of leaving the projects to obtain wealth and prosperity, but instead succumb to the pressures and constraints imposed on by their society. Nas grew up in the Queensbridge housing projects in New York City; at the
Analysis of Sonny’s Blues The setting in the short story “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin plays an important role in the piece. The story takes place in Harlem during the early 1950s. The author’s decision to choose Harlem as the city that the story takes place in played an important role in the narrative. Baldwin describes the projects as “rocks in the middle of a boiling sea.” The projects have playgrounds that are populated by drug dealers and they have large windows that no one wants to look out of. Part of the reason why Sonny turns to drugs is to escape his surroundings.
Throughout the story, the conflict of being able to understand one another and their life dreams and ambitions is extremely difficult. There are internal and external forces within this story, both in which, dealing with Sonny. Sonny’s internal conflict is his own self-doubt in being able to build and succeed in a musical career. The external conflict is physically rising up to the challenge of the music industry. Throughout the story, the struggle to be able to understand one another is a constant battle.
Symbolism in Sonny’s Blues In "Sonny's Blues," a short story by James Baldwin, the narrator paints a picture of a Harlem full of turmoil and sin. The story is told by Sonny's brother, a high school algebra teacher, who is a helpless witness to Sonny's struggling drug addiction and his need for music. The narrator believes that he “escaped the trap,” while in actuality no one can escape the ties that firmly bind them to their past. Throughout the story, the audience is presented with a down trodden community consumed with drugs and hardships, the same drugs and hardships that the narrator and Sonny were forced to deal with during their childhood. It seems no matter what the characters do they cannot escape their past.
Pierra Smalls Dr. Hirsch-Thomas Eng 102-A13 5 February 2013 Fiction Worksheet #2 Baldwin The narrative, “Sonny’s Blues”, is written by James Baldwin. The unnamed narrator of the story discovers from a newspaper that his younger brother, Sonny, has been arrested for selling and using heroin. Throughout the narrative the narrator struggles with protecting his brother and fulfilling a promise that he made to his mother before she died. The narrator decides to write to Sonny in prison when the narrator’s young daughter, Grace, dies. Sonny writes a long letter back to his brother in which he tries to explain how he ended up where he is.
GHETTONATION Cole Doren, 4-27-11 Cora Daniels’s focus of her book Ghettonation is to show how our society today looks upon the lifestyle of being “ghetto” through the media. The USA's younger generation is being wooed by the flashy hip-hop lifestyle, which has gone increasingly mainstream with baggy fashions, gold teeth and the different slang words that are used. But at what cost is our nation sacrificing for this behavior. Cora Daniels argues in Ghettonation that a "ghetto" mind-set and which she says celebrates the worst of human nature. "Ghetto" styles, from wearing gaudy jewelry to using the n-word in ordinary conversation, have caught on with teens and young adults who aren't black, yet who seem to enjoy imitating famous hip-hop artists such as 50 Cent and Three 6 Mafia.