Hello, everyone!
On the scale 1 to 10 "Sonny's Blues" gets 10 plus! It is hard to be very specific about the reasons for it, but it is definitely the story that touched me the most. Feels that it's extremely relevant to the times we live in, and although I personally cannot relate to the drug addiction theme, the pain the older brother feels for Sonny breaks my heart. Maybe because I also have an older brother... Do you think that the narrator had done enough to prevent Sonny from going down the hill? Or there was nothing at all that he could have done and it was bound to happen regardless of all his efforts? I tend to think there wasn't much the older brother could had done. We all have our own journeys to travel and Sonny was so set on his...It must be quite a burden for someone in their early twenties to become a role model and a caregiver to a younger sibling. I would be scared to death...And what about your own expectations, plans, etc.? I think the narrator took his mother's words too literally. All she was asking for was "to hold on to your brother" meaning not to loose the connection with him. By making it his own responsibility not to let anything happen to Sonny, the narrator made his load so much heavier.
The events in the story feel very real to me, as something that could be happening in your own family. Real issues, real fears, real losses.
This is my first reading of James Baldwin...But definitely not the last.
Submitted by Aksana Norman
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