Sonny's Blues Relationship Analysis

All sibling relationships are complicated. Growing up in identical households but leading such different lives is confusing and even siblings how get along great can still have a hard time understanding each other. However it is worlds more difficult to understand someone else when a person can not even understand themselves. In Sonny’s Blues the narrator delves into the complicated relationship between him and his brother. Both the narrator and Sonny have enduring hardships and suffering in their life but those sufferings are their biggest difference and later the thing that finally rings them together. Throughout the short story the brothers relationship with each other evolve and strengthen as their views of their own and each other's suffering …show more content…
In a discussion with his mother about Sonny’s wellbeing the narrator expresses that Sonny does not need to be watched over as “he is a good boy and he has good sense.” The mother explains that while this may be try he still needs someone there for him and to listen. The narrator agrees to this but it is obvious that he does not know how to listen to Sonny’s problems fully until the end of the story. This s simply because the narrator can not comprehend Sonny’s sufferings. When discussing their father the narrator brings us fights between Sonny and the father, specifically how they never worked out because Sonny “moved back, inside himself, where he could not be reached.” With this line it is seen how the narrator sees and acknowledges Sonny’s ways of coping but since he can not understand them, their relationship is still …show more content…
When talking to an old friend of Sonny’s, the narrator has explained to him, many essential things about Sonny and his suffering. On the topic of Sonny’s drug addiction the narrator asks the question “Why does he want to die.” The friend explains to the narrator why Sonny does not actually want to die and the reasons for his drug consumption. While the narrator will not understand any of these explanations until the end of the story it is a step in the right direction of changing his thoughts on Sonny and drugs. Following a letter the narrator receives from Sonny after losing contact for quite some time he admits that he “begun, finally, to wonder about Sonny, about the life that Sonny lived inside.”. This again provides evidence that the narrator's lack of knowledge and understanding of Sonny’s struggles and problems. The major point of misunderstanding and crack in the brothers relationship is when Sonny admits to his ambitions of wanting a career as a jazz musician. The narrator's replies of “I just don't altogether get it” frays their already damaged relationship. This can be traced back to the conversation with the mother. Sonny did not need someone to fix his suffering for him, he needed someone to be there, to listen and support. The narrator however does not learn this lesson until again, the end of the piece. Yet after Sonny voices this to the