Sonny’s Blues is a story that displays the consequences of making bad life decisions at a point where it changes the life of both brothers. It illustrates the importance of accepting people as who they are by acknowledging that being different will not cause failure as long as, it receives the sufficient amount of care and support. One of the main themes that discovered by James Baldwin is the drug use. Sonny was involved in drugs when he was a kid, and he went to prison because of it. His weakness locked him in the darkness where it was too deep that even his brother forgot all about him until, the narrator lost his daughter. Like in Christianity, “Grace” was a message from the God for him to realize the importance of being able to have
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The city has witnessed grievous events throughout the history. It suffered from poverty and crime but also it was the home of numerous people who were trapped in this darkness of the city. The pressure of high rents, unemployment and racist practices cumulated in Harlem riots in 1935 and 1943 (Harlem Heritage Tours Cultural Center). In the story, we see how the concept of racism influenced children in Harlem. Most of them weren’t able to go to school, they were spending their time on the streets where they witness the crimes, abuse and demolition of their childhood. Feeling lonely among these events isolated them from the public and trapped them in the darkness. And the kids found the cure in drugs and other bad habits that destroyed their lives. The narrator describes Harlem like “rocks in the middle of a boiling sea” (6). Despite the challenges both brothers faced with, eventually they were able to survive, but like the narrator says they left something of themselves. “Some escaped the trap, most didn't. Those who got out always left something of themselves behind, as some animals amputate a leg and leave it in the trap” (the narrator, 6). There was a cost of escaping from a trap, they both had to make sacrifices to set themselves free; Sonny had to overcome his addiction and give up from his only power which was drugs that made him feel strong. For the narrator, he lost his daughter, understanding the value of a brotherhood cost him his
The city has witnessed grievous events throughout the history. It suffered from poverty and crime but also it was the home of numerous people who were trapped in this darkness of the city. The pressure of high rents, unemployment and racist practices cumulated in Harlem riots in 1935 and 1943 (Harlem Heritage Tours Cultural Center). In the story, we see how the concept of racism influenced children in Harlem. Most of them weren’t able to go to school, they were spending their time on the streets where they witness the crimes, abuse and demolition of their childhood. Feeling lonely among these events isolated them from the public and trapped them in the darkness. And the kids found the cure in drugs and other bad habits that destroyed their lives. The narrator describes Harlem like “rocks in the middle of a boiling sea” (6). Despite the challenges both brothers faced with, eventually they were able to survive, but like the narrator says they left something of themselves. “Some escaped the trap, most didn't. Those who got out always left something of themselves behind, as some animals amputate a leg and leave it in the trap” (the narrator, 6). There was a cost of escaping from a trap, they both had to make sacrifices to set themselves free; Sonny had to overcome his addiction and give up from his only power which was drugs that made him feel strong. For the narrator, he lost his daughter, understanding the value of a brotherhood cost him his