Summary Of Sonny's Cup Of Trembling

Sonny’s Cup of Trembling
“Sonny’s Blues” begins with the narrator reading about his brother being arrested for selling and using heroine. ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬He describes the struggles and hardships that his family, especially Sonny, goes through. Even though the two brothers lived together for so long, they did not have a very close relationship, but towards the end of the story, the two begin to understand each other more. At the end of the story, Sonny invites the narrator to accompany him to a local nightclub where he plays a new type of freeform jazz on the piano. As his brother plays, the narrator finally realized and understood his brother’s struggles. The narrator asks the waitress to take Sonny a glass of scotch and milk and the brothers look at each other and nod in recognition. The author states that the glass shakes over Sonny’s head like “the very cup of trembling” (120). The cup of trembling is a reference to the book of …show more content…
Music was the connection between his suffering and salvation. Sonny pours his life into his music. When he played he released his suffering in his music. The new type of jazz that Sonny played was a freeform jazz that allowed the artists to express themselves. The narrator described Sonny while he played the piano at the club, “Sonny’s fingers filled the air with life, his life. But that life contained so many others” (119). Sonny expressed the pain he felt along with the pain of others around him in the music he played. Music helped him to combat his addiction to heroin by offering him a way to ease his suffering, but the use of drugs was prevalent in the musical community and the temptation to use drugs would be great for Sonny if he remains a musician. Music allowed Sonny to relate his pain and sorrow he felt to his liberation. Music had the possibility of keeping him trapped in his current lifestyle or freeing him from his troubles and