Enc1102 the Brothers

Tatiyana Ford

Professor Odoi 

ENC1102 

July 15, 19 

The Brothers

As siblings there, times we may have a love and hate relationship between each other. But in “The Rich Brother” their lives were separate and completely different, but they are in fact very dependent on each other.  One of the major differences is that one is wealthy and the other is always in need of financial assistance.  And in “Sonny Blues “Sonny and his brother are different in the way they go about life in general. They express their self in different ways they internalize and cope with their problems.

In the “Rich Brother” there are two brothers that are different in every aspect. The older brother, Pete, is the successful brother he was in the real estate. He and his wife had a century 21 franchise and Pete worked hard and made a lot of money, but not any more than he thought he deserved (Wolff ,327). And then there was Donald the youngest brother that was single and lived alone, and painted house where he could find work to make money. The two brothers are very different in their belief about what is valuable. Pete is a man that has worked hard and values everything he has acquired. And Donald on the other hand values sharing whatever he has. Pete feels as if he must take care of Donald because of the way he was. Pete reaches out to Donald on the farm to let him know he was praying for him.  Donald was the type to make it seem like everything was okay with him and didn’t won’t his brother to know. But as time went on Pete stop getting letters from Donald. So, he reached out to Donald on the phone and he tries to sound upbeat, but he didn’t try hard enough making it convincing (Wolff, 328). That Pete knew something was going on with him and was letting him know if you don’t like it there leave. But Donald had nowhere to go because he was broke and doesn’t have it like Pete. So, Pete took him in because he had no choice to leave his brother hanging like that. Pete looked out for Donald, until he can get on his feet. Along the way they came into a guy name Webster and give him a ride because he broke down. Webster says to them “Everyone will prosper together” (Wolff, 335). And Donald agrees with him and said, “That’s the way it ought to be” (Wolff, 335). Donald believes that everyone should share. And Donald feels that his brother put money and material things before god. Pete believes his ethics and morals are superior to Donald. Pete feels that he works for his money. And that it’s irresponsible for Donald to give away his money to a stranger. Pete feels like he has control and power over Donald because he is giving him money. And know that Donald won’t be able to pay him back. And has his own insecurities that’s why he treats Donald like that. Because he not satisfied with his life. And Donald is content with the life he’s living. 

In the “Sonny’s Blues”, describes the lives of two brothers growing up in Harlem in the early 1960’s. Sonny and his brother are different in the way the go about life in general. They were both raised in the same household, yet they grew up to be totally different people. Both brothers have troubles in their lives and we get to see how each thinks and acts when facing such ordeals. Sonny is the person that keeps everything inside. And the brother is a person that is a thinker and open than sonny. Both brothers show selfish ways and feel remorseful for not being in each other lives .His daughter Grace dies he realizes sonny share anything. Because it makes him think about all the suffering she went through to sing like that. And sonny do the same thing by playing music for his problems because of the things he is suffering inside. And as a little boy his brother he had suspicions about sonny, but he didn’t name them. I kept them away. I told myself that sonny was wild but not crazy (Baldwin, 340). That he was good kid, but his brother was going down, coming to nothing.  And sonny ended up going to jail for using drugs. Sonny didn’t know what was happen to himself and felt like he was hurting his brother. And changed Sonny filled the air with life, again and again playing music for people and his brother loved that. And understand the way blues were all about and make you feel.