Sonny's Blues

Jerri Dixon

English 1110-36

January 12, 2008

"Sonny's Blues"

"Sonny's Blues" is a story that opens up with Sonny's brother finding out that Sonny has been arrested for dealing heroin. He finds these things out by reading a newspaper on the subway while going to work.

Baldwin discusses Sonny's life, and about the relationship between Sonny and his older brother. He talks about how bebop and jazz was a scapegoat for Sonny's pain and suffering.

This story is told by Sonny's unnamed older brother. In the story Sonny's brother stereotypes him as being the heroin-addicted jazz musician. Sonny had been arrested for peddling and using heroin and must do time in a prison upstate. He also described that when they were younger Sonny was the apple of their father's eye, but always had a tendency of straying away from their family. Sonny's brother also described him as being a good boy coming up or at least he thought. He never seemed like the type of guy to him to get caught up the way he did. Sonny's brother had a very hard time adjusting this all. As much as he kept reading about it his self wouldn't allow him to believe that Sonny had been locked up for using or peddling heroin.