"Sonny's Blues"

Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” covered drug addiction in an interesting way. We forget that drugs are not a new problem. It was interesting to see how the narrator took the news of his brother’s arrest and incarceration. It was as though he couldn’t bear to think of it, didn’t want to get involved- maybe he felt guilty. When he sees Sonny again, old memories and emotions come back, and he remembers his mother asking him to take care of Sonny, to look after him, because his father lost a brother who was much like Sonny. The narrator doesn’t think that Sonny has taken a very responsible way of life, being a musician- he doesn’t understand that Sonny expresses himself that way, just as he found his way through teaching. Their failure to understand each other is one of their biggest problems. As Sonny struggles to stay “clean”, his brother accompanies him to a club to hear him play, where he sees Sonny finally shine in the limelight as the talent that he is. He has accepted Sonny for what he is, and will take him as he is.