Preview

How Does Music Affect Sonny's Life

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
706 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Does Music Affect Sonny's Life
Slone1
Cody Slone

Professor Slone

English 101

27 September 2010

Music played through the centuries has always symbolized a mood or feeling of the artist. We all have songs that we can relate our

current satiations with. In “ Sonnys Blues” it shows us how people can relate thru music and how it can lift ones life hardships and

pressures of the world. The statement the story makes about the relationship of art to life is that music can help an individual vent and

help the sooth he mood of a person. It gives many instances in the reading of a hardship Sonny must overcome.

Sonnys father was an alcoholic throughout his childhood and this exposure could have easily lead to his addiction of heroin. The

shock of
…show more content…
His schoolmates pressured him and the

troubles of life left him with no choice as it seemed to him to be lead down this road. Sonny soon found himself alone without the

protection of anyone. He had lost contact with his brother his mother Slone 2

was dead and he had been kicked out of a home in which didn’t like the thought of him playing music which may have fueled him

more towards the piano he sought refuge in. Was it love of music or the thought of refuge that willed Sonny to play the piano? There’s

no question that Sonny loved music and playing the piano, but seeking a way to distance himself from the rigorous path his life was

taking is a key player into how Sonny would someday overcome all the despair he was in. playing music took Sonny to that so called “

Happy Place” that he needed when the going got tough and he had no where else to turn but the piano was always there and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Sonny went through a lot throughout the book, but he did not give up on his dream. He kept his dream in front of him and did not let anyone stand in his way.…

    • 474 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Because there were so many piano players, they rotated practices, so most days, he sat through rehearsal with nothing to do. When he noticed there were only 2 bass players but 3 instruments, he asked for permission to play the bass, and a legacy was…

    • 1497 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Glenn miller

    • 2056 Words
    • 9 Pages

    to fame. He worked hard to master a variety of instruments which brought him success but…

    • 2056 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Characters In “Sonny’s blues” represent a wide range about human nature. For example, Sonny is a character with very non serious sense of humor and he is drug addict his brother (narrator) is character with good sense of humor and he was not drug addict. Sonny is the musician But he cared mostly about himself and not about the nation but narrator he cared about the nation and place where he was more then just himself. Furthermore most of the other people in Harlem were drug addicts and had no reason to live, this is the reason why Sonny wanted to leave Harlem just…

    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sonny has a hard life coming back from jail but his older brother was trying to change Sonny from the person that was using drugs and having a hopeless dream. For his sake the narrator was trying to be his father. Such as, how Jamal is getting help from his friend William so he can improve his writing to move forward. One part in Sonny’s Blues when Sonny was coming back from prison he went to see his brother for guidance such as Jamal seeing William to help him guild his writing to a better deration from where it was before. Another part in Finding Forester Jamal would write in his journal to get through the hardships he was going through with society as well as Sonny but his way was to use heroin so he could forget things that made him sad as well as for him to become…

    • 954 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Other than his family life he had a an extreme devotion to his music career. He compiled around 1,128 different pieces of music. Considering He lived 65 years and did not start writing music until he was around 15, that means on average he would…

    • 1011 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sonny's brother was very skeptical and decided that supporting his brother was the most important thing to do at this point in their lives. When the older brother heard Sonny play and saw the way people responded to Sonny he realized this is his little brothers passion and life. "There was a long pause, while they talked up in their indigo light and after awhile I saw the girl put a Scotch and milk on top of the piano for Sonny. He didn't seem to notice it, just before they started playing again, he sipped from it and looked toward me, and nodded. Then he put it back on top of the piano. For me, then, as they began to play again, it glowed and shook above my brother's head like the very cup of trembling." This particular scene symbolizes that the feud is over and that the past is gone. Also, that Sonny has finally seen the light and will fight his battle with a heroin addiction and beat it because he knows that he…

    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sonny’s Blues is a story about an aspiring musician’s life as it is seen through his older brother’s eyes. The story begins with Sonny’s older brother, an Algebra teacher, finding out that Sonny has been sent to prison due to a drug related crime. He finds this out by reading about the incident in the newspaper because apparently Sonny’s lifestyle has caused the brothers to lose contact. After a tragedy strikes, the unnamed narrator reaches out to Sonny in an attempt to mend their relationship. Throughout the piece, the narrator shares past experiences from their childhood as well as family secrets, and events that shaped both brothers’ adult lives. Readers ultimately come to learn that Sonny is a misunderstood Jazz musician that has walked a rough road, but in the end he is just trying to survive. Sonny’s brother narrates the story so while readers witness Sonny’s struggle, they also witness his brother’s transformation. Sonny is a recovering drug addict so it would seem that the story would be about how he changed; in reality Sonny never changes, but his brother comes to understand him and respect the man he is as well as the man he is striving to become.…

    • 2329 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He learned how to adapt to change by working from location to location to play in various groups. This vast amount of relocating did not stop him; he showed determination to keep doing what he loved, playing music. His music journey speaks to while showcasing his unceasing ambition.…

    • 778 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Two major themes throughout the story are drug abuse, what got Sonny locked up in the first place, and brotherhood. When the narrator finds out that Sonny is in prison due to the abuse of drugs, he says, "Look. I haven't seen Sonny for over a year, I'm not sure I'm going to do anything. Anyway, what the hell can I do?" (601) This shows that the narrator feels like there is nothing he can do anymore. The reader is able to understand that Sonny loves his brother, but does not understand his life choices. However, when Sonny gets out, the narrator takes him back into his home and decides to remember the promise to his mother of not betraying his brother. He begins to realize that the meaning of being a brother means helping each other out from a bad time, in Sonny's case, drugs. It takes time for the narrator to realize that Sonny is just a person who is channeling his pain and anger into music. Sonny and the narrator lost their father and mother at a young age, so now the brothers are all that each other has left. By the end of the short story the reader can conclude that Sonny is just someone who is trying to fit in somewhere and express his passion to the world. The theme of brotherhood is at it's peak when the narrator discovers that his brother is someone who is experiencing suffer and…

    • 928 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Music especially jazz is one of Sonny’s motivation in life. He loves the way it feels when he plays for hours on a piano, is like telling a story through his finger movement on the pianos note. His heroin addiction has made him one of the most loneliest person in the story, especially because he was incarcerated due to his addiction and was away from his brother which was suppose to be his support in life. Although his brothers views Sonny’s heroin addiction wrong, Sonny overcomes his addiction and shows he can cope by other means. He proves his brother that he can come out of his addiction and use his music to help him get out of it.…

    • 737 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sonny's Blue Analysis

    • 853 Words
    • 4 Pages

    For example, Both brother had great heart and both had great bond. If they did not have that kind of bond, after releasing from the prison Sonny could have changed and could have lose contact with his brother. Instead of doing those things he got back to home and his brother helped him to choose his career after all. After reading the story, I thought Sonny overcame his fear and struggle because of his brothers presence and support however, reading the secondary source made me realized it was not because of his brother he overcome his fear. It was because he did not think he could start music again because of the long gap of time. Another thing I analysed wrong was that, drugs help him to forget his pain and past. However, the secondary source said that after music, drug is the only way helped him to escape, make him control himself and makes him warm and cool at the same time. He became addicted to drug after music and music was the only survivor for me. I did not know that Sony could not survive without music. From the secondary source it says, “Sonny makes it clear that his involvement with music is what sustains him.” Meaning music is the only hope for him to live his life. Either he needs his music otherwise drug. And this made his brother realize that its hard for me to see him like that and drug is ruining his life. In order to get Sonny back I need to be happy for him and let him be what he wanted to be. If music makes him happy then I will be happy for him and will support him for his…

    • 853 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “For, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. There isn’t any other tale to tell, it’s the only light we’ve got in all this darkness” (Baldwin 99). Suffering is part of the human condition that James Baldwin points out in “Sonny’s Blues” when two brothers are confronted with the darkness of Harlem life. Sonny uses heroin to get away from his pain but has found a hope of the light through blues music and wants to be a jazz musician; however, Sonny’s brother doesn’t understand about Sonny’s dream at the beginning of the story. Baldwin brings the reader into the African-American culture in Harlem to depict the internal…

    • 1056 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    It was later on in his life that he met up with music again. He had a neighbor that lived on top of his apartment. Her notes, apparently, were off, and sometimes she would shriek. To get back at her, he bought a speaker system, which he used to drown and to contradict her "music." Only when he moved away to a new apartment was when he realized that he missed the music that he heard.…

    • 290 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    work in the music industry. At that point he had started to work and play with instruments and…

    • 641 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays