Sonny's Blues Character Analysis

The main character in Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” is conflicted because he feels guilty about his brother’s life; Sonny who had ended up in prison, became a drug addict, and ultimately ended up as someone who was not able to make his dream of becoming a jazz musician come true. The narrator however, was able to make it out of the ghetto. He went to college and pursued his career as a teacher. Now, he is living adjacent to the old neighborhood, and visits his family on the day that his brother is released from prison. The narrator remembers his younger brother, and how as a baby, “...he walked from our mother straight to me” (Baldwin 228). Sonny’s brother also remembers Sonny’s fourteen year old dream of going to India. Sonny’s brother feels