Sonny's Blues Rhetorical Analysis
Chelsea Culberson
Instructor Jacob Kruse
Communications I
15 September 2014
Sonny’s Blues
“Sonny’s Blues” is a story of disorientation at first; it tells a story of a young man named Sonny and his older brother who is the narrator. Sonny is a young boy who in fact grew up in a world of abandonment. He suffered from drug addiction, being a school dropout, and personal desertion issues. As the story unfolds from his brother’s point of view, it explains how the older brother wished he had been there for his brother throughout his hard time of growing up. The older brother puts forth the effort to lead Sonny into the right direction by welcoming him into his home and pushing to be a better man. Sonny refuses to follow the guidance and turns his
attention towards music. Music becomes his out for his internal misery he has endured. Sonny’s age was never disclosed, but he was under the age of 18, and all together disobeyed his brother’s wishes; the same wishes they’re mother installed in the narrator’s mind before her passing. As Sonny went away in the Military, it wasn’t until he sent his brother a post card of his whereabouts that they even knew he was alive. After the war, both of the brothers returned home and joined forces again, just to be apart once again. After Sonny’s brother findings in the newspaper that Sonny’s had been locked up for the use of drugs, and the death if his two year old daughter did he realize that he is in fact his brother’s keeper and he needed to be by his side no matter what it entitles.
The brothers end up combining forces at the end of the story as Sonny get released from prison and put his heart into his love music. Sonny’s brother then realizes that he uses all his energy and time into this music, and it’s his escape from his own misery. “I was beginning to realize that I’d never seen him so upset before. With another part of my mind I was thinking that this would probably turn out to be one of those things kids go through and that I shouldn’t make it seem important by pushing it too hard” (Baldwin 110). This quote shows how they are two different people, and when Sonny finally hears music played by his brother he feels joyous and love in his tunes, he finally feels his brothers paint love and in between.
Works Cited
Baldwin, James. "Sonny 's Blues." Literature and Its Writers a Compact Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 4th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2006. 46-69. Print
Instructor Jacob Kruse
Communications I
15 September 2014
Sonny’s Blues
“Sonny’s Blues” is a story of disorientation at first; it tells a story of a young man named Sonny and his older brother who is the narrator. Sonny is a young boy who in fact grew up in a world of abandonment. He suffered from drug addiction, being a school dropout, and personal desertion issues. As the story unfolds from his brother’s point of view, it explains how the older brother wished he had been there for his brother throughout his hard time of growing up. The older brother puts forth the effort to lead Sonny into the right direction by welcoming him into his home and pushing to be a better man. Sonny refuses to follow the guidance and turns his
attention towards music. Music becomes his out for his internal misery he has endured. Sonny’s age was never disclosed, but he was under the age of 18, and all together disobeyed his brother’s wishes; the same wishes they’re mother installed in the narrator’s mind before her passing. As Sonny went away in the Military, it wasn’t until he sent his brother a post card of his whereabouts that they even knew he was alive. After the war, both of the brothers returned home and joined forces again, just to be apart once again. After Sonny’s brother findings in the newspaper that Sonny’s had been locked up for the use of drugs, and the death if his two year old daughter did he realize that he is in fact his brother’s keeper and he needed to be by his side no matter what it entitles.
The brothers end up combining forces at the end of the story as Sonny get released from prison and put his heart into his love music. Sonny’s brother then realizes that he uses all his energy and time into this music, and it’s his escape from his own misery. “I was beginning to realize that I’d never seen him so upset before. With another part of my mind I was thinking that this would probably turn out to be one of those things kids go through and that I shouldn’t make it seem important by pushing it too hard” (Baldwin 110). This quote shows how they are two different people, and when Sonny finally hears music played by his brother he feels joyous and love in his tunes, he finally feels his brothers paint love and in between.
Works Cited
Baldwin, James. "Sonny 's Blues." Literature and Its Writers a Compact Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. 4th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2006. 46-69. Print