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Name Professor Course Date Baldwin's Sonny's Blues analysis Sonny Blues is a story written by James Baldwin in the 1950s. The story's setting is in Harlem, an area near New York mostly associated with African Americans. Harlem serves as a trap in the story where the narrator and his brother must escape (Golden 555). The narrator starts with him reading a newspaper about his brother called Sonny. Sonny is serving a jail sentence after being caught up in drugs. The narrator is a teacher and keeps wondering too if his students are suffering the same fate as Sonny. Initially, the narrator does not write to Sonny, but after her daughter succumbs to polio, the two starts exchanging letters. Sonny and the narrator are the main characters although there are others like Sonny’s parents and sister. Sonny has been jailed due to drugs but is later released. After his release, he stays at home but occasionally plays music at a local club (Golden 557). War is continuously mentioned in the story but not given the name of the specific war. The most probable war mentioned is maybe Korean War or world war two since the two occurred around this time. Throughout the story, the narrator uses the symbolism of darkness. Darkness is used to symbolize threat faced mainly by the African Americans. As a teacher, he says that as his students move to adulthood, they get to know that opportunities are limited. Most boys, therefore, end up in drugs just like Sonny instead of concentrating on books. We further see darkness in movie halls which are entirely dark (Francis 30). Boys are drawn away from their own lives for instance by internet and television a factor that is taking away
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