Onto "Sonny's Blues." Page-wise, this is the longest story we will be reading all semester. Dr. Pruss mentioned several times that this is a difficult story, as did some of you after you read it. So, let's talk about it. What is "Sonny's Blues" actually about? Is it about characters? The ghetto? Drugs? Family? Music? What do you think the larger issues are behind the plot of this story? Take this blog as a place to ponder, to risk your opinion. As our class continues, I've noticed how people are beginning to voice their opinions from personal experiences. Let's keep it going here.
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"Sonnys blues" is about family and the struggle and sacrifice after losing something that was a huge part of daily life. I think that the issues in this story has to deal wiht the two brothers, but it goes beyond the drug problems and losing a child. the two brothers seemed to not have a strong family bond until while they were suffering, and even then it was difficult to fully reach out and be open towards one another. I think that this occurs daily, the fear of letting people in and losing things we love, but the outcome can be good, if we let it be.
ReplyDeleteI think Sonny’s Blues takes family into a whole another perspective. From what I have learned, it is not always best to treat your siblings as siblings. Rather, treating them as friends gives the relationship a much deeper feeling. For example, today we talked about the turning point of the story was when the older brother invited Sonny out for a drink. For the first time, he was including Sonny in his life, compared to acting like an older brother. With this I have thought about my own personal relationship with my two older sisters. They have always treated me as a ‘little sister’ and I thought if they actually tried to hang out with me instead of worrying about me all the time, it could deepen our relationships. They saying goes, that family comes before friends. I think this saying, means that in order to have respect and trust within our own families, we must establish a friendship first. I think Sonny and his older brother never made that connection until they were both older. But, the most important thing is that they did eventually make it and therefore they finally could understand each other.
ReplyDeleteMeghan Viola
I believe the story is geared towards teaching a lesson about family. The brothers started the story with a broken relationship, it seems as though their suffering had brought the two closer together. It's hard to relate to as an only child, but really the most important thing in life is your family. The story really touches on that.
ReplyDelete- Chad Beatty
I believe this story gives us a lesson about the importance of family. In the beginning of the story, Sonny and his brother didn’t really have a connection. I believe that the death of their parents is what brought the brothers closer together. Sonny’s brother didn’t support him because he didn’t think Sonny was going to be successful as a musician. Towards the end of the story, the brother starts to appreciate Sonny for his hard work and dedication. As he is listening to Sonny play, he buys him a drink and sheds a tear. The only part that was missing in their relationship was friendship because they never took the time to understand or listen to one another. After establishing a connection between one another, I believe the brothers fully understand the true meaning of family and I believe they will never take it for granted from here on out.
ReplyDelete-Amanda Bordiere
"Sonnys Blues" is mainly about family and how people even today are involved in things like this. People go the wrong direction in life, and make bad decisions. Drugs, alcohol etc. This story i think teaches people or could teach people a lesson in life. yes we have family members that want to do the right thing for another family member and want the best thing for them. Just like Sonny's brother was trying to do for Sonny. Anyone can straighten out their path in move on into the right direction. I think the author wanted the readers to think what this whole story was about and what people can actually learn from the story. Good and bad things happen to people, you just have to make the best out of it and do what you think is right in life, just like what Sonny did.
ReplyDeleteI think the most emphasized and important theme of "Sonny's Blues" is the evolution of relationships based on the changing dynamics of personal character. People will be how they want to be. Some say that "being yourself" is the best way to go through life. In monday's class Sonny's brother was criticized for "adhering to society's norms" by taking the safe route and becoming a teacher rather than following his dreams like Sonny. But no matter what a person does, it should be considered "being themselves", because otherwise they wouldn't have done it, right? Maybe following society's traditional path is more important to a person then pursuing hopes and dreams, and the fact that they chose this direction is merely a way of portraying their own true character. Anyhow, Sonny's brother was guilty of the same condescending attitude towards Sonny's as we were towards him in monday's class. It was inverted though because he was criticizing Sonny for NOT FOLLOWING societies norms, whereas we were criticizing him for FOLLOWING societies norms. It is when people start voicing their own ideas as to how another should lead their life that causes relationships to fracture and deteriorate. The brothers' priorities were obviously different, but neither was necessarily wrong. They were just too damn stubborn to accept each others values and view each other as people rather than pawns of society. The point of the story was to show how they were able to change for the better and become close again. It may have taken a drug addiction and some jail time for them to finally come to their senses, but hey, thats life.
ReplyDeleteI think Sonny's Blues is about an older brother who can not understand his ounger brother, so he makes himself feel supior to the younger brpther. This way the older brother does not get hurt theoratically. However, it still pains the older brother to see that his younger brother does not succeed.
ReplyDeleteThis is story is also about what life sometimes is like in ghetto. Most people only see poeple like the younger brother, drug addicts and musicians trying to get big. People don't always see people like the older brother who is trying to make something out of his life and and have a family.
I think that family is a big theme in “Sonny's Blues.” It shows how acceptance in between family members helps a lot with seeing what the other person may be going through and in the end be able to be more successful in helping them with their problems. When Sonny's brother saw Sonny “play his blues” it showed him what deeper blues Sonny was going through. In taking a step towards accepting what Sonny does and going out on a limb to watch him play, his brother was able to really see who is brother was and hopefully now it will give him a wider range of ideas of how to help his brother through his drug addiction. Being close as a family in general is important just so to keep the relationship in tact, cause like it is shown in the story, when the brothers were arguing and weren't talking, the narrator didn't even know if Sonny was even alive half the time.
ReplyDelete-Ashley Piper
To me, this story's main purpose is to portray the power music can have on different people. In "Sonny's Blue's", Sonny has both a social problem and a drug problem. The only way that Sonny knows how to deal with both of these is by playing his Jazz. The way he uses it as a scapegoat to all of his daily problems reveals to the reader that the point of the story is that life down the road can get extremely tough for all different people. Not everyone takes the correct route, but if you find something that you love to do, something that is your calling, then there's no telling how far anyone.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Robert. Sonny's deals with his drug use and social issues through his music. His music is what kept him going along all this time. Sonny wasnt quite able to express what he was going through to his brother, but through his music he was able to let it all out. In this story, I also believe it was about family bond. The narrator so desperately wanted to know that his brother was "ok". He was patient enough during the story to not jump down Sonny's throat with questions, and eventually Sonny came to him. I think that when a family member has a drug issue or any issue really, family should stick by that person and let them come to you.
ReplyDeleteThis story is about one brother living a safe and money making life. The other brother goes on and plays music which is a risky job choice. The one brother gets married and has children while the other brother gets into drugs. In the end they both just needed each other and both turned out fine. I think it is about the ghetto, drugs, family, and music. The one that I think is the larger issue is family because the brothers just needed each other and needed family to make everything right.
ReplyDelete