James Baldwin, “Sonny’s Blues,”
The narrator brings out most families’ characteristics, where there is chaos and, at times, disunity. The narrator appears as a responsible character in the family who made the right decision and practiced as a teacher. Sonny is brought out as a character who cared little about social ethics and was often in for drug abuse, mostly heroin. However, Sonny was talented in music, which, if ventured into, would have saved him a fortune. The narrator is brought out as forgiving as he welcomes back his brother from prison. The narrator also sympathizes with sonny’s friend, who confesses to having introduced him to drugs. The narrator is worried that the same fate of addiction to his students when imagining how innocent his brother was while young.
Tobias Wolff Powder
The narrative by Tobias Wolff brings a family setup portraying some similarities found in Sonny Blues’ story. The father of the family appears irresponsible, for example, where he takes his son out and loses track of time to return home. The son is brought out as hardworking and is caught up between following his father or mother as a role model. The son often finds himself in constant relation with the father than with her mother, but he seems to find a balance between recklessness and responsibility.
Response to Classmates Post
I would disagree with the post on Sonny Blues about the complexity in the analysis of the narrative because the characters’ behavior is clearly brought out from the narrative. I agree with the comparison made between the two stories, where the characters display distinct characteristics through their interaction. The issue of dis-functional in the two narrative families is brought out, and each character’s behavior appears to have some attachment to childhood experiences. The post has brought out challenges families have to go through to co-exist with one another peacefully.