Sonny’s Blues

Liberating Horse

Drugs, racism, and violence are common in the lives of young people in our society. In many cases, people turn to these vices because of a lack of strong support and communication from those who are, or should be, close to them. My optimistic view is that they mature and eventually grow out of it. I hope that our children today grow up to be successful professionals tomorrow. Some people go on to promising jobs while others get stuck behind and never make it anywhere in their lives. Sonny’s Blues is a clear example of this social dysfunction. The miscommunication of two brothers, the struggle to escape a heroin addiction, the violence that can affect a person’s future, and the lack of relationship and understanding with a sibling are all present dysfunctions in the story.

The Narrator has a stable job as an algebra teacher in a high school. He takes the subway to work and reads the paper. He leads a scheduled and organized life. It seems very unlikely that many things interfere with his daily routine. He has escaped the life that most of his peers were never able to. Drugs and violence were never significant occurrences in his life. However, his mother exposed him to violence by telling him about his father witnessing his own brother’s unfortunate murder. This exposure may have brought about a realization that we are only mortal and anything can happen tomorrow. This lack of realization caused the protagonist to have a tense and uncomfortable relationship with his brother Sonny.

Sonny, in several ways, is the exact opposite