In the beginning of this piece of literature, Baldwin dives right into a sense of brotherly love. While the narrator cannot change his brother’s decisions, he also cannot let the feelings of anguish go after reading about his arrest in the newspaper. He obviously cares deeply for his brother, but is only able to grasp how hard his life has been after walking with one of Sonny’s friends on the very day Sonny had been arrested. After observing the lifestyle of this heroin addict, the narrator is able to see first-hand what Sonny was put through.
The narrator doesn’t write to Sonny right away. It took his daughter, Grace, dying for him to realize that he needs his brother, and Sonny needs him. I feel like this happens a lot within relationships. Often times we find ourselves confiding in the ones we love the most only when we need them the most, and this can be seen throughout this story. From there, they stay in constant contact until Sonny gets out of jail and comes to stay with his brother and his family in Harlem.
Throughout the story, several flashbacks occurred that allowed us, as the readers, to see the background behind these characters. A conversation with his mother before her death stuck with the narrator throughout the story, urging him to watch out for Sonny and be there whenever he needs him. After her death, Sonny moved in with Isabel’s family, and eventually began to skip school in order to pursue a career in music. Once Isabel’s family found out, he saw what a burden he had been, and decided to join the navy. It was at this point that Sonny and his brother were the most far away from each other, and it continued this way until Grace died, sparking the narrator to reach out to his brother.
While Sonny and his brother definitely had their ups and downs, the narrator finally saw the reasoning behind Sonny’s love for playing the piano after taking up his offer to go see him play. The narrator stated, “Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at last, that he could help us to be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we did.” Sonny wasn’t only playing for himself, he was playing for everyone of Harlem. He was expressing all of the pain, the anguish, and the suffering associated with their lives, and through these blues, his brother finally understood.
When the narrator finally realizes why Sonny loves jazz so much was a significant part in the story. This seems to happen with many people in life, they might not understand the reasoning of someones love until they see it for themselves. For example, A very similar experience happened with me. My uncle plays the piano and I had never really seen him play, but once he played for our family, you could tell why he loved it so much. This is almost identical to Sonny and his brother. My mom had told me how good he was and his love for playing, but never understood it until I saw him actually perform.
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