The Blues of Brotherly Love

The Blues of Brotherly Love

In “Sonny’s Blue,” James Baldwin works to create an image of an obligation towards brotherly love. After the narrator’s father had died, his mother made him promise that he would take care of his younger brother Sonny when she herself died. The narrator goes through the trials and triumphs of brotherly love, as well as trying to understand what his brother is trying to do with his life with Jazz.

At the beginning of the story, the narrator even noted that he found out that his brother was in jail by the newspaper, and that Sonny didn’t even use his one phone call to call him and let him know (1). It was then that he even remembered the promise he made to his mother to take care of his younger brother. The tension between the two brothers was very outspoken, and at one part Sonny even tells his older brother to act like “he’s dead to him anyway” (184). The relationship between the two brothers is also similar to Cain and Abel from the bible. Although in the Bible, Cain murders Abel, that part is similar to the narrator to take care of Sonny after he was in prison and his life got plagued with drugs and poverty. Also, the brother- who is also the narrator- failed to take care of his brother and follow his promise he gave to his mother, but that as only temporary. By the end of the story, the narrator began to really take care of Sonny, and worry and watch over him as Sonny learns to grow, and do things for himself.

The idealistic vie of brotherly love stems into the community from the narrator and his younger brother Sonny. The city of Harlem is located in the northern part of New York, and is haunted with poverty, drugs, and frustration. People try to work together in the community try to get along and help one another through times of trouble. Even in the beginning of the story the narrator recognizes an old friend of Sonny’s ho was also into drugs, but then he recognizes that he is not that bad of a guy, and he even offers him some money (36). Later in the story, the narrator is watching a revival out the window, of a group of people dancing and singing together with his brother, Sonny (191). That kind of feeling in the community helps to create