Sonny’s Blues, Essay Example

 “I told myself that Sonny was wild, but he wasn’t crazy. And he’d always been a good boy, he hadn’t ever turned hard or evil or disrespectful, the way kids can, so quick, so quick, especially in Harlem”

This quotation is significant in very many ways. To begin with, it introduces the audience to Sonny, one of the main characters in the story. As the main protagonist, the character of Sonny has to be explained using these words for purposes of clarity. These words also introduce the reader to the main conflict in the story “Sonny’s Blues”. According to the quotation, Sonny’s character seems to have something to do with the problems he is facing.

The words also create suspense by virtue of being introduced in the story early on (in the fourth paragraph). As one reads on, it becomes clear that Sonny shared many character traits with his father, in that both of them had a sense of secrecy about them, something that made them succeed in withdrawing into their inner selves in the face of seemingly insurmountable problems.

The quotation is also significant in that it describes the setting of the story. The reader, upon knowing something about the setting of the story, is able to relate all the information that is provided about Sony, with all other characters as well as the plot. The narrator uses these words to describe her brother in order for the reader to see similarities between Sonny and his father in terms of temperament.

Additionally, this quotation brings out the parallelism that exists between the narrator’s circumstances and those of his father before him. Both of them went through emotional agony after their younger brothers’ lives took a fateful turn. The narrator feels that he should have been more protective of his brother Sonny. On the other hand, the narrator’s father feels that he should have protected his younger brother from the fatal accident. It is through this quotation that this parallelism becomes more profound.