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Haley Cobb
Professor Marconette
ENGL 1302
Paper 4
3/30/15
A Brother’s Point of View “Sonny’s Blues”, by James Baldwin describes what it is like, for a black male in Harlem, in the 1930’s, and the way music helps someone express themselves. It is told in first-person by Sonny’s younger brother who tells the story through many people. He is very descriptive and really captures what others around him are saying and doing. Sonny’s Blues shows the complex relationship between brothers (Shmoop Editorial). Starting off, you don’t know that the narrator is Sonny’s brother right away. When you do, you realize they have sort of an estranged relationship. The brother as the narrator shows a different point of view rather than hearing it from Sonny himself. The brother is telling the story in first-person and his point of view is limited omniscience. You are able to know what the brother is thinking and feeling, but you cannot tell what Sonny’s brother is actually thinking or how he really feels. Having Sonny as a narrator would not be a good idea considering his addictions; “how clear-headed would we expect him to be” (Shmoop Editorial)? Although in some cases it is good to have Sonny’s brother as the narrator telling the story from his point of view, it can also be difficult “since he is so emotionally involved” (Shmoop Editorial). Is his
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recollection of the story really all that accurate? He does not understand what his brother is going through or what he went through, so it would be difficult to tell that part from his point of view