Sonny s Blues A Story Based On A Boy - 1279 Words

Sonny’s Blues is a story based on a boy by the name of Sonny, and his brother who is the narrator of the story. In the story Sonny was addicted to heroin, sent to prison, and he and his brother didn’t have much of a relationship. On the other hand, Sonny’s older brother had his life together. He was well educated as he was a mathematics teacher with a family that he had to support. The short story has a lot of connections and relations to some of the biblical stories. One being the prodigal’s son, and the other story being Cain and Abel. Sonny’s Blues was also based on the sufferings of the African American Community, as Sonny and his brother lived in Harlem, New York. Some examples of their sufferings would be their childhood†¦show more content†¦The celebration consisted of a fatted calf being requested to be killed. This celebration leaves the older son upset, because he has worked very hard for all the years the younger son has been awa y living in sin. One would say this message leaves knowledge to the meaning of one can be found in their lost days. In the article The Biblical Foundation Of James Baldwin s Sonny s Blues written by James Tackach, Tackach writes about the biblical relations to the Prodigal’s son. Tackach says that the Prodigal’s Son and Sonny’s Blues are â€Å"sin and redemption† stories. (Tackach 113) The younger sons â€Å"return to their families and are praised and saved†, while the older sons lose grace, which results to the older brother in Sonny’s Blues actually losing Grace. (Tackach) The other connection that was made to the bible was the story of Cain and Abel, found in the book of Genesis. Cain and Abel were the sons of Adam and Eve. Cain was the eldest, and he was jealous of Abel. The jealousy came into play as they gathered their fruits and soil to provide for the Lord. The Lord was pleased with the amount of offering Abel had, but not so much with the amount of offering Cain had. Cain was later angry, which lead him to take Abel in the field to kill him. One may say Sonny and his brother’s relationship was killing them both on the inside, by them not speaking to each other. This accusation may be the reason Sonny’s brother had to contact Sonny for