The Changes In The Narrator’s View Of Sonny Essay, Research Paper

The Changes in the Narrator’s View of Sonny

Can one know another’s thoughts? Through dialogue, actions, and events, the

thoughts and views of a man of whom we know not even a name are shown. The man

is the narrator of “Sonny’s Blues” and his thoughts we are shown are those

directed towards his brother. Over the course of the story, there are three

major stages or phases that the narrator goes through, in which his thoughts

about his brother change. We see that those stages of thought vary greatly over

the narrator’s life, from confusion about his brother to understanding. Each

phase brings different views of his own responsibility toward his brother, his

brother’s manhood, and his brother’s sense of reality.

Through out the story, three of the narrator’s view are changed, the first of

which is Sonny’s manhood. During the first phase, early in the story, the

narrator showed that he viewed Sonny as a child. “I was beginning to realize

that I’d never seen him so upset before… [and decided this was] one of those

things kids go through and that I shouldn’t make it seem important.”(49) This

quote is an example of how the narrator viewed his brother. He not only thought

Sonny acted as a kid, but was also too young to be planning a future or career.

“He still wasn’t a man yet, he was still a child, and they had to watch out for

him in all kinds of ways.”(51) The narrator decided that he would plan Sonny’s

future and when Sonny rebelled, the narrator saw it as yet another childish

action.

Another way in which the narrator’s overall view changed was his view on whether

Sonny’s idea of reality was sound. Still in the first phase, the narrator often

presents his view of reality and when Sonny rejects it, the narrator feels Sonny

is being unreasonable. For instance, “‘Well Sonny,’ I said, gently, “you know

people can’t always do exactly what they want to do-’ ‘No I don’t think that,’

said Sonny, surprising me.”(49) Actually, Sonny understood life much more

clearly than the narrator, but the narrator did not realize that then. He

thought that perhaps Sonny was just too young or too high on drugs to understand

what life was about.

Finally, the third view changed was the narrator’s responsibility towards Sonny.

Before the brothers’ mother died, the narrator promised he would take it upon

himself to take care of Sonny should the mother die. The narrator viewed Sonny

as a responsibility he had. Because of the promise made to his mother, he felt

he owed it to his mother to take care of Sonny. Therefore, whenever he did

something for Sonny it was because his mother had wanted him to, not because he

cared about Sonny. As soon as taking care of Sonny stopped working with his

schedule, he sent him to his mother-in-law’s house. During the story, however, a

long separation brought the narrator into his second stage of thinking, and

changed his views of Sonny. The narrator recognized that Sonny wasn’t just a kid

any more. Sonny had been in the Navy and had been living on his own for some

time. Yet he didn’t see him as a man either. “He was a man by then, of course,

but I wasn’t willing to see it.”(52) He saw Sonny as a teenager of sorts. Sonny

dressed strangely, became family with strange friends, and listened to still

stranger music.” In the narrator’s eyes, Sonny foolishly thought he knew

everything. Even though the narrator’s views on Sonny’s manhood changed, during

the second stage his feelings about Sonny’s sense of reality didn’t. When he saw

Sonny after Sonny’s stay in the Navy, the narrator still viewed Sonny as if he

were on drugs. “He carried himself, loose and dreamlike all the time, …and his

music seemed to be merely an excuse for the life he led. It sounded just that

weird and disordered.”(52) He thought that Sonny had been driven even farther

from reality than before. He thought that Sonny’s view of reality was so

distorted that he might as well have been dead. Unlike his views on Sonny’s

sanity, when his views on Sonny’s manhood changed so he thought, did his

responsibility toward Sonny. He began fighting regularly with Sonny, “Then

[Sonny] stood up and he told me not to worry about him anymore in life, that as

he was dead as far as I was concerned.”(52) During this time in which the

narrator thought Sonny was acting as a teenager he forsook his promise all

together. The narrator did not communicate with his brother at all for some time.

During this time of no communication, he felt that he could do nothing more and

could not be held responsible for what happened to Sonny.

As the story nears completion, a single event brings the narrator out of the

second phase and into his third phase. It is in this final pahse that the

narrator obtains a true understanding of Sonny. The death of the narrator’s

daughter Grace was so devastating to the narrator that he said, “My trouble made

his real”(53). The narrator finally felt the pain and despair that had plagued

his brother for so long. It was at that moment that the narrator found himself

understanding Sonny’s manhood. He was on the same level as his brother, and he

was finally seeing his brother as he truly was. When the narrator felt these

feelings he saw that Sonny was just a man that was steeped in despair and

deserved respect. All of the narrator’s views did not change at once. He had

already come to accept Sonny as a man before his views of Sonny’s sanity changed.

As he listened to Sonny’s emotional playing, he came to the realization that

Sonny had always understood what life was about. He listened to the playing and

recognized it as more than merely music. Through his mentioning the cup of

trembling, the cup that hold the anger of the Lord, he shows he understands what

Sonny has been through. He finally knew that Sonny’s songs, Sonny’s blues

weren’t weird or disordered but were actually a way to freedom. Finally, during

the third phase, the narrator finally started caring about Sonny instead of try

to care for Sonny. He no longer saw him as just something to be taken care of,

he finally began to see him as a brother. He became sensitive to what offended

Sonny and took caution to avoid them. He was willing to be interested in what

Sonny interested in. Finally, he was willing to sit and listen to Sonny instead

of telling him how to run his life. All of these were drastic changes from when

their mother had first died and improved the brothers’ relationship.

Through out the story it is as if the narrator is descending a stair well. Each

stage that the narrator goes through is another flight of stairs and each flight

of stairs he descends brings him closer to an understanding of Sonny. The

narrator descended one flight and it changed his views one way, another flight

and his views changed again. During the whole ordeal he can see Sonny, yet his

views of Sonny are distorted or blurred. After each stage he believes his new

view is the correct one, however it is not until he reaches the ground that he

gets a true idea of what Sonny is like. It is then that he brings himself down

to Sonny’s level and begins seeing Sonny as an equal.