As I read James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues", I felt I was reading a story of my life. It is hard to understand a loved one who you feel is slipping into darkness, whether it is through drugs, alcohol, or abuse. In the case of this story and in my case I felt I was loosing this person to drugs. Sometimes we fail to understand our loved ones because of feelings we ourselves are dealing with. It is hard enough to understand what someone different from ourselves feel, let alone someone who feel is doing wrong. This story tells of how a struggling brotherly relationship is healed through acceptance and recognition. .
"Sonny's Blues", is about a man who hears that his brother named Sonny, who is addicted to heroin is in trouble. This man has not talk to his brother in quite some time. While the brother is in jail they began to rebuild their relationship through letters. When the brother returns home to New York the relationship and the man go through a lot of feelings and emotions that had been suppressed for long time. Because this man opened his heart and mind he was able to better understand why his brother lived the life he did. This was always hard for him to comprehend because the lifestyle of his brother was so different from his. .
My mother and father got a divorce when I was fours years old. My father was in to many things that ripped the relationship at the seams, such as drugs. I had not seen my father for along time. I always heard through the family that he was in and out of jail and still using. This bothered me but at the same time I kind of brushed it off. I did not let myself miss something I never had. I never let myself understand why he did what he did. I knew it was wrong and wanted no part of it or him. About two years ago I received a letter from my father. To my surprise I wrote back. Ever since that first letter we have been writing to each other. I know that he cannot make up for the past; I am not looking for a father now.