Parker Verhoeff

Mr. Salsich

9^th grade English

21 September 2008

Two Brothers:

An Essay on an Essay by, Suzy B. Goldman

The essay, “James Baldwin’s ‘Sonny’s Blues’: A Message in Music”, by Suzy B. Goldman, a writer for Negro American Literature Forum, talked about how you have to listen to each other to understand each other. It was extremely well-written and she explained her thesis very well. This was, truly, a captivating read. The essay shows how two brothers, who are not alike in anyway, can eventually appreciate one another.

Goldman tells us about the complex theme in, “Sonny’s blues”; you have to listen to each other. Sonny and his brother didn’t see eye to eye at first. Goldman explains they tried to understand each other but there was no way the older brother could even comprehend Sonny’s pain, and vice versa. His mother finally tells the eldest one about their father’s brother. Their uncle was killed one night, after being hit by a car full of drunken white men; it was catastrophic for the father. The mother just wanted to tell the narrator to keep sonny close, because you’ll never know when you’ll lose him forever. This prompted the narrator to get in touch with Sonny and finally here him play his music. It, in turn, made him finally realize what Sonny had to go through, by listening to his music he finally, “hears, that is, ‘Sonny’s Blues’” (Goldman).

I agree with the message that Goldman was trying to point out because it was so true: listen to each other; you need to make yourself heard, before it’s too late. Sonny was, Goldman says, “unheard by [his] fellow men”, he was out there playing his heart out for so long while nobody listened to him. He was in a time of need but he didn’t know it, and the narrator couldn’t sense it. Goldman explained that it’s a story about communication between people, or lack there of, and how it can really make or break a relationship. I realized the two brothers didn’t understand each other at all; the oldest didn’t know what was going on in his brother’s life, and Sonny just wanted to do what he wanted to do. I finally became conscious of the terrible relationship these two brothers had. You could tell that the brother regretted it but, It was too late he had lost him a long time ago. But there was hope, one small chance that he could finally hear Sonny play his heart out, he wanted to be there when Sonny made himself heard. In the end he did, he felt his little brother’s pain, he could see his sorrow, and he at last listened to, “Sonny’s blues”.

This essay really brought into light the true values of life. You have to understand each other. There’s no worse feeling in the world, then being unheard by your one and only brother. But you are the only person that can change that, make yourself heard, take time to just appreciate and listen to one and other, before you lose each other forever.

Works Cited

Suzy Bernstein Goldman. "Sonny's Blues: James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues": A Message in Music." Short Stories for Students. Ed. Marie Rose Napierkowski. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 1998. eNotes.com. January 2006. 19 September 2008. .