The setting of “Sonny’s Blues” is significant because Harlem isn’t just a location but it’s the reasons behind the characters struggles and the decisions they make. Harlem is looked at as a place where suffering is very common for those young people surrounded by poverty, drugs, addiction, with limited opportunities. the narrator shows that children grow up quickly enough to learn about hardships along the way before they are emotionally ready to face them. This alone shows how a person’s environment makes it impossible to move past the struggle and keep them stuck in the same cycle. Baldwin states” These boys, now, were living as we’d been living then, they were growing up with a rush and their heads bumped, abruptly against the low ceiling of their actual possibilities.” This proves that even when they are young, their surroundings and environment put a limit on what they can become. Whereas Harlem actively shapes the character’s lives, fear and decisions. Baldwin also states, “All they really knew were two darkness of the movies, which had regained them from the chaos today.” This shows that the environment is extremely suffocating. To the point where the characters constantly look for an escape, yet remain stuck between what is real and what isn’t.

The Relationship between Sonny and the narrator develops from distance to understanding, as both brothers learn to stop judging one another and start listening to each other. At first the narrator kept to himself; afraid of what could happen to Sonny. He even goes out to say “I was scared, scared for Sonny.” But instead of giving his brother a hand when he needed it the most, it caused distance and silence between them. By the very end, after watching his brother’s performance, the narrator finally understood that music to Sonny is a way of expressing himself, and also his way of surviving. Their relationship slowly improves when the narrator tor changes for the better.

One question I have after reading “Sonny’s Blues” is whether suffering is preventable for people growing up in Harlem?Or does it happen when there isn’t much support ? This question is important to me because both brothers grew up in the same environment, but handled their pain differently. This story showed that silence and the lack of understanding can push people into more suffering, which makes me wonder how much difference real support could make.