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The short story entitled Sony’s Blues is discussing the secrets of family and community, as well as gives insight into family’s and community’s inability to communicate. The story involves family members: the narrator, who is the older brother of Sonny – a young man who learned communication through music and now strives to become a musician. His desire is supported by adoration of this music style, as blues is a combination of lyrics of social and personal significance mixed with great music.
The older brother who had managed to make something of himself is narrating the story of his brother Sonny, who has become a heroin addict and is leading a rebellious life. It is clear that the narrator disapproves the way chosen by his younger brother.. “I didn’t like the way he carried himself, loose and dreamlike all the time…and I didn’t like his friends, and his music seemed to be merely an excuse for the life he led. It just sounded weird and disordered” (126). Narrator’s negative attitude becomes even clearer when he says: “So I got mad and then he got mad, and then I told him that he might as well be dead as live the way he was living” (126). However this spiteful attitude is not 100% accurate, as while Sony is in prison, the narrator ponders of his responsibility to watch over his brother.
After Sonny is released, his brother welcomes him home, and they make peace. In the final scene Sonny is performing in a jazz club, and at this point his brother comes to understand his passion for blues, and how it helps Sonny overcome life’s difficulties. As the band starts playing “hit that” the older brother realizes that “the only light we’ve got in all this darkness” (139), and it becomes clear that music has become a new substitution for heroin, that shall grant him full freedom.
“Greasy Lake” is a short story narrated by an adolescent who considers that he and his friends are “bad characters”, however later in the story they discover that “bad” is not near what they thought it was, and living a perilous lifestyle is not their ballgame. Although they were trying to be bad, acting rebelliously, they forgot that they were not bad at heart. “If he is truly bad, he would not care his Mother’s car is damaged, and no car arriving would have stopped the rape” (115).
Although the characters are described as dangerous, one of them is “allowing his father to pay the tuition” (111), another wants to become a painter, and the protagonist drives his mother’s old car. These 19 year old kids are not from the slums, and are not tough guys with their own interpretation of life. They are simply teens who rebel against anything just because they want to look cool, acting and pretending that they are something they are not. And this is what makes them cross the line from normal teenagers to criminals, but they learn about that the hard way.
“Where are you going, where have you been?” is in a way an allegory, which describes the seductiveness of evil, as there are indication that the villain Arnold Friend is not human, but the devil. The deadly fatal attraction is clearly visible throughout the story. It is suggested the Arnold Friend is the devil by the knowledge of the dead neighbor, as well as what Connie’s family is doing at the picnic. Friend’s persuasive “smooth talk” is similar to the devil’s forked tongue, especially towards women.
Another diabolical allusion is when Friend refuses to come into Connie’s home, unless invited. Another vivid indication of the devilish nature could be considered the physical appearance of Arnold Friend, including, his mask and wig, unnatural eyes, as well as his boots turned at a strange angle, as though he had devil’s hooves for feet.
Works Cited
Baldwin, James and Kirby, George. Sonny’s Blues. Klett, 1994.
Boyle, T.C. Greasy Lake and Other Stories Penguin, 1986).
Oates, Joyce Carol. Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?. Rutgers University Press, 1994.
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