Plot of Sonny's Blues

1.       Read the first few paragraphs and then stop. What potential for conflict do you see here? What do you expect to happen in the rest of the story?  (For this particular story, what effect does the use of “it” throughout the first two paragraphs have on you as a reader?)

a.       I see potential conflict between two brothers over life decisions. I can see that one brother has lost contact with another and is now shocked to find out that his estranged brother has been busted for drugs during a raid. I expect the story to unfold a troubling relationship between the two brothers, to provide some background, and to see their relationship as it is now unfold. The use of the word “it” makes me feel as though “it” is being used to replace a description of an even that happened that is so horrible that he doesn’t want to say it aloud, or talk about “it”. It means to me that this brother cares deeply for the other, otherwise he would not be bothered so much by the article.

2.       What is the inciting incident or destabilizing event? How and why does this event destabilize the initial situation?

a.       Sonny and the Narrator have an argument about Sonny becoming a musician. The narrator disagrees with this decision. This event destabilizes the initial situation because it is the new reason for rise of conflict between Sonny and the narrator.

3.       How would you describe the conflict that ultimately develops?  To what extent is it external, internal, or both? What, if any, complications or secondary conflicts arise?

a.       The conflict that develops is the narrators struggle between being happy with his success and wanting to escape the hurt of his past and, now, his present with his brother. I think that the conflict is predominantly internal, but with the secondary conflicts being external. Some example of the secondary conflicts in the story would be the location of where they live, how hard it will be for Sonny to escape his world of drug addiction with that lifestyle still surrounding him every day.

4.       Where, when, how, and why does the story defy your expectations about what will happen next? What in this story—and in your experience of other stories—created these expectations?

a.       At the end of the story when Sonny’s brother goes to watch him perform, I didn’t think that would ever happen, but even furthermore, I did not expect for Sonny’s brother to have the realization that he did while watching him perform. He finally sees how music is Sonny’s escape, and the way that the story was set up, with his brother always doubting and never allowing himself to experience those feelings that there may be hope after all for his brother, made me feel that the story would end like that. I felt as though this was not a story that would provide a hopeful feeling in the end, I thought it was going to be more of a realistic, very small step in the right direction at the end, possibly. When instead, he had a revelation.

5.       What is the climax or turning point? Why and how so?

a.       The climax is definitely when Sonny and his brother begin arguing in the apartment. They both share their feelings of anger, and struggles with abandonment, etc. Sonny’s brother admits to not being able to fully understand Sonny and his desire to be a musician. This is the climax because this is where it all comes out, everything that has been unspoken and just buried beneath the surface, is spoken out loud.

6.       How is the conflict resolved? How and why might this resolution fulfill or defy your expectations? How and why is the situation at the end of the story different from what it was at the beginning?

a.       The conflict really does not get fully resolved until the very end of the story when Sonny’s brother goes to watch him perform. I see this as resolution because it means that his brother is at least opening up to the idea that he actually knows nothing about Sonny’s world, and maybe there are things that he needs to see in order to understand why he makes different life choices than what he thinks Sonny should be making. This situation at the end of the story is completely different from in the beginning because in the beginning Sonny’s brother was always doubting and disagreeing with everything that Sonny says and thinks (even if he did not voice it every time). Now, he is opening himself up to Sonny’s world, where Sonny gives his brother a different meaning to the word success.

7.       Looking back at the story as a whole, what seems especially significant and effective about its plot, especially in terms of the sequence and pace of the action?

a.       The way that the author paints a picture of what Harlem is like, for the rest of us to understand it, really gives significance to the struggles and challenges of everyday life there. It also gives huge significance to the success that Sonny’s brother has as a teacher with a family. The plot is effective in setting the pace for the story in the sense that you can tell when something is going to happen with Sonny, and it helps you to understand the feelings and decisions made of each of the characters.

8.       Does this plot follow any common plot pattern? Is there, for example, a quest of any kind? Or does this plot follow a tragic or comedic pattern?

a.       The quest in the story is definitely for the two brothers to grow closer, build a relationship, or at least to understand each other. There are many tragedies throughout, stories of people dying and other stories of substance abuse.