“Sonny’s Blues,”

In “Sonny’s Blues,” Baldwin has two main characters: Sonny and his brother. They each choose very different lifestyles and have a very difficult time understanding each other’s choices. Sonny’s brother often narrates with a sense of bafflement over Sonny’s love of music and drug addition–both part of the world that he inhabits.

After reading the story, reflect on an incident when you and a family member took a very different perspective. Why did you “see” this event differently? How was it resolved?