Write a 300-word reflection on Sonny’s Blues.
Potential discussion topics/questions:
-Is the narrator reliable/unreliable? why?
-How would you describe the dynamic between the narrator and Sonny?
-p125: “I thought Sonny was a smart boy, I thought he was too smart to get hung.” Within the broader context of the story, how do we interpret this statement?
-How does the narrator react when Sonny’s friend asks him for money? Why, do you think?
-Discuss Sonny’s relationship with his father
-How does the narrator react to Sonny telling him he wants to be a jazz pianist? Why, do you think? When/where do they have the conversation, and why is the setting significant?
-What happens with the narrator’s daughter, little Grace? Why is the scene included in the story? What does Grace’s death prompt the narrator to do?
-page 140. Why do the bystanders not “especially believe in the holiness of the three sisters and brother?”
-Following the revival meeting scene, Sonny says the woman’s singing reminds him of what heroin feels like. How does the narrator react to this? Why do you think Sonny would say this to his brother, knowing that it would upset him?
-Sonny and the narrator have a conversation about suffering. Would you call their conversation a disagreement? What does Sonny tell the narrator?
-Discuss the theme of religion as it appears in the story
-Discuss the theme of race as it appears in the story
-Discuss the relationship between creativity and suffering within the context of the story
-What is Sonny doing on the piano at the end of the story? (besides the obvious, i.e., playing the piano)