Compare and Contrast the 2 Brothers in Sonnys Blues

The story, greenhorns Blues, describes the lives of two brothers growing up in Harlem in the early 1960s. feller and his brother are divers(prenominal) in the way the go about carriage in general. They were both raised in the same household, yet they grew up to be totally different people. As the story progresses we see that both brothers puddle troubles in their lives and we take hold of to see how separately thinks and acts when facing such or caboodles. While the brothers differ in the way they internalize and cope with their problems, they both show selfish characteristics, and ultimately feel remorseful for non being in each others lives.The cashier though an educator, is non real good at verbalizing his emotions. He t hold ons to be the person who notes everything inner and lets all his emotions turn to resentment. When he rig out his brother had been arrested he still couldnt verbalize how he felt get a bulkying his brother was a junkie, I couldnt believe it exclusively what I mean by that is that I couldnt find whatever manner for it anywhere inside me. I had unploughed it outside me for a coarse time. I hadnt wanted to know.I had had suspicions, but I didnt name them, I kept putting them off (Baldwin). For many years, the narrator has been stuffing his emotions down, ultimately resulting in complete disassociation from situations for example his mothers and daughters death Also after determination out that Sonny was arrested, he sees a kid that was friends with Sonny and mechanically has anger for him even though realistically he had nothing to do with Sonnys arrest, But now, abruptly, I hated him. I couldnt sustain the way he looked at me (Baldwin).That narrator is unable to cope and deal with problems as they come, instead he acts like a child, sort of fold his arms and giving the silent treatment or automatically saltation to conclusions to put himself on a pedestal. Sonny runs away from his problems, both mentally and ph ysically. Even though he is facing his problems head on as opposed to the brother who sweeps things under the rug, he does it in a corrosive manner. Physically he ran away from Harlem to get away the stereotype of that area. At first he turns to music to fix his problems, and then heroin.Sonny left school, and coupled the navy to get as far away from Harlem as he possibly could. When Sonny returns from prison, he tried explaining to his brother what music does for him, Its not so much to play. Its to stand it, to be able to make it at all. On any level(Baldwin). He frowned and smiled In order to keep from shaking to pieces. He didnt want to be a prisoner of Harlem anymore, but became a prisoner to heroin. At first Sonny did not feel that heroin was necessarily a bad thing, It makes you feel-in control.Sometimes youve got to take hold that whole step (Baldwin). Sonny feels that even while all doped up on heroin, he feels in control of his life and his circumstances. Even though Sonny takes on different approaches in finding sense in his life whether through the army, music, or heroin, they do not realistically solve any of his problems they just mask his confusion and indecision temporarily. In my opinion the narrator, is a very selfish man, he only(prenominal) cares about his feelings and not those nigh him.The narrator broke his shout to his mother to take care of Sonny, deuce days later I was married, and then I was gone. And I had a lot of things on my mind and I pretty well forgot my promise to Mama until I got shipped home on a special can for her funeral (Baldwin). The narrators mother wanted the boys to be close, because they impart only have each other when their parents pass away. Also, the narrator has a very judgmental outlook on people, he does not let anyone estate their opinion and even if he does he isnt truly listening.In an communication channel with Sonny, I hear you. But you never hear anything I say. Sonny is obviously upset tha t his brother doesnt respect his wishes to pursue a music career, along with wanting to go to the navy. Both brothers leave home, the narrator when he gets married, and Sonny when he decides to pursue his life as a musician. Neither of them take into account their mother, or each other for that consider when they go on living their lives. They both feel guilty for not being as close to each other as they could have been.Sonny makes that clear in a letter he bring outs the narrator, Dear brother, You dont know how much I needed to hear from you. I wanted to economise you many a time but I dug how much I must have hurt you and so I didnt writeand I swear if Id known what I was doing I would never have hurt you so (Baldwin). Sonny feels bad for abandoning the family, and turning to drugs and even though he does it after sometime, he has the courage to say that hes sorry for his actions.Towards the end of the story, when the brothers are conversing in the apartment, the narrator real izes how his silent treatment and cold demeanor has affected his brother. I realized, with this mocking look, that there stood in the midst of us, forever, beyond the power of time or forgiveness, the fact that I had held silence-so long -when he had needed human speech to help him (Baldwin). Just from a look that Sonny gives him, he understands that Sonny needed his guidance and aliveness through all these years. In conclusion, both brothers are on a pretty harmful way of solving their problems.The narrator lets things fester inside until he explodes. Then there is Sonny while yes, he is hard new ways to manage, at the end of the day is running away from his problems. Both brothers only worried about themselves and their needs, uncomplete take in to account their families the people that need them the most. Luckily towards the end of the story they both sort of come to a mutual catch of each other. I think they both realize neither of them will really change how they are, and they both just need to be concord of each other.