Sonny Blues

Rodrigo Colindres

EN102

Prof Raquel Corona

            When reading “Sonny Blues”, I was able to empathize with the Sonny’s older brother (narrator), due to the fact that I have three younger brothers of my own. Growing up one of them always seemed to find himself in the middle of trouble. He ended up having to one of those juvenile detention centers for a year. When he returned although I was ecstatic to have him back, I found myself, not knowing how to approach him sometimes. I just wanted what was best for him, but I didn’t know how to communicate this to him without him getting defensive. I didn’t want him to think I didn’t trust him, but I also wanted to keep an eye out for him. All in all I just didn’t want anything like that to happen to him again. Especially me being his older brother, it felt like my duty, one that I had already failed to some degree in my mind when he had to go away to begin with. So when the narrator speaks about wanting to check in on his brother to make sure he staying clean I understood in a way. Also when Sonny got out he thought about how he would react to his freedom. I did the same, I hoped my brother would learn from his experience at the juvenile center and come out with a different perspective. When the narrator speaks about Sonny going back to his music, I could tell he was a little hesitant because he thought that could lead to his brother using again. Him hanging out with his previous acquaintances going back to past environments; he couldn’t help but be afraid in the least bit. This too was a feeling I was familiar with. When my brother came back, I didn’t want him hanging out with his with his previous cohorts, fearful that he may be tempted to behave how he had before leaving. I felt almost as if I started crowding him with because of how worried I was about him. As time went by I started to see my brothers progress, despite a few hiccups here and there. All in all, I think its only natural to worry about those you care about especially a sibling. It’s just genuine urgency for them to be ok in life.