Sonny's Music

We've had a few stories/poems this week that seem to deal with what it takes to truly view your fellow man as a person.  In Filling Station, the narrator at first sees a terrible, dirty gas station and then sees the love and care that's gone into it and realizes a loving family lives there just like hers. In Sonny's Blues our narrator never really understands his brother until he sees his reaction to the revival and then ultimately when he sees him play.  What it the spark that sets off this recognition in us to ultimately empathize with our fellow man?  What is the edge that we must cross or go over in order to see our struggling brothers or young children sitting at home as human beings just like we are?  The narrator has faced many of his own struggles in life, personal tragedies that have shaped his personality.  Why though are Sonny's tragedies not perceived until his brother sees him perform?

Read More »