Friday, April 4, 2008

Sonny's Blues

This story really shows us family relationships. This story tickled me. It reminded me of my own family and how parents try to sugar coat everything. I'm wondering why that is, is it because at a young age we can't handle the truth or are they trying to shield us from so unknown harm. Why do we make promises we can't keep. I can't stand when parents ask us look after your siblings. I mean we can't sheild them from harm as much as we can sheild ourselves from harm. Why do parents have this high expectation for us, aren't they suppose to be the ones to look out for us.

This story also helped me to understand how drugs play a role in the family dynamics. drugs not only hurt the person doing them, they also hurt the people around them. This story remined me of an African-American family living in a government housing project. I've seen all the things mentioned in this story and I have felt some of the feelings in this story. The feelings of hoplessness and dispair are prelent in communities such as these.

This story tells how families are not the "joneses" they appear to be. It's funny how Sonny's brother tried to act like an older brother after their mother died. He never paid any intrest in anything Sonny did. Now all of a sudden he wants to bash Sonny's idea of becoming a drummer.

8 comments:

Jovi said...

I agree. I do believe that some families give the responsibility of watching over family memebers. But if it comes down to it, I would do my best to help out my family memebers who need help. Also didn't like the way that Sonny's brother treated Sonny. It's like he was treating him like a little kid and didn't believe in his dreams. I'm glad that Sonny at the end proved him wrong and showed his brother how he can reach for his dreams.

Alice said...

I think it is nice how you talked about not everything being how they seem. I think that expression pretty much sums up life. We all have internal things going on that can't be seen externally. It also reminds me of Bone Black, which would be an interesting thing to talk about in an essay. I really liked your thoughts on parental roles and how they give responsibility to their children, who still may need some raising themselves to raise their siblings. Being the younger sibling, I don't really know that aspect of family dynamics, but it is interesting to hear about it.

caleigh said...

I agree SO much with what you had to say. I am the oldest sibling in my family, so my parents ALWAYS ask me to look out for my younger siblings, whether it being litteraly babysitting or look out for them in life. It bothers me, because i am defentily not perfect and make so many mistakes, so how am i supposed to shield my brother and sisters from things i do or things i have done. It is such a huge responsibilty to have younger siblings, it always seems when they cant deal with the stress of parenting they push it off onto the older sibling.
It is difficult, but hey, thats family. And with the drug thing, i have expierenced that in my family, and it defenitly effects the whole family and not just the individual. But when you have a strong enough family then i feel like you can really overcome so many things.

Gameguy614 said...

Hey Shakerrie
I agree with what you said about parents for the most part. I agree with what you said about the sugar coating and them supposed to be looking out for us. I cant stand it when parents sugar coat stuff for their kids, mainly because my parents never did it to me. I think that when they ask you to do things they are doing a part of their job as parents and that is preparing you for life. They aren't always going to be there and when they are asking you to take care of the house or your little siblings they are just preparing you for life without them. Thats just my opinion though.I also think what you said about the writers insight about how drugs affect a family were very true. If someone in your family is openly doing drugs it's not just them thats suffering. I think your opinion about this story has been very inciteful

J Reid said...

I also believe that paretns try to sugar coat things for their kids. They sugar coat the things to a ceratin age, and then they complelty drop the act and everything changes. Growing up is hard enugh, so maybe they just want to make thigns easier and help us to stay kids longer, or maybe they just dont feel like explaining why things go badly.

~*Shannon*~ said...

I think that parents try to protect the young ones from trouble before it too late and this is why everything is sugarcoated. But as we can see in this story if it was destined for someone to do something they WILL find a way.

Clary said...

What do you mean when you say parents "sugar coat" everything as it pertains to the story? I do agree that many parents do this and for the reason you provide. How drugs affect family relationships would be a fascinating topic to explore. As other have said, it doesn't affect just the user.

So how is this story about the plight of African Americans specifically? What is the darkness that is constantly being referred to? How is the darkness both within and without?

Caitlin Britton said...

It's interesting to hear that the way I write is the same way I talk. Is this a good thing? I like your observation.

Yes, parents do put a lot of stress on their children about talking care of siblings. I am also wondering what they think will come out of it, since it is true that no person can be any more careful of another person than themsleves. Maybe they do this because they feel obligated to because they want to make sure that they are being, or at least so they think they are being good parents.