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Analysis: To Get Out Of Harlem

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At the end of the story, the narrator seems to reveal to us the true power of Sonny and the music that he plays. Sonny was a drug addict. He was addicted with heroin long before his mother died and “wanted to leave Harlem so bad .. to get away from drugs” (272). Sonny saw jazz as a medium for liberation of his sufferings but narrator had a very little respect of jazz musicians and urged his brother to re-think his decision for the sake of his future. While most part of the story only talks about the crazy and wild parts of sonny’s nature as he was trying his best “to get out of Harlem” (264) we wasn’t given any clue about his musical talent prior to the end of the story, “you got a real musician in your family” (272). After listening his brother

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