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Drug Addiction Theme

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The drug addiction initializes suffering and derives all aspects of suffering especially in the world of youth. Sonny grew up in a family in Harlem, where he got drug addiction in his childhood. He had to attend military to keep away from drugs while he always dreamt to become a jazz musician. However, after military, he returned to New York with his unchanged addiction. Due to drug usage, he was arrested. His brother, the narrator, scorned him and could not bear his addiction. Listening to Sonny play in a nightclub, the narrator eventually understood him, forgave him and accepted him as a musician. The theme of suffering provides both the two brothers, especially Sonny, with the opportunity to grow up mentally. Growing up in a corrupting and declining community, Sonny, by nature, had been suffering from drugs and poverty at his very young age; in …show more content…

Arrested and put into the jail, Sonny was so decent a child as to review his past, to regret what he had done wrong, and to show his willingness to change, as he stated in his letter replying to the narrator’s mail, “I swear if I’d known what I was doing I would never have hurt you so, you and a lot of other fine people who were nice to me and who believed in me.” (Baldwin 5) Instead of developing violence such as stealing, rubbering or killing, Sonny was getting matured gradually with the opportunity provided by the theme of suffering, although he was still very young. Meanwhile, Sonny’s brother, the narrator, was struggling to conquer his own suffering ,and hence was maturing as well. Consequently, his suffering made him mature in his young adulthood. Sonny’s brother started to listen to Sonny sincerely, although he was still unable to cool down while they discussed about the suffering and the future. In a way, with the opportunity provided by the theme of suffering, Sonny’s brother was getting mature

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