Character

In the story “Sonny’s Blues,” the minor characters help to develop the two main characters, Sonny and his brother the narrator. Sonny’s character develops through Creole, and the narrator’s character develops through their parents.
From the beginning of the story, Sonny’s character is portrayed as young, immature, careless, and very stubborn. He wants to pursue a career as a musician but ends up going to jail for a period of time. He refuses to give into his brother’s belief of doing things because you should do it versus doing something because you want to. All the way up to the beginning of the story, Sonny is the same person and there is no improvement in his character. This is up until the end of the story, when Sonny goes onstage to perform with Creole. At first, Sonny struggles and almost caves in on his fear. Instead of giving into that fear, Creole creates time with the band to allow Sonny to get over his fear. Instead of having the band move on without Sonny, Creole allows Sonny to recuperate and join the band. Although this may seem insignificant, it is significant in the development of Sonny’s character. In his life, Sonny has always been told what to do and what not to do. But in this moment, Sonny made a decision to come out of his shell, and he excelled. His character came to life, showing his maturation into an adult.
The narrator’s character, unlike his brother Sonny, develops through his parents. At one point in the story, the narrator recalls a conversation with his mother about his father’s past. She tells him that his father and his father’s brother were drunk one night and an accident happened. His father’s brother was hit by a car and killed because his father did not look after his younger brother. The narrator took this personally and builds his character around this event. He believes that it is his responsibility to take care of his younger brother and to look out for him no matter what happens. When Sonny goes to jail, his brother feels that he has failed him, and that he has let his parents down. The narrator has taken on the role of the “parent” and his character builds around this principle.