“Escape the Darkness”

Our narrator finds an ethical duty to guide his younger brother. As Sonny was orphaned as a teenager, he feels the needs to protect Sonny from the impoverished, violent life in Harlem. They were both in search of something more, a way out from the darkness. Our narrator feels as though he has escaped what happens to so many but has somehow failed to save Sonny. He throughout the story searches himself in where he went wrong in guiding Sonny, in the end finds that Sonny needed to find his own way out.

Our narrator was very young when forced into the position to keep his promise made to his mother, that he would protect Sonny from being “sucked under” (Sipiora 86). He attempted from the start to impose what he thought were positive goals in him. He did not want Sonny’s life to be wasted. He wanted Sonny to make something of his life. It is very clear Sonny had his own ideas of what he wanted out of life. In his dream of traveling to India he had hopes to find a greater understanding of the human spirit. Its unclear if this is a result of what he was up made of or if the drugs help shape this desire. He was more of the creative nature from the beginning. Private and difficult to get inside most likely made him more of the creative nature.

Very aware of the darkness that engulfs everyone in Harlem; aware that soon they would bump their heads “against the low ceiling of their actual possibilities” (Sipiora 79). The narrator remembers being sheltered from the sad truth of what was in store for them at a young age. His intention is to somehow shelter Sonny the same way. However, just by being alive their story has already been told. Sonny already had a taste of Harlem and he knew he needed to get out. The narrator was unaware until years later that it was to late. Sonny had already been touched by the darkness. The struggle of the two forces began. It was already to late to save Sonny from himself. He needed to find his own way out. Eventually in tears our narrator surrenders Sonny to his own free will.

Sonny found the one thing in life that made sense to him, jazz. He found that he could express himself in the form of music. All the frustration and rage that he felt inside could be released into this form. Sonny felt pity for the souls that were trapped by doing something that did not make them happy. By any means he was going to avoid the trap. Sonny’s other escape mechanism in life heroin, very quickly engulfed him. His intentions were not to hurt anyone or himself simply to escape the suffering of life. He felt the powerlessness of the world around him. In this he would retreat to “out of the world” (Sipiora 96) to find a place in it.

It is understandable that Sonny’s lifestyle would disgust the narrator. Understanding why Sonny would choose this life style did not make practical sense to him. He felt it was beneath Sonny to behave this way. He saw Sonny potential and felt it was wasted both in music and the heroin. On the other hand, Sonny felt that not doing what truly made him happy was beneath him. In the end Sonny come to terms with his demons and finds his escape through the music he creates. Our narrator finds a greater understanding of who his brother is. With this discovery he finds peace with his need to try to change him.

Sipiora, Phillip. Reading and Writing About Literature. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2002