Toward the end of the short story, “Sonny’s Blues,” as he is trying to explain his addiction to heroin and his passion for music, Sonny tells the narrator that everyone tries to find a way not to suffer, even the narrator himself.
Write an essay in which you discuss examples of suffering in the community? What are the narrator’s ways of coping with his pain and fear? Sonny? Community members? What element consistently offers hope to the people of Harlem?
