Sonny's Blues Summary

A teacher in Harlem reads in the newspaper that there was a raid on an apartment downtown and his brother was arrested for selling and using heroin. After school, the teacher runs into an old friend of his brother who tells him that the police will clean his brother up and release him, but that most likely will not cure him of his addiction. The man also tells the teacher that he feels guilty because he feels like he encouraged the brother, Sonny, to start using heroin. The teacher does not attempt to contact his brother at first, but when he finally writes him after his own daughter dies, he feels guilty for not having done it before. From then on, the teacher writes his brother regularly.

When Sonny is released from prison, he comes to Harlem and moves in with...