Although it represents only a small example for comparison, there are specific points in this story where the lives of Sonny and his brother coincide with that of James Baldwin; the location of the story dates back to his childhood; the fact that the narrator's name is never mentioned and that the other characters are referred to by their family position suggests Baldwin's feelings about his place in his own family; as the eldest child and the only one in the house who did not share biological parents. If there was any further doubt as to whether a writer draws on his own life to create his own stories, James Baldwin himself states, “You write from only one thing: your own experience.” (Baldwin) Sonny's Blues is the story of a man and his brother struggling to rebuild their relationship after a long rift; opens with the man learning that Sonny has been arrested for heroin possession, something Baldwin certainly had some exposure to growing up in Harlem and then living in Greenwich Village. While Sonny is imprisoned, the man loses his daughter, prompting him to write to his brother, and they start collaborating again...