sonny is or is not a sympathetic character

I think Sonny is sympathetic character considering the context of his life.The titular character of the short story, Sonny represents the other side of the African American experience. Struggling with drugs and depression, Sonny sinks down into the Harlem underworld, but finds meaning in a uniquely African American form of artistic expression: jazz. Through jazz, and particularly through the technically complex and abstract stylings of bebop, Sonny is able to both find himself and develop a connection to his heritage.

Sitting at the piano, Sonny is able not only to express himself but also to express the pain and suffering that have marked his family and the wider African American community. Through the blues, Sonny converts his personal pain into communal art. It is with music that Sonny is finally able to communicate with his older brother and make him understand the meaning of his life. Music is an outlet for Sonny, who throughout the story is never genuinely heard except through medium of the piano.