James Baldwin in his short story “Sonny’s Blues” illuminates the reader’s presumption of the narrator and Sonny by showing how they both change throughout the story. Baldwin successfully allows us to see how they both impacted each other’s lives. James Baldwin helps the readers understand the character’s change through present and past tense. Growing up in poverty took a tremendous toll on both of their lives. All throughout their lives they have seen the high crime rate and drugs being sold in front of them. Trying to be successful in Harlem was easy for the narrator, but it was extremely difficult for Sonny. The narrator became a teacher, raised a family, and got married, while sonny on the other had difficulty finding his inner self. In this story, the narrator and Sonny take separate paths in life. …show more content…
Growing up Sonny was a rambunctious child. While staying with Isabel’s parents , Sonny skipped school , and spent most of his time with other musicians. Sonny could feel he was a disappointment to everyone. This is what makes him the tragic character within the story. We can infer that there is something missing in him. “ I was all by myself at the bottom of something…” ( Baldwin ). All Sonny wanted to do was live. Music was Sonny’s way of life . When Sonny is on the piano not only does he use it to express himself and feelings , he also uses it to express the pain and suffering he has done to his family. Sonny uses the blues to express his pain and sufferings. Sonny has never connected with his brother. Through music, Sonny is finally able to connect with his brother,and it abled him to show the meaning of through most of his life. Even though Sonny is never really heard, music ables him to connect and communicate with
Baldwin, James. "Sonny's Blues." The Norton introduction to Fiction. 6th ed. Ed. Jerome Beaty. New York: Norton, 1996. 47-70.
In "Sonny's Blues" James Baldwin presents an intergenerational portrait of suffering and survival within the sphere of black community and family. The family dynamic in this story strongly impacts how characters respond to their own pain and that of their family members. Examining the central characters, Mama, the older brother, and Sonny, reveals that each assumes or acknowledges another's burden and pain in order to accept his or her own situation within an oppressive society. Through this sharing each character is able to achieve a more profound understanding of his own suffering and attain a sharper, if more precarious, notion of survival.
Several passages found throughout "Sonny's Blues" indicate that as a whole, the neighborhood of Harlem is in the turmoil of a battle between good and evil. The narrator describes Sonny's close encounters with the evil manifested in drugs and crime, as well as his assertive attempts at distancing himself from the darker side. The streets and communities of Harlem are described as being a harsh environment which claims the lives of many who have struggled against the constant enticement of emotional escape through drugs, and financial escape through crime. Sonny's parents, just like the others in Harlem, have attempted to distance their children from the dark sides of their community, but inevitably, they are all aware that one day each child will face a decisionb for the first time. Each child will eventually join the ranks of all the other members of society fighting a war against evil at the personal level so cleanly brought to life by James Baldwin. Amongst all the chaos, the reader is introduced to Sonny's special secret weapon against the pressures of life: Jazz. Baldwin presents jazz as being a two-edged sword capable of expressing emotions like no other method, but also a presenting grave danger to each individual who bears it. Throughout the the story, the reader follows Sonny's past and present skirmishes with evil, his triumphs, and his defeats. By using metaphorical factors such as drugs and jazz in a war-symbolizing setting, Baldwin has put the focus of good and evil to work at the heart of "Sonny's Blues."
The story begins with the narrator’s brother, Sonny, being arrested for using heroin. When the narrator discovers what has happened to his brother, he slowly starts to relive his past. Up to this point, the narrator had completely cut his brother and his childhood from his life. He disapproves of the past and does everything in his power to get rid of it. The narrator had become an algebra teacher and had a family who he moved to get away from the bad influences on the street. As a result, it is shown in the story that he has worked hard to maintain a good “clean” life for his family and himself. Readers can see that he has lived a good life, but at the toll of denying where he came from and even his own brother. For years, his constant aim for success had been successful. However, as the story progressed everything he knew started to fall apart.
Sonny looks for salvation from a variety of things in multitude of different places. Harlem is where Sonny started looking for salvation from, and he found it in doing Heroin and playing the blues. Sonny left Harlem before he even graduated high school, but he never truly left Harlem. Harlem latched on to Sonny in the form of a Heroin addiction. The narrator often blamed Sonny’s musical friends or his career choice as the reason for Sonny’s drug problem. In truth though it was a way for Sonny to deal with the suffering he saw in the world and he felt himself. Sonny felt good when he was playing music or shooting up so he thought those were salvation. When Sonny played his blues it gave him an outlet for the sadness that his soul held, and when he did heroin he was able to forget about it. For Sonny the two had very little to do with each other that can be seen in the scene when the brothers talk about his addiction and his career path, Sonny says, “ ‘It’s not so much to play. It’s to stand it, to be able to make it at all. On any level.’ He frowned and smiled: ‘In order to keep from shaking to pieces.” Sonny latter goes on to talk about how he felt the need to hide from the suffering people must go through because its just not right that people should suffer so much. To Sonny music and heroin were two different escapes but to the narrator they were one in the same,
... the miserable life that African Americans had to withstand at the time. From the narrator’s life in Harlem that he loathed, to the drug problems and apprehensions that Sonny was suffering from, to the death of his own daughter Grace, each of these instances serve to show the wretchedness that the narrator and his family had to undergo. The story in relation to Baldwin possibly leads to the conclusion that he was trying to relate this to his own life. At the time before he moved away, he had tried to make a success of his writing career but to no avail. However, the reader can only be left with many more questions as to how Sonny and the narrator were able to overcome these miseries and whether they concluded in the same manner in the life of Baldwin.
Sonny’s brother and him finally decided to reconcile when Gracie, Sonny’s niece, passed away at a young age. The brothers wrote back and forth and one thing became clear to Sonny’s brother, music affected him. Sonny’s brother always saw the music/jazz scene as an unhealthy lifestyle full of drugs and scandal. The only thing Sonny would really reinforce was that it was not because of the music. Sonny came back to New York after rehab from heroin and came to see the old neighborhood in Harlem. The brothers see that they have so much to be thankful for and that they will always have each other.
Jacques Lacan stated, “We emphasize that such a form of communication is not absent in man, however evanescent a naturally given object may be for him, split as it is in its submission to symbols.” However, throughout the short story “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin, symbols are being used to portray some of the characters action. From reading the story, it is evident that Sonny has a very strong love for music especially Jazz and Blues. Music can heal, transform, restore memories and elevate a person. This is seen throughout the entire story. Sonny and his brother were being transformed while he and the band performed. Also, the secondary source “Words and Music: Narrative Ambiguity in Sonny’s Blues’ by Keith Byerman, supports music as a key element in the story. Symbolism is being used to present a more vivid point to the readers so that they can identify with the story. In my essay, I will be analyzing James Baldwin’s short story “Sonny Blues” with a focus on symbolism.
The narrator whose name is unknown finds out that his brother Sonny was incarcerated for the use of and dealing heroin, raised in a society where being afraid of fear is constantly affecting both of their life’s in turmoil. “He was frightening me a little” (Baldwin 19). Fear shaped the older brother in becoming an Algebra teacher, endeavoring to save his younger brother from a lifestyle of street habits, influence specifically on drug abuse. According to the narrator, he expects Sonny to follow his footsteps in finishing an education because “If you don’t finish school now, you’re going to be sorry later that you didn’t” (Baldwin 20), in addition the narrator describes the life of Sonny “weird and disordered” (Baldwin 21). The narrator uses his fear to form a communication with his brother, however Sonny’s decision of freedom in becoming a professional musician, and escaping misfortunate moments is not in communion. Thus, Sonny feels neglected by his older brother’s expectations and judgments based on his own future. “I think people ...
The story of “Sonny Blues” emphasizes two brothers building a relationship, having flashbacks, and being there for each other when they need it the most. The story starts off by making mistakes because Sonny starts using drugs and running away from home in Harlem. Then by the end of the story Sonny finds his path as a musician and becomes successful, due to listening to his older brother advice, and chasing for his dreams. Although, the story shares good moments and bad moments it inspires readers to open up their mind by being a good brother or sister to their young sibling. Everything is possible as long as we have that support, and set our self-goals and achieve them.
The narrator allows Sonny to move into his apartment. By allowing Sonny to live with him he has allowed to trust him again. For example, the narrator explains, “The idea of searching Sonny’s room made me still. I scarcely dared to admit to myself what I’d be searching for. I didn’t know what I’d do if I found it. Or if I didn’t” (pg. 91). This shows how the narrator had the opportunity to search his brother’s room, but had the ability not to. Tension grew among brothers while living under one roof. This starts the climax of both arguing in the apartment. The narrator doesn’t understand why his brother wants to be a musician. This argument was built of emotion both had and not yet discussed among each other. Such as the narrator expressing his anger towards his brother’s drug use and Sonny’s frustration towards the narrator not understanding his plan to become a jazz musician. For example, the narrator states, “I realized, with this mocking look, that there stood between us, forever, beyond the power of time or forgiveness, the fact that I had held silence – so long! – when he had needed human speech to help him” (pg.94). The argument with his brother made him realize that he abandon his younger brother when he needed him the most. He realized that if he would have spoken out and talk about his drug use that he wouldn’t have to go
As "Sonny's Blues" opens, the narrator tells of his discovery that his younger brother has been arrested for selling and using heroin. Both brothers grew up in Harlem, a neighborhood rife with poverty and despair. Though the narrator teaches school in Harlem, he distances himself emotionally from the people who live there and their struggles and is somewhat judgmental and superior. He loves his brother but is distanced from him as well and judgmental of his life and decisions. Though Sonny needs for his brother to understand what he is trying to communicate to him and why he makes the choices he makes, the narrator cannot or will not hear what Sonny is trying to convey. In distancing himself from the pain of upbringing and his surroundings, he has insulated himself from the ability to develop an understanding of his brother's motivations and instead, his disapproval of Sonny's choice to become a musician and his choices regarding the direction of his life in general is apparent. Before her death, his mother spoke with him regarding his responsibilities to Sonny, telling him, "You got to hold on to your brother...and don't let him fall, no matter what it looks like is happening to him and no matter how evil you get with him...you may not be able to stop nothing from happening. But you got to let him know you're there" (87) His unwillingness to really hear and understand what his brother is trying to tell him is an example of a character failing to act in good faith.
Conflict is opposition between two forces, and it may be external or internal,” (Barker). There are two styles of external conflict that can be examined within the plot of “Sonny’s Blues”. The first of these is character versus society. This is the outer layer of the external conflict observed between Sonny and the society, which his life is out casted from. The meat and potatoes of the external conflict however, is character versus character. Sonny lives a lifestyle that his brother seems to be incapable of understanding. The internal conflict lies within the narrator. It is his struggle to understand his brother that drives the plot. The climax occurs when Sonny and the narrator argue in the apartment. The argument stems from the narrators complete inability to understand Sonny’s drug usage and life as a musician, and Sonny’s feeling of abandonment and inability to make his brother understand him. This conflict appears to come to a resolve at the resolution as the narrator orders Sonny a drink following hearing Sonny perform for the first time. It appears as though this is the moment when the narrator begins to understand, perhaps for the first time, his brother the
"Sonny's Blues" is filled with examples of music and how it makes things better. The schoolboy, the barmaid, the mother, the brother, the uncle, the street revivalists, all use music to create a moment when life isn't so ugly, even though the world still waits outside and trouble stretches above. Music and the tale it tells provide hope and joy; instead of being the instrument of Sonny's destruction, introducing him to the world of drugs, music is his way out of some of the ugliness. For Sonny and the other characters in this story, music is a bastion against the despair that pervades stunted lives; it is the light that guides them from the darkness without hope.
James Baldwin, author of Sonny’s Blues, was born in Harlem, NY in 1924. During his career as an essayist, he published many novels and short stories. Growing up as an African American, and being “the grandson of a slave” (82) was difficult. On a day to day basis, it was a constant battle with racial discrimination, drugs, and family relationships. One of Baldwin’s literature pieces was Sonny’s Blues in which he describes a specific event that had a great impact on his relationship with his brother, Sonny. Having to deal with the life-style of poverty, his relationship with his brother becomes affected and rivalry develops. Conclusively, brotherly love is the theme of the story. Despite the narrator’s and his brother’s differences, this theme is revealed throughout the characters’ thoughts, feelings, actions, and dialogue. Therefore, the change in the narrator throughout the text is significant in understanding the theme of the story. It is prevalent to withhold the single most important aspect of the narrator’s life: protecting his brother.