The theme of characters “searching for something” is a common aspect in many short stories, and typically is the major driving force behind the plot. This very theme is evident in Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin, Paul’s Case by Willa Cather, and finally An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce. The protagonists in these stories: Sonny, Paul, and Peyton Farquhar are all on the hunt for an escape from a certain aspect of their lives. For Sonny it is a desire to defy the stereotypes of the typical Harlem hoodlum, Paul’s search entails him shedding all of his ties to the narrow minded middle class around him by fully emerging himself in the art world, and Farquhar 's is to ditch his boring life for something more adventurous. These searches This Harlem is the Harlem that Sonny knew. This Harlem disintegrated the moral fiber of the youth that lived there, as proven in a study conducted in Harlem over the course of fifteen years. The study concluded that, “residence in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods may influence psychological functioning and drug use through a number of mechanisms: an increase in a physiologic stress response, more opportunities to obtain drugs, and peer drug use” (Brook, et al. 357). Therefore, it is possible to ascertain, that just by growing up in such a location, an individual is predisposed to use narcotics, and must fight feverishly in attempt to avoid it. This is precisely what Sonny is doing, and why he is in search of any possible way out of the ghetto. This is evidenced in the dialogue between Sonny and the narrator, when the narrator asks Sonny, “what the hell do you want to go and join the army for?” and Sonny replies, “To get out of Harlem” (Baldwin 33). This desperation to join the army, which likely appeals to him to be less fatal than remaining in Bored of the plantation lifestyle, he is desperately looking for a way to show his devotion the Southern secession cause. After being “prevented from taking service in the ...army”, Farquhar takes matters into his own hands and takes a more rebellious angle towards gaining purpose and excitement in his life (Bierce 53). Farquhar fails at this, and even in the last few minutes of his life where he is dangling over the bridge, are spent fantasizing about the “magnificent,... [and] superhuman strength” he wishes he could exhibit in his imaginary escape away from his captors, much like how he was searching for a liberation to his boring reality (Bierce 55). Bierce effectively communicates Farquhar’s gap between reality and illusion through foreshadowing and by not making it clear that his escape, though overblown and difficult to believe to begin with, was an illusion all
In “Sonny’s Blues” the story starts with the narrator who is Sonny’s brother. Sonny’s brother first knew about Sonny’s arrest by reading the newspaper. While reading it, he was angry and in pain because he was thinking about how Sonny got himself into a bad place. After running into Sonny’s old friend, the narrator is talking to him and the friend is explaining how it was his fault that Sonny is in jail and he is the reason why Sonny started selling and using heroin. After talking to Sonny’s old friend, the narrator is mad and upset that Sonny would do that. Sonny’s brother looks back and thinks that Sonny is a troublemaker, but never to that extent.
Through the Narrator close-minded self, the Narrator fails to show how contributing to jazz or music brings missery in the Harlem town. We see that the Narrator dislikes being a part of the Harlem ghetto, by refusing sonny’s friend offer to show how sonny viewed things when he did heroin. The Narrator said, “...
People show either fight or flight reaction when they meet obstacles. Which means people will either approach or avoid the issues which are given to them. The two main characters in Sonny’s Blues, by James Baldwin, represent those two reactions. Obstacles, such as conflicts between brothers and social structure which is not supportive to them, equally disturb the brothers. But the brothers’ way managing and reacting to obstacles illustrates a huge contrast between them. Sonny represents a group of people who approaches and fights against his obstacles. Sonny’s older brother, the narrator of the text, represents a group of people who avoids or runs away from his obstacles. Sonny is able to persuade his brother, who had an opposite tendency, in the end of the story. Based on the result of the story, it appears that Sonny is “more right” than his older brother.
Baldwin, James. "Sonny's Blues." The Oxford Book of American Short Stories 1992: 409 - 439.
“Sonny’s Blues” is a short story in which the author presents a view on the realities of suffering in Harlem, New York in the 1950’s and how the presence of drugs can greatly impact not only the users, but the ones who care about the users as well. This can be shown through the literary use of setting, character, and theme. Throughout the story, the narrator struggles with trying to reason with the life his brother has chosen and the choices he has made. Sonny struggles to find an identity for himself having to live under the shadow of his brother his entire life. Sonny however finds solace in music which seems to become an escape for him and help him find meaning within himself. The narrator realizes at the end of the story why Sonny had chosen this life for himself.
All three of these symbolical details are woven together in "Sonny's Blues" to create a non-literal meaning directly beneath the words. The end result is an enriched message about urban struggles for expression, happiness, and chemical independance. Ultimately, Sonny's revival concludes the readers' literary tour of world in which he lives. What is begun with a presentation of hardships is finally concluded with Sonny's triumph, a chance at a better future.
As a soldier, he cannot provide a better shelter for his younger brother when their parents die; he cannot send his brother away from Harlem and its drug circle. The concern on financial difficulties also guides the narrator in making choices throughout his life. I believe the narrator does not have the luxury to do what he may want to do; instead, his priority in career choice will adhere to the one which guarantees an economically secured and stable life. In spite of supporting his brother’s love and determination for jazz music, the narrator applies the same logic of making a living job towards Sonny; which in turn, creates a huge disagreement.
Mid 20th century Harlem, it can be a depressing place for African Americans and their communities. In "Sonny's Blues" we learn about how the Narrator and his brother Sonny go through a tough time together in Harlem and how the blues gets them through the pain that occurred in Harlem at this time. Throughout the story there are four reoccurring themes, Suffering, Imprisonment, Redemption, and the blues. The themes play an interesting role into shaping the characters and reveal the authors intentions of the story.
This is an important because, as Baldwin believed, any protest narrative that denies its characters the full range of human emotions renders them much less lifelike and sympathetic. Throughout the course of the twenty or so pages of “Sonny’s Blues”, the characters are revealed through dialogue to have traits, motives, and fears just like any other human being. For example, Sonny’s revelation to the narrator that he intends to become a jazz musician (Baldwin 1737) and subsequent descriptions of his piano practicing habits (Baldwin 1740) let the reader know that he is not to be thought of as merely a pathetic recovering drug addict. On the other hand, when Sonny says that heroin makes him feel “in control” (Baldwin 1744) and subtly protests the systemic prejudice that often makes black people feel helpless, one can determine that he did not likely take up the drug simply or on a whim or on account of mere peer pressure. Further, when the narrator seems to understand that Sonny is on the path to redemption (Baldwin 1749), the reader once gets the impression that Sonny is more than a
Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin tells the story of a man growing up in Harlem in the early 1950s along with his brother. These two brothers grew up in poverty and have seemingly chosen different paths in their lives, Sonny being a drug addict and our narrator a school teacher but they struggle with very similar problems. Both brothers use different methods of escapism to cope with not only their childhood but the struggles they face. Sonny Blues has many examples showing us that although drinking, smoking, drugs, music, and work can supply us temporary fixes to our problems, they won't fix them in the long run and we must ultimately face our demons.
The short story Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin is written in first person through the narrator. This story focuses on the narrator’s brother sonny and their relationship throughout the years. This story is taken place in Harlem, New York in the 1950s. The narrator is a high school algebra teacher and just discovered his brother in the newspaper. This story includes the traditional elements to every story, which consist of the exposition, conflict, rising action, climax, falling action, and the resolution.
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.
"Sonny's Blues" takes place during the mid-20th century, probably during the early 1950s. The action of the story occurs prior to the gains made by the Civil Rights Movement, during the dark days of segregation and supposedly "separate but equal" accommodations in public institutions. You'll notice that the narrator and Sonny have grown up in predominately black and poor neighborhood of Harlem, the sons of a working-class, embittered father whose pride and optimism have been worn down by his own brother's violent death at the hands of rural Southern whites and the ensuing years of struggling to support a family in an overtly racist Northern urban community. The father has given up trying to move his family out of Harlem: "'Safe!' my father grunted, whenever Mama suggested trying to move to a neighborhood which might be safer for children. 'Safe, hell! Ain't no place safe for kids, nor nobody'" (Norton Introduction to Literature 54). As the brothers reach adulthood and the narrator begins his own family, their material circumstances haven't changed much; though the narrator is not impoverished himself and enjoys the comfortable trappings of middle class life, he and his family remain in impoverished surroundings, probably due to the de facto segregation of the safer, suburban and largely white communities they might have been able to afford.
Baldwin, James. "Sonny's Blues." The Oxford Book of American Short Stories 1992: 409 - 439.
Many stories today have similar characteristics. While reading “the Lesson” and “Sonny’s Blues” it is clear that the stories are alike in several ways. I wondered how two separate stories written by two different authors could be so parallel, so I did some research on the authors. While researching I found out that the author of “The Lesson”, Toni Cade Bambara, was born in Harlem just like the main character, Sylvia, in her story. In an interview, Bambara talked about women in her neighborhood that influenced her literature. This is parallel to Miss Moore, a neighbor of Sylvia, who had a big impact on her. Like Bambara, James Baldwin, the author of “Sonny’s Blues”, was born in Harlem. While researching Baldwin, I found out he too grew up in poverty like, the characters in his short story “Sonny’s Blues”. Between the two stories there are many similarities