Kylie-Rose Stephens

Wind
Frenzel
5/19/14
A New Kind of High: An Analysis on Sonnys Blues
In a world of struggling, main character Sonny of James Baldwins Sonnys Blues
experiences two highs very different from each other: heroin vs. music. Baldwin, in fact, litters
the story with motifs, images of struggling, and the effects of these struggles all throughout this
short story. Sonnys dark past involves these motifs, and throughout the story, he learns to cope
with his problems one way or another, through heroin and music. Towards the end of the story,
Sonny brings light to his dark past in a way that shows all that he had been dealing with and how
he planned to help himself for the future. The reader, during this time, is flurried with the
contrasting motifs of drug use, music, and religion.
Sonny grew up in Harlem with guidance mostly from his older brother, the narrator of the
story. Because Harlem was a struggling area at the time, the influence of drug use rang high
within his community. Inevitably, Sonny became addicted to heroin with the influence of others
in his neighborhood. Becoming addicted at a very young age, Sonny has dealt with this issue for
most of his life. The author, whose name remains unidentified throughout the story, explains
that, ...the first time Sonny had ever had horse, he couldnt have been much older than these
boys were now (Baldwin 1). The boys in this scene were of a very young age, proving that
Sonnys struggles began early on in his life. Because of this addiction, finding a light to this dark
solution felt seemingly impossible, and made it difficult for Sonny to pursue his dream of
becoming a musician. What is important to know is that, later on in the story, Sonny does in fact
find redemption from his addiction to heroin with a new type of high: music.
Within time, Sonny learns that the only way to achieve a better life is to embrace a new
means of coping. Therefore, Sonny pursues his dream of being a pianist. With determination and
motivation from his brother, Sonny ultimately reaches his goal. As Sonny overcomes his
struggles, he finds a new, different high as he becomes fond of playing his piano. The author
describes Sonnys new high as a light exposing the dark of his past. He writes, ...the man who
creates the music is... dealing with the roar rising from the void and imposing order on it as it hits
the air (Baldwin 25). Sonny is the man creating the music, and the roar rising from the void is
his addiction to heroin. The piano is imposing order on this roar, thus revealing a light on
Sonnys dark addiction to heroin. In other words, Sonny is releasing his struggles and
confronting them. Therefore, by playing piano, Sonny has exposed light onto the darkness of his
addiction, learning to replace a drug-infused high with a musically-infused one.
As Sonny overcomes his struggles, a prevailing religious image appears within the story.
The 'cup of trembling' reference on page 28 is a symbolic image and popular allusion from
Sonny's Blues. The connection to be made between Sonny's addiction, his music, and religion
lies within this biblical allusion. In the Bible, the cup of trembling represents struggling, but the
drink inside of it symbolizes a chance of redemption from this struggle. If one is to drink from it,
the cup promises a freedom of sin in the drinkers future. In Baldwins story, a waitress placed a
cup of scotch and milk on Sonnys piano, representing this biblical image. The narrator claims,
it glowed and shook above my brother's head like the very cup of trembling (Baldwin 28). The
"cup of trembling" here is simply a glass of scotch and milk, but the symbolic meaning is much
more. Because the cup sits on the piano, the narrator is expressing that the piano is Sonnys
redemption from heroin use. The actual cup itself represents the struggle and the sorrow that sits
among this redemption. The cup of trembling may also represent the trembling felt from the
vibrations of the keys of the piano, or the shaking, jittering feeling provided from a heroin high.
All in all, the underlying message to be made is that Sonny will continue to have struggles, but
the piano remains as a replacement high that Sonny may always resort to instead of using heroin.
"Sonny's Blues" may be a tragic story on the outside, but its rich, uplifting resolution provides a
meaningful message to the reader. By shining light on a dark issue, Sonny was able to find a
solution- and ultimately a healthy passion- that could help him overcome his addiction in the
future. By connecting drug use, a musical solution, and religion, Baldwin provides the message
that redemption truly can change a person on the inside and out. These three motifs all connect
and illustrate to the reader that there is always a healthy answer to an unhealthy problem. In
Sonnys case, the piano became the healthy answer, and while he may relapse or have more
struggles in the future, Sonny may always be able to resort to his piano.