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Julianna Massielo

BHP: Final Essay

Dr. Wilner and Dr. McGee

18th December 2017

Bacon’s Idols and Their Relevance in “Sonny’s Blues”

Every person is governed by their subconcious. It is called a subconscious for a reason,

people are not aware of the control it has over someone's personality and actions. Someone’s

entire personality is based off of subconscious decisions and judgements. It is difficult for

someone to comprehend their own subconscious. Francis Bacon attempts do this in his “The

Four Idols.” ​Bacon uses his idols to analyze​ human tendencies toward misperception and

distortion and in Baldwin’s, “Sonny’s Blues” he explores the ​Idols of the Cave ​through the

narrator's thoughts and decisions, and the ​Idols of the Theater​ through the stigma of professional

jazz musicians during the era his story was written.

The ​I​dols of the Cave ​reflect on the concept that each person, as an individual, has a place

in their mind that governs their decisions. This space, or cave as Bacon refers to it, hold all of a

person's experiences and personal knowledge. This space will always be somewhere a person

reverts back to. Having this personal space distorts a person’s view of the truth that may be in

front of them. The Narrator in “Sonny’s Blues” says that Sonny “became real to him[me] again”

(Baldwin 122). Beginning the story with a phrase like this shows how far the narrator has buried

the memory of his brother. Whether consciously or subconsciously, the narrator pushed the

memory of his brother into a cave, allowing him to continue his life without the burden his

brother put on him. But, what enters a cave exits eventually. By ignoring the presence of his
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brother instead of dealing with their problems, he allows himself to still be affected negatively by

the idea of him. When he hears of Sonny’s arrest, every boy in his high school algebra class

reminds him of his brother. “The ​Idols of the Cave​ are the idols of the individual man” (Bacon

420). The narrator put his individuality over his relationship with his brother initially. This is not

always a bad thing, taking care of oneself is important, but because his brother was suffering, the

narrator should have helped his brother through the years instead of abandoning him. Bacon’s

idea of the ​Idols of the Cave ​reveals how the narrator has treated his brother, placing him in a

“cave” in his mind. The narrator says he had “kept it outside him[me] for a long time” (Baldwin

123). In this message he references his memory of Sonny. The narrator find out that his brother

had been arrested in a drug raid involving heroin. Using the phrase above, the narrator admit that

he has pushed away the truth in order to live his life more comfortably. Forgetting about Sonny

was easier for him, even if he knew it was wrong. Another interesting example of the ​Idols of the

Cave ​is when the narrator finally decides to contact Sonny, he does so after a tragedy takes place

in his own life. His daughter passed away. Following this tragedy, it is interesting that the

narrator only chooses to contact Sonny after he loses someone important in his life. It is almost

as if Sonny had escaped from the metaphorical cave the narrator put him in. Because his

daughter passed away, the narrator couldn’t live in a dream-like world, and he was forced to face

the reality of his life. His denial of Sonny was pushed to the forefront of his mind. Overall,

though most of his actions and thoughts that denied Sonny’s existence were his subconscious,

Bacon’s ​Idols of the Cave ​are clearly reflected in the way the narrator treats his brother and

further solidifies the relevance of Bacon’s ideas.

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The ​Idols of the Theater ​refer to how old philosophies and ideas can cloud people’s mind.

Without a clean slate of a mind, no progress forward can be made. Because people hold onto old

ideas, new, revolutionary ideas are looked over because they differ from the past. The ​Idols of

the Theater q​ uestion why things such as plays were respected and believed to be the only truth

for so long, as this belief halted any progress that was to be made in the natural world. Looking

at this idol more abstractly, it can be applied to the negative connotation that jazz musicians were

given. Many didn’t consider being a musician a legitimate job at the time this story was written.

This perception of Sonny’s passion led to the narrator being more closed minded about Sonny. If

the outdated idea that being a jazz musician was less of a profession than an office job, perhaps

Sonny's life would have turned out differently. When Sonny reveals to his brother he wants to be

a jazz musician, his response is not what Sonny was hoping for. The narrator says the being a

jazz musician seems “beneath him, somehow” (Baldwin 134). Using the word “somehow” shows

that even the narrator is not sure why Sonny’s passion is wrong for him, just that it is. This

uncertainty shows that ideas that have been passed down are governing how the narrator is

thinking about his brother. It is hard to imagine how people in 1957 felt about musicians, as

today, being a musician professionally is more accepted. But, it is easy to see that Sonny was

hurt by his brothers reaction. One cannot help but think that this reaction may have sped up

Sonny’s spiral out of control. Because the narrator followed a more accepted professional path,

becoming a math teacher, he kept the ​Idols of the Theater ​alive in his mind. His life was like a

play. Everyday was the same. But, similar to the ​Idols of the Cave, ​the​ ​Idols of the Theater, ​were

triggered in his mind when the narrators daughter, Grace, died. He realized that having a safe life

will not protect him from tragedy. This resulted in his attempt to understand Sonny and progress
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forward from his old ideologies. In this case, the​ ​Idols of the Theater ​provided the narrator with a

chance to shift his worldview and accept his brother and his passions.

In the end, it is difficult to classify humans into a few simple categories. Each person is

unique. Characters such as the narrator and Sonny are easier to classify. All you know about the

characters in a story is what is written on the page. Some is open to interpretation, but there are

limits on how far a character can stretch. In real life, a person is fluid, and their personality and

nuances can change from day to day. This is why Francis Bacon’s Idols cannot be used to solely

define people, but they can be used to generally define and anticipate how people will behave.

With this in mind, Sonny’s character remained stagnant throughout the story, he remained

troubled, though his life became easier when he was more understood. As for the narrator, he

develops drastically over the story. In the beginning he is stuck, but as he opens up to Sonny he

becomes more accepting of his passions. Overall, Bacon’s Idols are a useful tool in analyzing

someone's personality. The distortion of reality is clear in “Sonny’s Blues,” but this story ends

with a light of hope. It reveals that people can change, people can grow.
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Works Cited

Bacon, F. (n.d.). The Four Idols. Retrieved December 16, 2017, from

https://readcomp.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/pdf_f-bacon.pdf

Baldwin, J. (n.d.). Sonny's Blues. Retrieved December 15, 2017, from

http://www.swcta.net/moore/files/2012/02/sonnysblues.pdf