Sonny’s Blues

Everyone is born with different opportunities at different times. Some of them have to struggle

to achieve the goals and some are born with everything.

“Sonny Blues” is an exciting story written by an extraordinary author, who has become one of

my favorite writers. The author talks about the problems of African Americans getting rid of the

mental bonds of their environment. The title is significant and helped me to understand the

underlying meaning of the story. The title can be divided into two main reasons, the first,

“Sonny’s Blues”, which means the music you play. The second is the reference to his life, his

feelings, his style and above all, his way of life. There are many parts of the story.

“Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin is the story of a musician (Sonny) from Harlem, New York,

who becomes addicted to heroin, is arrested for selling and using drugs and returns to the

neighborhood of his childhood after leaving of prison. He moved with his older brother (the

narrator) and his brother’s family. The two brothers reconnected after a few very tense of

weeks during which they both try to deal with each other’s anger.

Sonny is sad about life and being marginalized. In this sense, “Blue” means sad, unhappy,

dejected. Sonny is also a musician and when he plays he plays inventing Afro-American music,

bebop jazz and blues. In this sense, “blues” refers to a genre of music linked to jazz, originated

from African communities of the south.

Writing this story about an African-American family probably influenced many other families,

going through the same problems to change. The main point of this story is hope. There are

many factors the challenges the lives of these characters in this story, but me, in many ways ,

this story was a reality. The turning point of this story is when Sonny invites his brother to a

nightclub in downtown Harlem. Although Sonny’s brother doubted, he knew it was necessary, if

he ever wanted to have a solid relationship with his brother. Sonny’s brother says:

“However I was clear to them that I was just Sonny’s brother. I was in Sonny’s world”

For once, the narrator could see that his brother was a different person and that he sincerely

loved the music.

Drug is a central part of this story, but it also effects family, music and the attempt to overcome

the struggles of life.

There are several themes in this story that we can understand after reading the story.

The most important theme in Sonny’s life are music and suffering. His sadness comes from the

physical and emotional pain he suffered over the years as an orphan and drug addict in a poor

African-American neighborhood. Without this pain, Sonny would have no material for his music

and could not create art.

Race and racism are underlying themes in “Sonny’s Blues”. The narrator and Sonny represent

two different paths for African American men: one educated and respectable and other,

criminal activity, drug abuse and time in prison. Baldwin uses his characters to illustrate the

damage systemic racism has had in the |American community.

For the narrator, the most important theme in the story could be the loss. His life has been

plagued by tragedies: the death of his parents, the horrors of war, the loss of his daughter due
to polio and the sadness of seeing his brother’s life worsen. This sadness permeates his

narrative voice, making the tone of the story of pain and disappointment.

James Baldwin often tackles these problems in his narrative and other prose, particularly with

the problems of the black and intellectual artist trying to find or create a sustainable

community.

In this story darkness is used as a symbol of treats that threaten the African American

community. When the narrator talks about his students, he says;

“All they really knew were two darkness, the darkness of their lives, which was now closing in

on them, and the darkness of movies, which had blinded them to that other darkness”

This story “Sonny’s Blues” based on reality. In this story Baldwin discussed many problems of

society.

At the end I just want to share my point of view. According to me, the narrator and Sonny of

“Sonny’s Blues” are quite different, even if they are brothers, the narrator is realistic, has a very

structured lifestyle and is not the best at showing his emotions. Sonny is more of an idealist,

living his life as a free spirit and showing his emotions through his music. The narrator had

difficulty understanding Sonny and his own emotions until he heard Sonny play the piano.

Baldwin says;

“I thought I heard what burns he had made himself with, with what flaws he hadn’t made ours,

how we could stop complaining”.

The narrator and Sonny sometimes collide during the story, like when Sonny was telling his

brother he wanted to play the piano. In “Sonny’s Blues” he says the narrator says:
“I told him he could have died and live while he lived”.

When the narrator told Sonny, he said it angrily because he was afraid of what might happen to

Sonny. The narrator and Sonny had difficulty understanding each other. Sonny and his brother

differ in many ways, but they still share a strong family bond.

They story depict the negative image of the upstairs society.