Dreams Cant Feed You From time to time, I would hear people on TV saying: the truth will set

you free. That may be true, but I dont understand why. For starters, it is usually the whole idea of dreams that most people like as opposed to the bitter truth. Technically speaking, things like dreams may indeed be grounded in reality but are not necessarily attainable or even realistic pretty much like lies. Still, it is an integral part of the human experience. Its undeniable that many people desire these means of escape from the nightmare we usually call reality. Yes, reality does bite. If given the chance, it will swallow you whole. In all seriousness, when we take into consideration the fact that a dream may give people hope or a direction in life, it would seem that it is the ideal goal. But then, when reality sets in, the problem starts. We may realize that theres more to life than simply having the luxury of pursuing dreams. When that realization dawns on us, life then becomes a huge dilemma in choosing between our dreams and being stable. For Sonny in Sonnys Blues, there was no question: his dream is what he lives for. In order to do so, he had to face issues with his relationship with his brother, his predicament and himself. To understand Sonnys Blues better, some facts about the author should first be noted. Sonnys Blues was written by James Baldwin, an African-American writer. As a Teenager, Baldwin had already developed his writing skills as he grew up in Harlem (Schilb 318). Baldwin then became a preacher at his fathers church at age 14 and underwent a dramatic religious conversion in a Harlem church, an event described in detail in The Fire Next Time and used in his first novel Go Tell It on the Mountain (Tackach 109). He even became a junior minister. Later on, Baldwin left the church. According to Campbell, Baldwin did leave the church but the

church never left him (Campbell 110). By that statement, Campbell meant that despite Baldwins abandonment of the church, you can still see the religious themes in his works. Baldwin had works that had themes of responsibility, pain, identity frustration and bitterness along with understanding, equanimity, love, and tolerance (Schilb 319). In Sonnys Blues, you can see a reflection of Baldwins African-American heritage as he tackled issues of racism and music, particularly jazz. Like Baldwin, Sonny and his brother both grew up in Harlem. The story showed their contrasting views in life in the form of their constant arguments in flashbacks. Both of them had their own struggles. Sonny struggled with a heroin addiction and, for the most part, he struggled in dealing with his controlling brother. He claimed that he wasnt learning anything in school and he decided to just pursue his dream of being a jazz pianist. However, Sonnys brother had other plans and letting Sonny be a jazz pianist isnt one of it. Sonnys brother never saw how important jazz was for Sonny, all he saw was the impracticality of Sonnys idea of pursuing a dream. Even if Sonnys brother was supposedly financially stable as an Algebra teacher, he still had struggles of his own. Aside from having disagreements with Sonny, he also endured the pain of losing a daughter. That pain he shared with Sonny. Readers can observe that even if they had arguments and they were far from one another, they still had some sort of connection. They were still brothers no matter what happened. The storys theme of having family ties was constantly being shown and it was what kept the two main characters bonded. In one part of the story, Sonnys brother had a dialogue with their mother, and the mother said: You may not be able to stop nothing from happening. But you got to let him know yous there (328). The mothers use of double negatives in talking with Sonnys brother made me feel a very personal connection between them. The mothers words indicated that she was very much aware of the evils in the

world, and she wanted Sonnys brother to take care of Sonny. Yet, the promise Sonnys brother made is one of the biggest challenges for him as he and Sonny did not understand each other very well. The mother also told Sonnys brother of the story of their uncle who got hit by a car full of white men who were all drunk (327). In that particular part of the story, there was also a graphic description of how the fathers brother died. The mother described the uncle as nothing but blood and pulp (328). The vivid description employed intensified the horrific experience of the father that he kept from his children even until his death. The dialogue between Sonnys brother and the mother was seemingly constructed by Baldwin to describe the pains that racism caused. For me, the two most powerful lines of the mother portraying of the significance of racism in Sonnys Blues were: the car kept a-going and it aint stopped till this day and Till the day he died he werent sure but that every white man he saw was the man that killed his brother (328). Both lines exhibited the bitterness dealt by racism, its lasting effect on the mind and the mere fact that it may go unpunished. To quote from the mother, she said: I aint telling you this to make you scared or bitter or to make you hate nobody. Im telling you this because you got a brother. And the world aint changed, which implied that she saw the world as dangerous and it will stay that way. It may reflect racism and the impossibility of its eradication. In the earlier parts of the story, issues on drug addiction were brought up. The first part of the story, Sonnys brother couldnt believe what happened to Sonny. He said: I didnt want to believe that Id ever see my brother going down, coming to nothing, all that light in his face gone out, in the condition Id already seen on many others, which indicated that Sonnys life was

somehow deteriorating and that heroin addiction is not something new to him (319). He even said that maybe heroin did more to them than algebra could, which suggests that it is possible that their poor neighborhood in Harlem may give boys there a feeling of hopelessness in their situation. The assumption that the people in their neighborhood are likely to have feelings of hopelessness is supported by the description of Sonnys brother of how boys grew up there. He said: These boys, now, were living as wed been living then, they were growing up with a rush and their heads bumped abruptly against the low ceiling of their actual possibilities, which implies that those children may have known at an early age that they had no future. It seemed like reality was harsh for the children who grew up in the projects, which is why they may resort to things like the use of illicit drugs to have some form of escape. The heroin addiction of Sonny also embodied his weaknesses. When Sonny confesses that his need for heroin "can come again," the narrator, after a pause, responds with genuine understanding to Sonny's statement knowing his brothers vulnerability and that Sonnys brother is ready to fulfill the promise that he made to his mother to care for Sonny in her absence (Tackach 116). Nearing the latter part of the story, Sonny looked back in his life and told his brother: the reason why I wanted to leave Harlem so bad was to get away from drugs. And then, when I ran away, thats what I was running from really. When I came back, nothing has changed, I hadnt changed, I was just older (338). Aside from being a weakness, heroin addiction was also an inescapable past where Sonny learned from. He wanted to escape, but he found out that it was futile.

As the story progresses, Sonnys brother begins to understand Sonny more and more. Now, jazz was what Sonny was very passionate about. Isabel, the brothers wife, said that living with Sonny was like living with a sound (332). That statement was symbolic of how Sonny wanted his life to be surrounded by music. In one part of the story, Sonny was watching some revivalists who were singing a song and he saw that the sister who was singing reminded him of how heroin felt in his veins. That particular event has significance with the theme of Sonnys Blues because as stated by Murray: Sonny watches the three sisters and one brother and carries a notebook with a green cover, emblematic of the creative life he hopes to lead. Murray took note of the imagery used by Baldwin, namely, the notebook with green cover which reflects the vibrancy of Sonnys life through music. On a personal note, when I read that Sonny was looking directly at the woman with a little smile (334) as he gave her some change, it made me get the impression that Sonnys look was a form of envy or a great appreciation of the womans performance and Sonny sees himself having performances like those. Towards the end of the story, Sonny takes his brother to the only nightclub downtown to show the aspect of Sonny that his brother deemed irrelevant. For the first time, Sonnys brother saw Sonny perform. At that point, Sonnys brother realized that in that place, it was not even a question that his (Sonnys) veins bore royal blood, and his brother was quite popular. Communal making of music connects Sonny with his fellow musicians, with jazz listeners, and with his interior life. As he risks expression, his brother, the narrator, recognizes that "his life contained so many others (McParland 132).

Sonnys music makes a connection with the audience, and one of them is his brother who had tears run down his eyes as he heard Sonny play. Sonnys brother said: I saw my little girl again and felt Isabels tears again, and I felt my own tears to begin to rise. And yet I was aware that this was only a moment, that the world waited outside, as hungry as a tiger, and that troubled stretched above us, longer than the sky (341). Sonnys music made his brother look back into strong memories in his life at that temporary moment. Sonny has reached a point of breakthrough and he is giving his life back in music (McParland 132). To quote Murray, he said: The meaning of Sonnys Blues is not, to use the glib phrase, the transcendence of the human condition through art. Baldwin is talking about love and joy, tears of joy because of love (Murray 357). In the very last part of the story, Baldwin gave some symbolic imagery, particularly a glass of scotch and milk set on Sonnys piano that was described as a cup of trembling. McParland said that imagery meant Sonny is the cup, and its contents, mothers milk and song of life, the heat, sting and swirl of hard liquor were Sonnys blues (138). It basically showed all mixtures involved in Sonnys life. Murray on the other hand, described the Scotch-and-milk, the very cup of trembling, was the grail and the goal of Sonnys quest. But Tackach had a more in-depth analysis of the milk and scotch. He said that the cup of milk and scotch represented Sonnys redemption from sin and the term cup of trembling was taken from the book of Isaiah which was the cup of the Lords fury given to Sinners which He took away after they sought forgiveness. Like the sinners in the book of Isaiah, Sonny has sinned; he has indeed drunk from the cup of trembling (Tackach 117). Having identified the dimensions in Baldwins work from the viewpoints of various critics, I came up with my own analysis of Sonnys Blues. In my opinion, the primary theme of

the story revolves around Baldwins emphasis of realism through the use some idealistic principles that struggle within its realm, as was the case of Sonny. Basing from the perspectives of the two main characters, it can be inferred that Sonny personified idealistic principles and his brother represented realism. Sonnys older brother narrated the harsh reality of life. One of it is how children grew up in a poor community. Sonnys brother said: I told myself that Sonny was wild, but he wasnt crazy. And hed always been a good boy, he hadnt ever turned hard or evil or disrespectful, the way kids can, so quick, so quick, especially in Harlem. This statement of Sonnys brother mirrors Baldwins experiences as a child in the streets of Harlem, as well as he saw with other children as they growing up. When Francois Bondy interviewed Baldwin, one of the questions he asked touched the issue of Baldwin being a Negro leader. Even though Baldwin disagreed about him being a leader because of his insights, Baldwin did say that he has some form of calling and he says: probably the biggest reason has to do with relation with my brothers and sisters, my nieces and nephews. My brothers and sisters and I came up out of the streets, and somehow we all survived it (Bondy 13). Upon seeing Baldwins response, it can be said that Sonnys Blues indeed portrays an aspect of Baldwins life and the reality he experienced. That reality is the rampancy of drug abuse among the people in the projects and racial apartheid as implied by Baldwins statement: There isn't such a thing as a Negro, but there is such a thing as a boy, or a man, or a woman who may be brown, or white, or green, or whatever; but when you say the Negro problem thousands of millions of human beings' lives which are being destroyed because you want to deal with an abstraction (Bondy 13). Baldwin seemingly dismissed the idea of the existence of a Negro problem because to him it would only strengthen the label on their race as low class.

Still, racism exists as a part of our everyday reality. In the same way, Sonny dismissed his brothers idea of settling for a job he does not like in order to attain stability. It was never mentioned that Sonny did become stable like his brother wanted Sonny to be, but in a way, Sonny was still victorious over his struggles because he got what he wanted. It cant be said who the story centers on, but even if critics differ, they generally agree that the central conflict is resolved (Byerman 367). Sonny and his uncle who died had something in common which was passion for music, whereas the helpless father who watched his brother die seemed to be like Sonnys brother in the sense that the brother cant do anything with Sonnys decision in life (Byerman 369). Just like the whole story itself, the fathers pain in losing his brother is parallel with the failure of Sonnys brother in somehow trying to steer his brother in the right path. Being the idealist, Sonny suffered in a world where things did not go how they should be, and he even experienced the unfortunate situation that people in Harlem suffered poverty. That reality is something that Sonny wanted to get away from, but it was something that was out of his control. In order to cope, he even resorted to the use of heroin which, according to Sonny, makes you feel in control (336). Sonny tried to escape powerlessness but in doing so, he still became powerless in the sense that he was enslaved by addiction. Sonny underwent soulsearching and his brother watched him closely. The thing that sustained Sonny amidst his predicament is his dream of creating music. When Sonnys brother finally heard Sonnys music, both he and Sonny became free. Sonnys brother said: Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at last, that he could help us be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we all did (341). The freedom of Sonnys brother comes through his recapturing and acceptance of the past using Sonnys blues. Sonnys freedom on the other hand, does not come

from stopping the use of heroin (which he said might recur) or being stable in life, but rather the realization of his dream to pour out his life in his music. For both Sonny and his brother, their eventual redemption from their past gave them freedom and greater understanding of one another and themselves. Even if reality seems to always get the better of everything that happened in the story, Baldwin made sure that there was a balance between idealism and realism in the sense that there wasnt exactly a preference for one of them, but rather, both are recognized as a part of life. Baldwin did not give a clear picture if Sonny became stable or if he never became addicted to heroin again, but the storys resolution does not come with the overcoming of their problems but rather having the presence of hope amidst the bitter reality. It all comes down to the brothers continuous journey in life. My stand in Baldwins work is that aside from it being a subtle account of his life, it showed social issues like racism, poverty, conflicts with family members and so on. Inappropriate coping methods used by Sonny, namely drug addiction, is another issue that was shown in the story to somehow portray Sonnys attempt to free himself from a reality that he does not want to live in. Heroin gave him the illusion that he was indeed in control, but in reality, he was the one being controlled by his addiction, and his suffering was something that his brother saw. To somehow alleviate the condition of his life, Sonny then resorted to another coping mechanism which is focusing on his goal which was an art form called music which somehow sustains him and provides him contentment. Byerman stated: What makes this tension dialectical is that the artifice of narration is necessary for the existence of the story and its overt message. The measure of Baldwins success is his ability to keep this tension so well hidden, not his ability to resolve the conflict. I do agree with that statement of his because it really can be surmised that the story is not actually about overcoming the issues that are involved, but rather, living through it all. The story tackles an

innate human behavior which is avoidance of stressors using coping mechanisms, be it effective or not, which ultimately results to a greater understanding of oneself and the realities of life in general. Yet, that reality is complemented by the awareness of idealism that people always desire or at least, talk about. Sonnys idealistic principles of constantly trying to be on top of things that are actually happening led him to do bad things to himself like using drugs. Ironically, its that same idealism which motivated him to reach his goal and at the same time realize that the past is real and inescapable. There can never really be a single perspective when looking at life it will always be a combination of realism and idealism.

Bibliography

Schilb, John, and Clifford, John. Making Literature Matter. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2009. Print. McParland, Robert. To the Deep Water: James Baldwins Sonnys Blues. Interdisciplinary Humanities Fall 2006: 131-140. Online Tackach, James. The Biblical Foundation of Sonnys Blues. Renascence Winter 2007: 109-118. Online Murray, Donald. James Baldwins Sonnys Blues; Complicated and Simple. Studies in short fiction Fall 1977: 353-357. Online Baldwin, James, and Bondy, Francois. James Baldwin as Interviewed by Francois Bondy. Indiana University Press, 1964. Online Byerman, Keith A. Words and Music: Narrative Ambiguity in 'Sonnys Blues. Studies in Short Fiction 19.4 (1982): 367. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 10 May 2011.