by Madalina Munteanu

Sonnys Blues James Baldwin

Sonnys Blues was one of Baldwins earliest short stories. Originally published in 1957, Sonnys Blues follows the narrator as he discovers who his drug-addicted, piano-playing younger brother, Sonny, truly is. Set in Harlem, like many of Baldwins other work, Sonnys Blues is a constant struggle between light and darkness, failure and redemption. The story was included in the short-story collection Going to Meet the Man (1965). The stories in the collection, Sonnys Blues in particular, demonstrate Baldwins ability to transform his social and political concerns into art. In Sonnys Blues, Baldwin takes on Harlems deterioration, religion, drug addiction, and postWorld War II America all at the same time. In this work, Baldwin drew on many of his own experiences to explore the issues of racial conflict, individual identity, and the complexity of human motivations. The story, like the characters in it, literally struggles under the weight of so much pressure. In "Sonny's Blues", the plot surprises a conservative black teacher who narrates his attempts to comprehend his brother Sonny, an unemployed jazz pianist and occasional heroin user. After hearing that Sonny has been arrested for possession of narcotics, the teacher refuses to become involved. As the story proceeds, the death of his young daughter makes him to write to Sonny. Sonny writes back a letter in which he tries to explain how he ended up where he is. The two brothers then stay in constant communication and when Sonny gets out of jail, the narrator takes him back to his own familys apartment. In an extended flashback, the narrator remembers the last day he saw his mother before he left to the army, when she told him to watch out for his brother and revealed the story about the death of his uncle which traumatized and damaged the narrators father for the rest of his life. After that conversation with his mother, the narrator didnt think about his brother again until their mother died. Then, Sonny told his brother about his dream of becoming a jazz pianist. The narrator arranged for Sonny to live with his wifes family until he graduated from college. Sonny got into trouble and he realized what a burden hed been on the family so he left their house and joined the navy. The narrator didnt know anything about Sonny until he received a postcard from him. After the war, the two brothers returned to New York. When they eventually met, they fought about Sonnys decisions in life. Sonny told his brother that he could consider him dead from that point on. The narrator walked away, telling himself that one day Sonny would need his help. This is where the flashback ends. After a few weeks in the narrators house, Sonny invites him to watch his band playing. Listening to Sonny's jazz solo at a bar in Greenwich Village, the narrator is finally led to an understanding of universal suffering and of his brother's attitudes. Although the story invokes Sonny in its title, it is through the narrators eyes that Sonny and Harlem are revealed. Sonnys brother is the narrator and main character; his name is never mentioned throughout the story. He is a high school algebra teacher and family man. The narrator has assimilated into white society as much as possible but still feels the pain of racism and the limits placed upon his opportunity. Though the narrator is fully conscious of his communitys dark side, he tries his best to keep those problems at distance, refusing to let any tragedy affect him too much emotionally. The narrator believes that he has been called upon to watch over Sonny, but he is constantly torn by his emotions, which shift quickly from love to hate, concern to doubt. As much as he cares for Sonny, he seems to be unable to fully accept that his brother has the capacity for change. Sonny is the main character's brother. Through his brothers eyes, he is a quiet, introspective person with a tendency to withdraw inside himself, wild, but not crazy. As a young African American male born in Harlem, he is aware of the limits and obstacles he faces. He struggles to defy the stereotypes by moving away from Harlem and beginning a career as a musician. Unlike his brother, Sonny wants and needs an escape from Harlem and the traditional social order. Instead of being free, however, Sonny winds up being confined in prison because of a heroin addiction. Sonnys one saving grace is his music, through which he can express all of his longing and frustration. There is something heroic to the way Sonny offers himself up to his music. He knows that playing music may destroy him by leading him back into a life of drugs, but he also knows that its a burden that he has to bear.

by Madalina Munteanu

The mother is an almost saintlike figure who guards and protects her children and husband from the darkness of the world. She has done more than just live a decent life: she helped her husband bear the tragedy. The mother can see her own impending death and the dangers her youngest son will face. As a mother, she has protected her family, but now that she knows she is going to die, she knows she will no longer be able to guide and protect her family as she once did, so she leaves this responsability to the narrator. Sonnys Blues is a story which involves a number of themes and motifs related, at the same time, to the life of the two brothers and to the community they live in. Suffering - One of the most important aspects of the short story is how Sonny and his brother endure suffering. This reveals how different they are and the reason why Sonnys brother cannot understand him. Most importantly, the short story focuses on the sufferings of black people in America. Music, specifically jazz music, is likewise utilized as a controlling metaphor to examine questions of heritage, society, and racial relations in America. Music as a means of communication between people is also considered a meaningful theme in "Sonny's Blues." It is only through music, by playing jazz, that Sonny is able to externalize his pain and also help his brother to face his own issues. Racism and Segregation - The entire story reveals a separation made by society between blacks and whites. In spite of being an algebra teacher, Sonnys brother has to continue living in Harlem and cope with the poverty and violence existent in the neighborhood. The Obligation toward Brotherly Love - The narrators mother, charges him with watching over Sonny. The tension between the two brothers is so great that after one particular fight, Sonny tells his brother to consider him dead from that point on. The narrator turns his back on his brother and fails, at first, to respond to Sonny when he is prison. By the end of the story, he takes on the role of his brothers keeper, constantly watching and worrying over Sonny. The idea of brotherly love extends beyond the relationship between the narrator and Sonny into the community as a whole. The Prevalence of Rage and Fury - Fury and rage are products not only of the limited opportunities that came with being African American at that time but of life in Harlem as well. A fury fueled by desperation and desire finds its truest form of expression in the music Sonny plays at the end of the story. The search for identity, specifically what it means to be an African-American male in mid-twentieth century American society. We can also find different motifs in this text: imprisonment - the characters are trapped both physically and emotionally, salvation - the narrator and Sonny are both seeking a form of salvation, not only from the world but also from themselves and symbols such as the Cup of Trembling the narrator uses the image from the book of Isaiah to symbolize the suffering and trouble that Sonny has experienced in his life; other symbols are the housing projects, the constant tension between light and darkness. Baldwins prose style is one of the most distinctive in American literature, known for both its eloquence and rhetorical force. The Bible was one of Baldwins earliest literary influences. H relies on biblical imagery and phrases to make his moral and political points. In Sonnys Blues, there is the cup of trembling and the description of housing projects as rocks in the middle of a boiling sea, a phrase that could have been lifted directly from the Book of Revelations in the Bible. Baldwins sentences contain a biblical tone and rhythm. The message and particular words that Baldwin employs also have a biblical tone: a desire for peace and salvation, ideas that occur repeatedly throughout the Bible. In Sonnys Blues, Baldwin strikes a fine balance between employing the occasional rhetorical flourishes and creating morally complicated characters. The closing scene of the story highlights Baldwins talent as a stylist. Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonny's_Blues http://www.enotes.com/sonnys-blues-james-baldwin SparkNotes Editors. SparkNote on Sonnys Blues. SparkNotes LLC. 2007. http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/sonnys-blues/

by Madalina Munteanu