Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/analysis-sonnys-blues-by-james-baldwin-2990467. Sonny's Blues was written in the first person point of view, who is Sonny's brother. Years ago, when he was around fourteen, he'd been all hipped on the idea of going to India. ", "And I'm sick of the stink of these garbage cans! The narrator is a high school algebra teacher and he is a responsible husband and father. I'm not talking about none of that old-time, down-home crap."). For both men the blues are a means for expressing themselves. I was furious because I knew he was laughing at me and I didn't know why. Each of the arguments and fights between the two central figures of the story revolves around music and the culture of drug abuse, which in turn builds up tension between the two throughout the story, I gave up, I decided, if he didnt change his mind, that we could always talk about it later (Baldwin 32). Their laughter struck me for perhaps the first time. "When she was singing before," said Sonny, abruptly, "her voice reminded me for a minute of what heroin feels like sometimes-when it's in your veins. I sat alone in the classroom a long time. Go to BN.com to get your copy of these helpful resources. The story is different from other books as some of the books often straightforward and does not implement the idea of going back and forth to bring the main idea of the story. The author utilizes conflict, symbolism, and the narrators point of view to give the story a deeper meaning and significance to the story. The city of Harlem is of great importance because of the situation depicted in the 1950s whereby African Americans went through social issues such as poverty, drug abuse, insecurity, violence, conflicts, prostitution, and the rise of the music culture (Claborn 92). Purchasing Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at last, that he could help us to be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we did. He must want to die, he's killing himself, why does he want to die?". The broken relationship between the brothers was on the mend due to the narrator. In contrast, his brother, Sonny, is a musician who has led a much wilder life. The information in Sonny's Blues is not organized as the narrator takes the reader back and forth in the story. If your specific country is not listed, please select the UK version of the site, as this is best suited to international visitors. Want 100 or more? It is perfection. By going back in time with. 202 Dr. Hadley Mozer 2/10/17 The short story that I chose to write a literary analysis on is James Baldwin's Sonny's Blues. #5. Sonny's Blues is a short story by James Baldwin that was first published in 1957. I'm glad Mama and Daddy are dead and can't see what's happened to their son and I swear if I'd known what I was doing I would never have hurt you so, you and a lot of other fine people who were nice to me and who believed in me. Through the rekindling of a brothers relationships, Baldwin is able to depict Sonny's motivations and aspirations through his flaws, and the way in which his flaws affected his life. Title story: What an astounding piece of literature. One boy was whistling a tune, at once very complicated and very simple, it seemed to be pouring out of him as though he were a bird, and it sounded very cool and moving through all that harsh, bright air, only just holding its own through all those other sounds. Hes mostly telling us Sonny's story, and this would seem to make him a peripheral character instead of a central one. Order from one of our vetted writers instead, First name should have at least 2 letters, Phone number should have at least 10 digits, Why Pride and Prejudice Is Still Popular Today? From simple essay plans, through to full dissertations, you can guarantee we have a service perfectly matched to your needs. James Baldwin starts the story with the narrator reading the paper on the subway, in that paper, he sees devastating news. If you are the original author of this essay and no longer wish to have it published on the I started down the steps, whistling to keep from crying, I kept whistling to myself. Essay, Pages 7 (1648 words) Views. The Horse Dealer's Daughter is a story of Mabel Pervin, who is 27 years of age and unmarried (Lawrence 1). However, the story is different from my life in the aspect of the drug peddling and imprisonment of Sonny. He read books about people sitting on rocks, naked, in all kinds of weather, but mostly bad, naturally, and walking barefoot through hot coals and arriving at wisdom. Enhance your understanding of Sonny's Blues by learning more about James Baldwin as well as about historical contextfor this short story. While his brother feels like he could never truly explain anything to the narrator. By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy. Literary Essay Sample, Free Paper for Everyone on How to Write College Essay, Free Essay: Patti Smith's Experience in the M Train Book, Literary Essay Sample: "The Singing Lesson" by Katherine Mansfield, "Liars, Liars, Liars": Fiction and Reality in McEwan's Atonement - Free Essay Sample, Free Essay Sample: Religion in Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas. All work is written to order. No plagiarism, guaranteed! Ruby Washington / Archive Photos / Getty Images. To avoid conflict Sonny decided to join the navy and disappear for a long time, which is also seen as a moment of peace in the story until his return from war. ", Yet when the musicians start to play, "the lights on the bandstand, on the quartet, turned to a kind of indigo. The fact that the two characters are always in constant conflict and tension makes the theme of music more evident in the story and a controversial topic. The brothers grew up in Harlem, where the narrator still lives. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. A summary will tend to be straightforward and not move back and forth as the main story. First published in 1957, Sonnys Blues, perhaps Baldwins best known and most widely. $2.99 $ 2. Music plays out as the main theme in the story and gives readers an opportunity to relate by presenting a realistic point of view of Sonnys elder brother, who dislikes the idea of his brother taking music on as a career. The meeting erupts into another fight whereby the narrator accused Sonny for making wrong life decisions, particularly drug abuse and the decision to become a pianist, which the narrator considered a waste of time. The encounters that the characters have with those around them bring to light the fundamental African American experience in the United States; one of suffering. In James Baldwin's short story, Sonnys Blues, the reader should understand and visualize the historical context in order to understand the world being presented. The reader has to comprehend the harsh life of a male African-American who struggles with his dreams and drug addiction sometime around early 1957. Sonnys blues is, Moving on to Sonny's Blues that is told in the first person from the point of view of an unnamed narrator who, we find out, is Sonnys brother. . It's what they endure. Powerful and deeply moving story of two brothers trying to come to terms with their relationship amidst crime, drug abuse and potential wasted. I stood up and walked over to the window and looked down into the court-yard. I finished reading last night the story goes straight to your heart, well written.. James Baldwin reminds us that childhood isn't rife with happiness like everyone else paints it, that--for most--life isn't a fairy-tale, but far from it. He had a background as a preacher, so a text from the Book of Genesis in the Bible, has a similarity towards Sonnys Blues. Harlem, Communal Affect, and the Great Migration Narrative in James Baldwins Sonnys Blues., Clark, Michael. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. I didn't hate him any more. Highest recommended. For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more! Sonny writes a long letter back to his brother in which he tries to explain how he ended up where he is. They both went through the same childhood, but handled it differently. Using conclusions gleaned from a detailed reading of the primary text, as . In the short story Sonnys Blues the narrator Sonnys brother talks about their life together and also the environment they live in. This article uses a discussion of Baldwin's short story 'Sonny's blues' as a means of exploring reading and approaches to drug literature. I wanted to say that it was all within; but was it? Note the phrase "on the quartet": it's important that the musicians are working as a group. Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! I used to say that it sounded to me as though they were getting away from wisdom as fast as they could. James Baldwins Sonnys Blues: Childhood, Light and Art., Sherard, Tracey. It is at once painful and beautiful. "Oh, honey," she said, "there's a lot that you don't know. . Together they're making something new, and the light changesand becomes accessible to them. As the narrator and Sonny ride in a cab toward Harlem "the vivid, killing streets of our childhood" the streets "darken with dark people." Is that what you mean? James Baldwins Sonnys Blues uses Sonny as an antagonist character to the protagonist, his eldest brother. This paper will analyze and explicate the text by Baldwin through the development and depiction of the theme of music presented in the short story. This story was written by James Baldwin, in 1957. However, it is not until the end of the story when Sonnys brother narrates the powerful, melodic sound of Sonnys blues that he acknowledges his own pain. Throughout the story, darkness is used as a symbol to illustrate the threats and conflicts that grace the African American communitys culture of music. And you can see that, well, it makes something real for them. Subscribe now. Written in 1957 by an African-American author James Baldwin the piece . The death of the father became a revelation to Mabel, and her three brothers of how deep their family was in debt. "It makes you feel-in control. (one code per order). 20% Rather, they've done it with hard work and "torment. #14. His younger brother Sonny is a troubled musician struggling with his addiction to drugs. #11. Much of the story is told through a series of flashbacks as memory and family history are revealed to be central drivers of the trauma and alienation experienced by Sonny and the Narrator. The literary work tells the story of Sonny and his brother (an unnamed narrator), as they seek to understand how to navigate the delicate and dangerous waters of familial relationships, their role in society and themselves. Close Reading Essay Sample: Sonny's Blues by James Baldwin. He notes that: Though both Sonny and the narrator have traveled the world by enlisting in the military, they have both ended up back in Harlem. Having been born and raised in New York's Harlem district, he was intimately familiar with the sights and sounds that appeared in his stories even though he'd put an entire ocean between them. When I saw him many things I thought I had forgotten came flooding back to me. To export a reference to this article please select a referencing stye below: If you are the original writer of this essay and no longer wish to have your work published on UKEssays.com then please: Our academic writing and marking services can help you! Through flashback, the author is also able to give the audience a picture of what happened before the beginning of the story and how music has been the center of the two brothers constant misunderstandings. Plot of "Sonny's Blues" The story opens with the first-person narrator reading in the newspaper that his younger brother from whom he is estranged has been arrested for selling and using heroin. The tale then travels back to Sonny's teenage years and ends up with Sonny living with his brother after his arrest. The narrator talks about the drug dealing that happens in the playgrounds near the housing projects and of course his brothers battle, Using his writing as a form of self-expression, James Baldwin, an African American author, spent his life seeking to reveal the cruel reality of African American men. View all The narrator of the Sonnys Blues was able to get out and he lived a happy life, having a family and a career while sonny got stuck and ended up doing drugs and eventually got himself arrested. ", "You mean-they'll let him out. The narrator laments that many of them may already be using drugs, just as Sonny did, and that perhaps the drugs will do "more for them than algebra could." In this case, that sort of thing being nearly perfectly crafted fiction. The story is relevant to the world today as many of the youths go through the same situation as that of Sonny. "Do you mind," he asked, "if we have the driver drive alongside the park? SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. Study for free with our range of university lectures! For several months after the arrest, the narrator does not contact Sonny. 3 . Sonny's Blues by James Baldwin 6,712 ratings, 4.28 average rating, 438 reviews Sonny's Blues Quotes Showing 1-22 of 22 "For, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. He had made it his: that long line, of which we knew only Mama and Daddy. #26. As described, music is associated with darkness by the narrator because he does not see any future following a career in music and the fact that music is filled with immoral life, such as drug abuse. His situation doesn't seem much different from that of the older people he remembers from childhood. Through the story, the author creates relevance and connection of different aspects ranging from characters, setting, and literary devices to bring forth the theme of music as depicted through Sonnys Blues.. I saw this boy standing in the shadow of a doorway, looking just like Sonny. This is a really powerful book in which everyone should read. Sonny wanted his brother to see how Jazz made him feel and his brother saw that when he watched Sonny play. The narrator was also able to realize that Sonny was talented in music as opposed to his thoughts. "No," he said, very sober now, and afraid, perhaps, that he'd hurt me, "I don't want to be a classical pianist. Only contained the short story Sonny's Blues Sonny's Blues book. Youve successfully purchased a group discount. Lawrence, David Herbert. It's repulsive to think you have to suffer that much. The narrator points out that nothing has really changed since their childhood. Baldwin cleverly attacks the constructs of racism in American society by using himself and his life experiences as a . A shortened version of this story will focus on the life of Sonny, his addiction to drugs and the lessons the reader ought to learn from it. "No, I don't know that," said Sonny, surprising me. Harlem plays a crucial role in this short story, because it is depicted as place where the narrator and his brother must struggle to escape the hustle and bustle of their own reality. #35. When she smiled one saw the little girl, one sensed the doomed, still-struggling woman beneath the battered face of the semi-whore. #27. Sonny did not welcome the idea, but reluctantly agreed to avoid another conflict, you decided it, look brother, I dont want to stay Harlem no more, I really dont (Baldwin 33). "Sonny's Blues" is the best reading because Baldwin connects the audience with all of the characters while also focusing on human suffering, which is. It was not the joyous laughter which-God knows why-one associates with children. The most important ideas in the story are family, home, suffering, and drugs. Sonny wanted so desperately to please his brother, but couldnt find a way to avoid Jazz but still get that feeling he craved. "I just want you to know that.". "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin is an account given from the perspective of a brother to a heroin addict in Harlem. The other brother is simply the narrator of the story. I have never been into prison. Sonnys Blues is not just about Sonny's decisions and struggles but also about how they affect the narrator. Registered office: Creative Tower, Fujairah, PO Box 4422, UAE. This article uses a discussion of Baldwin's short story 'Sonny's blues' as a means of exploring reading and approaches to drug literature. In that moment the narrator finally understands Sonnys love for music. The narrator laments that the dangers of darkness is the fact that the students cannot see looming danger ahead, as explained in the text, drugs will do of them that algebra could (Baldwin 18). For a moment nobody's talking, but every face looks darkening, like the sky outside. The book is very good in the sense of being relatable in same way to most people that have problems and real life. Order now. But the worry, the thoughtfulness, played on it still, the way shadows play on a face which is staring into the fire. I was told in high school English, as well as university, that we were not to use the word "it." "Well, you may think it's funny now, baby, but it's not going to be so funny when you have to make your living at it, let me tell you that." This story is one of the many stories by James Baldwin. This led him to try and change his idea of venturing into music as a career, while he thought there was more appealing careers out there one could accomplish for a living. "Me," he said. about it in the paper, in the subway, on my way to work. The child knows that they won't talk any more because if he knows too much about what's happened to them, he'll know too much too soon, about what's going to happen to him. Although both characters were different they found an understanding by trying to feel what each other were feeling. Some escaped the trap, most didn't. The supportive older musician Creole "erupt[s] out of all that atmospheric lighting" and tells Sonny, "I been sitting right here waiting for you." This story was written by James Baldwin, in 1957. This narrator recently discovered the arrest of his younger brother for the accusations of selling and using heroin. All at once something inside gave and threatened to come pouring out of me. Baldwin focused on the life of Sonny, who was narrated from the point of view of his brother, as Sonny was arrested by the authorities for possession of drugs. ", I said: "But there's no way not to suffer-is there. James was born on the 2 nd of August 1924, in New York, in a place called Harlem. But it would all have sounded-empty words and lies. I wanted to write you many a time but I dug how much I must have hurt you and so I didn't write. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. From the very beginning of the tale, the sorrow is palpable through the unnamed narrator 's discovery of Sonny 's incarceration, and moreover through the atmosphere created by Mr. Baldwin. Throughout the story, darkness is used to symbolize the threats that menace the African-American community. Genius is the ultimate source of music knowledge, created by scholars like you who share facts and insight about the songs and artists they love. And now, even though he was a grown-up man, he still hung around that block, still spent hours on the street corners, was always high and raggy. I had kept it outside me for a long time. You can see the darkness growing against the windowpanes and you hear the street noises every now and again, or maybe the jangling beat of a tambourine from one of the churches close by, but it's real quiet in the room. In the end, though, what does Sonny teach the narrator? You'll also receive an email with the link. His face relaxed a little. Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan! The conflict was created because Sonny had to hide the fact that he was studying music. $18.74/subscription + tax, Save 25% #8. He disapproves of, and worries about, his brother's drug use and he is alienated by his brother's attraction to bebop music. SpeedyPaper.com 2023 All rights reserved. He had a big voice, too, and heads in the darkness turned toward us. I stared at it in the swinging lights of the subway car, and in the faces and bodies of the people, and in my own face, trapped in the darkness which roared outside. I guess Sonny's Blues is OK if you like that sort of thing. The short story takes place in the center of civil rights movements in American society. I'd never played the role of the oldest brother quite so seriously before, had scarcely ever, in fact, asked Sonny a damn thing. 99. . This life, whatever it was, had made him older and thinner and it had deepened the distant stillness in which he had always moved. Baldwin is a novelist, poet, and a social critic by profession. The silence of the next few days must have been louder than the sound of all the music ever played since time began. Read our full plot summary of Sonny's Blues.. I'm telling you this because you got a brother. And how about you? Analysis of "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin. #23. #22. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. 1245 Words5 Pages. Yes, I have read The Horse Dealer's Daughter which is also a good read, just like Sonny's Blue. As said in the story Some escaped the trap, most didnt. How do the death of the narrator's daughter, the recollection of his family history, the. Several individuals were arrested in a drug bust. #33. Our academic experts are ready and waiting to assist with any writing project you may have. Then he stood up and he told me not to worry about him any more in life, that he was dead as far as I was concerned. He stopped, looking inward, looking helplessly young, looking old. The story makes use of poetic style, sympathetic but honest tone, and mood. I got to get outside. There is a way to avoid editing or writing from scratch! He wanted to be a jazz musician. The narrator insinuates that "It's only light we've got in all this darkness (Baldwin 139)." As a symbol in the story, darkness makes it possible for the readers to understand better the setting of the story and the situation in the African American neighborhood in America. Ernst Klett Sprachen, 2009. Sonny's blues. 5.0 out of 5 stars 2. 308 qualified specialists online. Abstract. This also shows how music was perceived by a rather older generation from that of Sonnys, which treasured music. The imprisonment aspect of Sonny does not, therefore, relate to my life. I realized, with this mocking look, that there stood between us, forever, beyond the power of time or forgiveness, the fact that I had held silence-so long!-when he had needed human speech to help him. Baldwin is one of the most brutally honest writers I have ever encountered - he is also extremely prophetic in his ability to see past the failure of policies that have worsened the plight of African Americans. But wonders can happen! It might be said, perhaps, that I had escaped, after all, I was a school teacher; or that Sonny had, he hadn't lived in Harlem for years. But you never hear anything I say.". #15. Starting off, a summary of the story and its major themes should be provided. All I know about music is that not many people ever really hear it. Reminiscing with the memory of what use to be, the narrator realizes Sonny is battling with his addiction to Heroin. What is evoked in him, then, is of another order, more terrible because it has no words, and triumphant, too, for that same reason. ", "At least, I ain't learning nothing you'd want me to learn. Who Set You Feelin? Black Music Energizes Black Literature: Blues in James Baldwins Sonnys Blues., Claborn, John. Fenfang, Mi, and Tan Huijuan. #25. As we continue to observe the impressive short story, we find the most recurring theme to be that of sorrow. See a complete list of the characters in Sonny's Blues and in-depth analyses of The Narrator, Sonny, and Mother. ", I first read a small passage in ECC.and created a essay about it. Sonny's Blues (James Baldwin) Analysis Skyler Jackson Eng. Unfortunately, you cant copy samples. Learn more. After going through all the trouble, Sonny was a great musician and he loved to play music more than anything. Sonnys Blues incorporates racial frustration, self-expression, avoidance, lightness/darkness and symbolic nature of music. Sonnys Blues was created in an African American setting, where music was growing and was apart of the culture. A simple story of two brothers who drift apart because of ones drug problem - Sonny. Sonnys Blues is about an older brothers relationship and differences with his younger brother, Sonny. Till the day he died he weren't sure but that every white man he saw was the man that killed his brother.". All these characters experience sorrow and sadness in their. He frowned and smiled: "In order to keep from shaking to pieces.". Baldwin, James. Additionally, the flashback in the story helps to show how the past is related to the present through the narrators guiltiness of not helping Sonny in his desires to become a musician, which is also haunting him just like his father was haunted and traumatized by not helping his own brother. #6. The father dealt with horses before his death. The narrator chooses to voice of reason throughout the story. But this is also his story. The narrator gets lost and disconnects from the family at the beginning. They haven't done this "without thinking." The music stopped, the barmaid paused and watched the juke box until the music began again. or, rather, wasn't that exactly the trouble? "But we just agreed," I said, "that there's no way not to suffer. Darkness, "Sonny's Blues", and Light "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin is about two brothers, Sonny and the unnamed narrator. Biography of Louis Armstrong, Expert Trumpeter and Entertainer, 'Down and Out in Paris and London' Study Guide, A Closer Look at "A Ghost Story" by Mark Twain, Biography of Adam Clayton Powell, Congressman and Activist, Ph.D., English, State University of New York at Albany. The news doesn't go well with Mabel resulting in an attempted suicide. Both the narrator and sonny was able to escape the overpowering pull of Harlem in different ways. Here, I was in Sonny's world. Thank you so much:CASH APP: cash.app/$dubonmad VENMO: @Michael-Alberto-DuBon PAYPAL: paypal.me/dubonmot I also just want to let you all know that by listening to any audio book you are in fact doing the reading and you are being an effective reader through listening--so make sure to give yourself credit for doing what you need to do to get your reading done in a way that works best for you! The darkness of the movies echoed later in a comment about watching TV screens rather than windows, suggests that entertainment has drawn the boys' attention away from their own lives. Hearing Sonny play only one set he is in awe and sends his brother a drink of scotch with milk. The story opens on the unnamed narrator, who has just read in the newspaper that his little brother Sonny was arrested for using and selling heroin.