An Analysis Of Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin

James Baldwin utilizes specific words and expressions to convey his meaning. In “Sonny’s Blues,” Baldwin has been careful with always making sure the reader is aware of important details. Although it does not say directly, Baldwin convinces the audience of racial restrictions and how those limitations can affect the character

Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin is a short story that expresses the themes of alienation, identity, drugs, music, family, suffering, redemption, racism in society and imprisonment. Baldwin uses a lot of symbolism, allegories and imagery within the text. Music, alienation, drugs and suffering are the themes that are most clearly understood and show up the most. Music and drugs and perfect examples of symbolism. And when Baldwin talks about suffering and alienation they have the closest connection to being allegories. Music brings Sonny and his brother together but also tears them apart, so it's a contradicting factor in this story. Sonnys music and his drugs play similar roles within the text as well. Sonny and the narrator suffered not only

Sonny’s Blues, a short story by famed African-American author James Baldwin, is the story of two bothers. Other famous stories of two brothers include both The Prodigal Son parable and the story of Cain and Abel, both from which Baldwin clearly draws inspiration from. Baldwin grew up with many religious teachings, as his adoptive father, David Baldwin, was a preacher. Though the relationship between father and son was not enviable, Baldwin still grew up active in his religion (James Baldwin- Biography). Baldwin, despite growing up in the Baptist church with a preacher for a father began to convert to Pentecostalism began in his early teenage years when he accompanied friends to a Pentecostal church, where, at the age of fourteen, he became ‘street preacher’ (James Baldwin- Biography). Of those years as a preacher, Baldwin recalled, “Those three years in the pulpit – I didn’t realize it then – that is what turned me into a writer, really, dealing with all that anguish and that despair and that beauty.” Many of his works prominently feature religion, and mimic the bible in language and tone (James Baldwin- About the Author).

And this was partly because Sonny was the apple of his father 's eye. It was because he loved Sonny so much and was frightened for him, that he was always fighting with him. It doesn 't do any good to fight with Sonny…But the principal reason that they never hit it off is that they were so much alike.” (225). Sonny 's father was an alcoholic who did not know how to properly convey his love for him, this causes Sonny to compensate for his tumultuous upbringing by constantly burying the emotions he feels inside. These descriptions are a stark contrast to the way that Narrator is introduced as a successful man in the community of Harlem; he’s an algebra teacher with a wife and kids who distances himself from, not only those inferior to him, but towards his own brother too. He’s a practical man with a darker, far more cynical view of the world that surrounds him. By social standards, Narrator is an upstanding citizen who is the bright spot in his community for making something of himself with a stable career and life. Sonny has seemingly failed at reaching that level by only becoming another predictably, failed product of a community that expects this type of outcome. He is a jazz musician with an addiction problem who has a naïve, sunny point of view about the world. When two brothers who ultimately don’t share the same views, profession, or beliefs the difficulty to find a connection is only inevitable.

James Baldwin?s story ?Sonny?s Blues? is a deep and reflexive composition. Baldwin uses the life of two brothers to establish parallelism of personal struggle with society, and at the same time implies a psychological process of one brother leaving his socially ingrained prejudices to understand and accept the other's flaws.

The story, “Sonny’s Blues” is not simply the story of the experience of the narrator. Rather, it is a story that captures his inner transformation as well the spiritual progression that his previous experiences of death and loss have influenced. Yes, it is. In that, the story starts as an identified or unfamiliar algebra teacher tries to familiarize with something at the same time riding the passageway to school. The teacher and the narrator of the story exit the subway and walks towards the school, his anxiety and fear mounting pressure on him regarding the fate of his Sonny. The brother has been detained for peddling heroin. At the same time, thinking about the fate of his brother reminds of the teacher of his students, who are subjected to limited possibilities in a harsh and hostile world. The storyteller postulates that several of his schoolgirls may be by now be undertaking drugs, as, for instance, heroin. The summary provided above captures that indeed, the story based on the inner transformations that he attains from his previous experiences, that us the fate of his brother, death, and loss. Attributable to the elucidations provided above, this paper in writing seeks to substantiate the fact the story “Sonny’s Blues” is not just an illustration of the experiences of the narrator, but the story based on his inner transformation.

“Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin is an emotional story about the reconciliation of two brothers after years of struggles, but it is also an analysis of the importance of black heritage and of the role of music within it. The story presents the central role that music plays in human existence, and especially in the childhood of two young men growing up during the pre-Civil Rights Movement of the 1940s and 1950s, in the segregated part of Harlem. The author supports his argument by utilizing the symbolic "cup of trembling", in order to illustrate the struggle between Sonny and his older brother, as well as by providing a clear, continuous motif of light versus darkness in his work.

“Sonny’s Blues”, by James Baldwin, centers on a man, his life, and his relationship with his brother Sonny. In Harlem, growing up with a life of filth, the man(narrator) and his brother grow up with innumerable opportunities to dilapidate their lives and careen down the conventional road. The man was fortunate; he joined the army, got married, and became a teacher in downtown Harlem. However, for his brother Sonny, things turned out differently. As a teen, Sonny struggled to live in Harlem and to find himself, but, unable to escape Harlem, was drawn into a life of drugs and jazz music to subsist with his prevailing blues.

Amber LaCourt ENG 0235 Professor Jackson 3/24/18 Response Paper #2 In the short story “Sonny’s Blues” written by James Baldwin exhibits the themes of a grief, drug abuse, poverty and limited possibilities in the unnamed narrator life. The overall constant reminder of these themes wears down his brother Sonny and some of the other characters in this short story. Some of the characters try to fight these constant reminders and others barely even try.

The story “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin hits home to my own personal life. In the story, a man learns that his brother is in jail and he is hooked on drugs. This story relates to my life because I have experienced something similar. Not only do I think that it can relate to my life, but so many other people who are struggling with drug and alcohol addiction. My father passed away due to a drug overdose. After his passing, we learned that my teenage brother had picked up on his habits and had been using since his preteen years. James Baldwin wrote a story in first person of a man who was internally struggling with the issue of whether

In Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin, race, drugs, class struggle and family are some of the issues addressed in the story. Race is addressed when the narrator and his family are categorized by the author as African Americans. In addition, the narrator’s unfamiliar uncle was killed by intoxicated white men. Ever since that night, every white man that his father would see was the man who killed his brother. His mother implied the world hasn’t changed and feared for Sonny’s life.

When we talk about darkness, it can have many different meanings. For example, darkness can mean shadow, sadness, wickedness, evil, iniquity, gloom, or without light. In the short novel Sonny Blues by James Baldwin, the word “darkness” appeared frequently throughout the reading. I think the significance of darkness of this particular situation of this book that Baldwin is trying to present is fear and suffering. It shows how the characters are in the state of panic and fear, of the situation they are in and all the sufferings they have to go through.

James Baldwin was raised in poverty in Harlem where, at the age of fourteen, he became a preacher in the Fireside Pentecostal Church. After high school he decided to become a writer and with the help of the black American expatriate writer Richard Wright, won a grant that enabled him to move to Paris, where he lived most of his remaining years. He wrote a variety of novels mostly about the intellectual trials of black men in a white, racist society and homosexual themes. James Baldwin wrote “Sonny’s Blues” which was about the experiences he had with Sonny and he also learned many new things from both of his parents. The intended audience is towards people giving their loved ones a second chance. Sonny goes through addiction, he recovers from it and he tries to change his life around.

James Baldwin presents an emotional journey through Harlem in the 1950’s with his short story, “Sonny’s Blues.” From the beginning, the story is in medias res when the unnamed narrator is informed of bad news concerning his younger, troubled brother, Sonny. Throughout the story there is an ocean of emotions witnessed between these two brothers as they battle hardships from their past and present time. The setting plays an important role in “Sonny’s Blues” to an extent where it is practically a character in the story. The city of Harlem is where their troubles begin, the place they both try to escape. Through the setting of “Sonny’s Blues,” and the example of the relationship between the narrator and his younger brother, Sonny, James Baldwin presents how a dark past full of suffering can influence present lives and relationships.

“Sonny’s Blue”, by James Baldwin, reflects a story of an unidentified narrator and his younger brother Sonny through their fights to overcome suffering and racism in Harlem in 1950s. The setting plays an important role in the story. The time period can be assumed to be an era filled with poverty, drugs and racial tension and Harlem being predominantly African-American. These factors seem to have a role in “Sonny’s Blue”. In “Sonny's Blues”, James Baldwin, a narrator, reflects a theme of suffering and how the settings play a key role in his and his younger brother Sonny's life. Two settings within the story are Harlem and the nightclub, and both have different impacts on the characters and the events of the story".