The Struggle In Sonny's Blue By James Baldwin

Living in Harlem established suppressed and fearful identities for the two brothers. For most of their lives they lived in a black and poor neighborhood of Harlem where there was abundance of potential but they’re threatened by the drugs and violence of the urban ghetto. Growing up in such an environment encouraged the narrator to become more understanding of the surroundings, he suspected his own students to “be popping off needles every time they went to the head,” and comes to the

James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blue’s” makes great use of different literary devices throughout the story. Sonny’s Blue’s is about an older brother’s relationship and differences with his younger brother, Sonny. Sonny’s ambition to become a jazz pianist points him into an opposite direction than his brother, and into a place where the common suffering is handled with drugs and music. The fundamental differences between these two brothers in their lack of understanding for one another and their gradual acceptance of one another, is presented and explained by their personal and social conflicts. The author uses setting, symbolism, and the narrator’s change in his point of view to give the story a deeper meaning and significance to the

The underlining main point in this story is hope. There are many factors that challenge the life of these characters in this story, but for me, in much aspect this story was reality. The turning point of this story is when Sonny invites his brother to the nightclub in downtown Harlem. Although Sonny’s brother was hesitant he knew it was needed, if he ever desired to have a strong relationship with his brother. Sonny’s brother says “Yet it was clear that, for them, I was only Sonny’s brother. Here I was in Sonny’s world. Or rather: his kingdom. Here, it was not even a question that his veins bore royal blood” (Baldwin). For once the narrator was able to see that his brother was a changed person, and that he did honestly love music. My comparison to this moment would have to be the moment that I took my mom out to eat last Mothers day.

In chapter 1 and 2 of The Blue Sweater, there were many problems that drew my attention, but there is one problem in particular that I would like to discuss: The African women showed Jacqueline that she was not present welcomed in Africa.

In the short story “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin a schoolteacher from the city of Harlem struggles with life and figuring out how to helped his troubled brother. All though named Sonny’s Blues the main character is actually Sonny’s brother who is the narrator and goes through his life and how he reacts to the many problems his younger brother has come into. The brothers grew up in the poverty stricken city of Harlem where the brothers had to avoid drugs and violence constantly. Growing up, Sonny struggled to stay out of trouble and ended up making some bad decisions throughout his life and ends up landing him in jail and addicted to heroin. The un-named brother of Sonny who is the narrator of the story begins to

“Sonny’s Blues” introduces two brothers who have differing mindsets about how to best cope with suffering. The narrator is Sonny’s responsible, unnamed older brother, who follows a very ordered path, using military service, marriage and teaching math to gain stability and escape the downward pull of Harlem. In contrast, younger brother Sonny lives his life like his music hero plays his jazz: improvising. Sonny experiments with drugs, skips school and eventually drops out, all the while feeding his obsession with piano. Sonny’s older brother sees no legitimacy in Sonny’s art and aspirations to become a musician. He disparagingly deems it “to be merely an excuse for the life he led”. The brothers are unable to set their differences aside, and are only reconnected in a time of immense grief, as the brother’s daughter, Grace, dies.

Everyone is born in different times with different opportunities. Some of us have to struggle to make ends meet and others are born with money at their feet already. “Sonny’s Blues” opens up in Harlem with the narrator on a bus reading a newspaper learning that his brother, Sonny, has been arrested for selling heroin. Sonny’s brother takes him in after he is released from jail. However, his brother is scared if he lets him back into his home he will fall into his old ways. Sonny’s true passion in life is to become a Jazz musician but his family doesn’t believe in what he wants to do. Sonny want’s his brother to go with him to a jazz club to see how he actually is and not just seeing him as a dope selling drug addict. At the end of Sonny’s set, he realizes that Jazz has helped Sonny to stay free and express himself. Through Marxist criticism Baldwin highlights the power struggle of the main characters and the world in which they live.

While reading “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin theme, symbolism, and motifs were discovered throughout the entire short story. Sonny one of the two main characters, is dealing with a drug addiction and is now following his dreams of becoming a jazz musician. The narrator, whose name was never given, does his best to keep the promise he made his mother years ago, to be his brother’s keeper.

In the story of “The Rich Brother”, from the author Tobias Wolff, and “Sonny’s Blues” by writer James Baldwin, both stories have brothers that succeed and failed. In “The Rich Brother” Pete is the oldest and Donald the youngest, Pete has his life put together, a family, and while the youngest is trying to find himself his lost. In “Sonny’s Blues” the narrator is the oldest brother and Sonny is the youngest, the unnamed narrator is an English teacher who was in the army and has a family, Sonny is a musician that makes bad decisions. Both brothers have an age gap therefore, they view life in different ways, but they only have each other.

James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” is a story of how a distant and conflicting relationship between two brothers is saved by the powerful message within music. In “Sonny’s Blues” the music portrays a very powerful message. The story begins with Sonny being arrested for heroin use. Sonny’s older brother is a school teacher and did not want to believe that the news was true, “I didn’t want to believe that I’d ever see my brother going down, coming to nothing, all that light in his face gone out, in the condition I’d already seen so many others” (Baldwin 293). Sonny used his music and drugs to distance himself from all the negativity in his life.

The development of the plot stands out as one of the most crucial elements of the story. From the very beginning, the narrator discovers that Sonny has been arrested for his drug use. This action engenders the narrator to reflect on his relationship with Sonny. The discovery of Sonny 's arrest quickly conveys to us a point that is so central to the story. Following the introduction of plot is the conflict. The conflict of the story centers around the narrator and Sonny arguing about Sonny 's decision to become a jazz musician. This conflict,however, has happened before the situation in the introduction of the story but is mentioned further in the story. Sonny 's desire to become a jazz player is seen as a waste of time by the narrator. Consequently, tension is formed between the brothers because of their lack of agreement on the issue. The tension between the brothers gets even more complicated when Sonny moves into the narrator 's apartment. During this part of the story, the narrator and Sonny try to come to terms with themselves and each other. The climax of the story is when the narrator and Sonny argue in the apartment. This is the most important part of the story because both brothers have a brutally honest argument. The narrator discusses Sonny 's drug use, his misunderstanding of Sonny as a musician, and Sonny 's frustration in life. This argument between the two brothers resolves when Sonny invites the narrator to come hear him play. The

In the story of “Sonny’s Blues,” by Baldwin, the beginning of the story finds Sonny’s brother on his way to work reading about Sonny’s predicament. Sonny got arrested for “peddling and using heroin.” He didn’t want to believe that his brother was in trouble. While teaching his algebra class he was thinking about the past. He remembered when he first suspected his Sonny of using Heroin. He was always under the impression that Sonny was, “wild, but he wasn’t crazy. And he’d always been a good boy.” So he refused to believe that his brother was in trouble and needed him.

"Sonny's Blues," by James Baldwin, explores the strained relationship that two brothers the unnamed narrator and Sonny have and how the narrator slowly begins to recognize Sonny's relationship with music. While the narrator is initially baffled by Sonny's dream to become a musician, towards the end of the short story, he recognizes that Sonny depends on music and that it is a driving force in his life, possibly one of the only things that keep him alive.

In James Baldwin’s short story “Sonny’s Blues,” one of the most pertinent themes throughout the story is the contrast and duality of light and darkness. More specifically, the author explores this theme by using light and darkness to explain the characters coming to terms with their realities and the realities of many people who live in their community. The theme also is key in explaining the relationship between Sonny and the narrator. In this paper, I intend to explain the significance of the tension of identifying one’s reality in “Sonny’s Blues,” by exploring the many instances that Baldwin uses light and darkness to explore one’s reality.

James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues,” tells the tale of a young jazz musician by the name Sonny who gets caught up in the ghetto life and decides to abuse and sell heroin. The story is told by the narrator, a high school math teacher, who happens to be Sonny’s older brother. The two siblings have a somewhat cold relationship that is worsened by the suffering that both brothers have had to endure living in an impoverished area. By presenting events that transpired in the past and relating them to the present, the narrator allows the reader to create his or her own understanding of the two characters through the various themes and literary styles. “Sonny’s Blues” is not merely the story of the narrator’s experiences; it is the tale of his inner transformation and spiritual growth which his earlier experiences of death and loss have motivated.