Sonny's Blues Literary Analysis

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

Sonny wants to get away from heroin and become a musician. He practices every day because he wants to be good. It gets to the point where Isabella says it's not even like living with a person anymore. Throughout the story, we come to find that Sonny is a drug addict, a dreamer, and a musician. He uses all of these things to try and escape the environment

Sonny’s passion in life was his love for music. This kept him going through his difficult times, “sometime you know, and it was actually when I was most out of the world, I felt I was in it, that I was with it, really, and I could play or didn’t really have to play.” He invited his brother to watch him play at a nightclub. Through the music Sonny played his life’s obstacles and triumph. His brother finally understood what Sonny went through and will continue to go through.

Jazz music for Sonny meant the exact opposite however, music was more like the light at the end of a tunnel. Jazz music was one of the few positive things in Sonny’s life. Music represented passion and an escape from the world for Sonny. It was where he could do no one harm its where he felt the most free to do as he pleases without being judged. The two brothers were cut from different fabric, and often find it hard to understand one another. Music seemed to be the bridge that managed to fill the gap of understanding between the two, it brought them closer than they have ever been. When the narrator goes to watch his brother perform he learns things he’d never known about his brother before, he then began to appreciate the wonder and terror of becoming a musician.

When Sonny moves in with the family, he is given the expectation to finish college and stay out of trouble. Sonny has other ideas though and skips his classes to go to the local jazz club and play music. When the narrator first learns of Sonny’s antics he is very disappointed and is frustrated that Sonny continues to pursue a musical career. He believes it is part of the reason that Sonny has had so much trouble in the past and doesn’t believe it is a positive thing for his brother. Sonny is immediately kicked out and the two go for another extended period of time until talking again. Eventually the narrator has another change of heart and invites his brother to live with him again and Sonny agrees. The two struggle to communicate so one day Sonny invites the narrator to come watch him play at the jazz club and it is then that the narrator truly understands his younger brother. He is watching Sonny play with a group of musicians when he sees “Sonny’s face is trouble” (Baldwin 254) with the difficulty in

The narrator reaches out to Sonny when he’s in jail and they keep in touch, but this piles up on top what what he’s already been dealing with in his life. As a big brother and as a man, he is disappointed and feels a lack of success. A reader who has younger siblings might understand and

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.

Sonny suddenly becomes in his element. He greets those around him like they are family. The narrator describes it as Sonny’s “kingdom.” This is a new part of Harlem that the narrator has never seen before. It is clear that this is Sonny’s world, and in the nightclub, the narrator is simply Sonny’s brother and nothing else. As Sonny plays, the narrator observes, “He has to fill it, the instrument, with the breath of life, his own. He has to make it do what he wants it to do” (Mays, 113). Before, the narrator had never played an instrument, rarely had he even seen one being played. Music was never an important aspect to his life and for this reason, he felt music was simply a hobby. Now, the narrator is able to see what music is to Sonny. It is life; it is breath. It is what sustains Sonny and allows him to endure the pain of life. The narrator has been carrying the weight of his painful life with him. He has had no control over his parents dying or his little daughter dying, so he tries to maintain control of Sonny’s life. Since he cannot control Sonny, there is always that conflict between the two. As the narrator sits and watches Sonny, he comes to understand Sonny like he never has before. “. . .the face I saw on Sonny I’d never seen before. Everything had been burned out of it, and, at the same time, things usually hidden were being burned in, by the fire and fury of the battle which was occurring in him. . .” (Mays, 113). As a result of Sonny finding freedom in music, the narrator is able to as well. Early on, the narrator had no coping mechanism for the losses that he had in his life. Sonny was able to show him that music is a coping mechanism. While music may not be a mechanism for the narrator, it shows him that he needs one to let go of the past. “The narrator’s freedom comes through his recapturing and acceptance of the past; the music conjures up his mother’s face, his uncle’s death, Grace’s death accompanied by

Music acts as a psychiatric-therapy session to bring peace to those who suffer. The protagonist implies that he cannot endure the awareness that his brother went to jail for drug use, and also for questioning his friend about being intoxicated. Although Sonny is not present in this scene, the music is a sense of interference for the narrator, and further relates to Sonny avoiding his problems of the cold reality in Harlem.

As said before, there are many conflicts within the story that seem to unfold through out the story. Going deeper into the story, different types of conflict arise and really give you insight on how each character feels. Each conflict there is seems to unfold the plot more and more. There are both internal and external conflicts between Sonny and his brother. Internally,

Sonny's devotion to jazz emphasized the conflict between individualism and conventionalism. Seeing Sonny's passion for music, it’s reasonable to assume that music is a drug for Sonny, and his only way of expressing his hopes and dulling with his pain, after his drug addiction. Sonny's devotion to Jazz was able to change the upstanding mind of his brother by the end of the story. When comparing Sonny to his brother, his brother seems to be afraid. He is unable to accept the disorder and cannot face the pain and uncertainty of the way Sonny lives. Sonny has a different perception of the world, his artistic nature and

The narrator goes to a club to watch Sonny and his band play. He begins to understand how deeply his brother feels and thinks, “I had never before thought of how awful the relationship must be between the musician and his instrument. He has to fill it, this instrument with the breath of life, his own.”(Baldwin 102) The music gives Sonny a chance to release his hopelessness and depression. Even though the narrator believes Sonny could have done more with his life if he had turned to classical music, he understands that Sonny is being true to who he really is. The anonymous brother, however, has not found

He developed a passion for playing jazz music on the piano. During the 1950s, this type of music was popular amongst many people. Sonny was able to find other people that all went through similar situations as he did at the local night club. Sonny became very popular through his music he performs on stage. He captivates many with the songs he chooses and adds his own touch to, such as a popular blues song, “Am I Blue”. As a matter of fact, Sonny’s outlet to this popular genre of music helped the narrator understand him a little

Furthermore, Sonny's individualism is a direct result of his unhappiness with conventional life. As a young man, Sonny is unable to get along with his father. He hates his home and school. His creative interest leads him to become isolated from his brother, who feels threatened by "his jazz-oriented life style and his continued attraction to Greenwich Village" (Albert 179). By the beginning of the story, Sonny has rejected his family and his home, constructing a new life as a musician and drug peddler in a new location foreign to the narrator.

"Sonny's Blues" opens with news that Sonny has been recently apprehended during a drug bust, which establishes that Sonny has had an ongoing problem with drug addiction, specifically heroin. While the narrator is apprehensive about contacting Sonny after this incident as the brother have lost touch over the years, he eventually reaches out to Sonny and gains insight into what Sonny has been doing during their estrangement; it is also during this time that the narrator recognizes that music is not only an artistic outlet for Sonny, but also provides an emotional and psychological catharsis for him and those that listen to his music. Sonny best describes his dependency on music as he talks to his brother after an old-fashioned revival meeting during which there was much singing. Sonny states,