Suffering In Sonny's Blue

The setting and time period is significant to “Sonny’s Blue’s” as it informs the reader on the past and social upbringing of the Harlem culture. Baldwin reveals after the Great Depression and World War II the atmosphere of Harlem changed. The people who lived there were no longer aspiring to do great. People were struggling to find work and pay for their bills. Harlem and the individuals who resided there struggled financially and lived their lives in poverty. The background in regards to Harlem informs the reader that growing up in this area is not easy; temptation exists everywhere you go. Wherever lightness is present, a sort of darkness accompanies it. The author uses lightness and darkness to portray the achievements and disappointments of living in Harlem, discrimination against African Americans and the relationship

At the beginning of the story, the narrator refused to communicate with Sonny after learning he went to jail. Sonny’s old friend approached him, and they had a long discussion about Sonny. The narrator thought Sonny was trying to kill himself by overdosing, but Sonny’s friend insisted that “ ‘he don’t want to die. He wants to live.’ ” The narrator didn’t realize how much his brother was struggling to stay alive and how he used drugs to cope. He eventually wrote a letter to Sonny after his daughter died. He knew one thing about Sonny: he was a very private person. “It doesn’t do any good to fight with Sonny. Sonny just moves back, inside himself, where he can’t be reached.” This privacy kept his brother from ever getting to know him.

Sonny is blues musician, who has struggled to have a relationship with his brother, the narrator, for most of the pair's adult life. The factor that significantly distanced the two, however, was Sonny's addiction to heroin. Although he claims that his propensity for the blues was not what should be blamed for his substance abuse, the fact still remains that drug

I tell you one thing though, I’d rather blow my brains out than go through this again.”(51) The drug addiction is not what Sonny wished to live with. He would rather die than go trough the battle of drugs. Living a life so bad that date is the best options gave the biggest picture of how life truly was for Sonny. In that moment self medication is what Sonny yearned for. He yearned for the intense high of a hot needle and his muscle relaxing like a breeze on tabletop but though his music. Growing up so troubled drew Sonny closer to bearing himself in self hurt and self pity. He coped through his drugs and his drugs controlled his leered emotions. The drugs overpowered him and the only way sonny could break out was through the power of jazz. Sonny only wants to control his destiny and guide himself to the right path. All his life he wasn’t destined to be anything nor did he have control of where he would go. Self medication is where the control of his own life

As a musician, Sonny speaks through his music the pain and suffering of the people around him. Also, just by listening to other singers Sonny felt the pain of there suffering as well. For instance, as he stood “listening to that woman sing, it struck me [Sonny] all the sudden how much suffering she must have had to go through-to sing like that” (Baldwin 190). Therefore, extremely sensitive to the pain of others, Sonny falls an addict to trying to dull his view of it. He felt it gave him a sense of control of his life but to find out it was controlling him. Sonny believed that heroin helped him not to play well, but “to stand it, be able to make it all”(Baldwin 190) the way. However, knowing the path to stay clean and kick the addiction was going to be difficult. He knew that he has hit rock bottom, Sonny tries to escape and “to get out of Harlem” (Baldwin 185). Thinking that getting out of Harlem will help him get away from the drugs. Although, coming back to Harlem from the Navy didn’t change him. “Nothing changed. I [he] hadn’t changed, I [he] was just-older” (Baldwin 193). However, through music Sonny found it easier to talk about his pain and struggles that he has encountered in his

Sonny’s brother says, he doesn’t “give a damn what other people do, I don’t even care how they suffer. I just care how [Sonny] suffer[s]” (169). This shows us that the narrator loves Sonny and feels bad that he wasn’t there for him while he was battling his addiction to heroin. When Sonny tells his brother, “It can come again, [he] just want[s him] to know that,” (170) the underlying message is that Sonny wants his brother to be there for him if he ever struggles with his addiction to heroin

The sequence of events is not in chronological order since the narrator goes from present, to past, and back to present in order to illustrate the suffering experienced by both brothers and to emphasize the impact the past has on the present. During present time, Sonny is sentenced to prison for heroine abuse. The narrator and Sonny are not close at this time because he doesn’t try to understand Sonny until his little girl dies and he has some of his own suffering to deal with. “I was sitting in the living room in the dark, by myself, and I suddenly thought of Sonny. My

Sonny dreamt to be a musician when he was in high school. He told his brother about his dream, but his brother told him to finish school first. Mostly when kids are in high school they have to listen to their elders a lot. That’s what Sonny did in his early life he listened to his elder brother. Becoming musician was getting complicated for Sonny, because the narrator thought that the reason behind Sonny’s drug addiction was coming from other musicians. The narrator eventually became cooler because he understood that the addiction was not due to other musicians. Then the narrator promised himself to take care of his little brother, and never to leave him alone. Sonny then invites the narrator to come hear him play at a club that night. When they get to the club, an old musician named Creole greets Sonny and tells him that he's been waiting for his return. Many people in the club knew Sonny and came to the club to hear him play after his long time. The narrator eventually realized that the life of musicians was Sonny's world

“It’s repulsive to think you have to suffer that much” (Baldwin 132). Many would argue that in life, pain outweighs pleasure. Freud contends that although we are unable to reconcile with the truth because it frightens us, each and every one of us has an unconscious desire to die. Death, according to Freud, is the ultimate escape from the sufferings and hardships which define human life and reality. In “Sonny’s Blues,” James Baldwin confronts this dark truth about human nature in his character, Sonny. Sonny’s suffering becomes so unbearable that he refuses to accept it as an inevitable condition of the human experience; he refuses to “take it”: “’But nobody just takes it,’ Sonny cried, ‘That’s what I’m telling you! Everybody tries not to’” (Baldwin 133). Rather than directly embrace death, Sonny seeks relief and control in other, alternative forms. At first, Sonny

Author, James Baldwin, in his short story, Sonny’s Blues, conveys the narrator trying to help his brother Sonny after he got locked up for using and selling heroin. They fight and have arguments on Sonny’s past, present, and future. Sonny’s brother does make both just and unjust choices before and after the death of his daughter Grace. He made just choices after his daughter died he started writing to his brother, and when his brother got out he saw his brother more often, and he offered him a place to stay. Likewise, at the end when the narrator is happy with what Sonny is doing. But he also made unjust choices like when their dad died he abandoned Sonny when he needed him the most and went to the military. As well as he is upset at Sonny

In the story Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin, we learn that Pain demands to be felt. However, how you choose to deal with pain and suffering determines your path in life. Sonny, the narrator’s brother and the protagonist, uses heroin, drugs, and music as his outlets for his negative emotions. He uses heroin and drugs to numb his pain and sorrow, and he uses music to express his emotions. Drugs and heroin play a large role in Sonny’s deteriorating, while his brother and music help him in his recovery.

‘ Sonny’s Blues’ is a short singular narrative story written by James Baldwin. In this read we learn about the narrator and his relationship with his brother and their environment around them. Sonny’s brother, the narrator, is a Harlem math teacher who tells us about his experience growing up in poverty and having to deal with his brother’s drug addiction. Ultimately the story becomes about the journey of a black drug addict in the 1950's and his inevitable conflicts. Darkness is a recurring concept throughout the story. One of the more prominent themes in this piece is the balance between good and bad in life or light vs darkness.

Sonny fights to challenge the probabilities by moving away from Harlem and begin his musician career. Sonny and his brother, the narrator, lives in separate worlds, but all Sonny wants his brother to do is care for him and be there for him when he needs him. Sonny’s music offers him a chance of redemption. However, Sonny feels that his brother, the narrator, does not understand him when he talks about being a musician moving away from Harlem. Furthermore, Sonny, also, knows that playing music may destroy him by leading him back into a life of drugs, but he knows that is a burden he has to bear. The narrator sends his brother, Sonny, a drink to show him that he understands he needs to be a musician, and Sonny drinks from the cup of trembling that represents all of the suffering he endured, which is an offering the chance for redemption. The narrator and Sonny are now at peace in their

Furthermore, Sonny's Blues follows a man as he deals with his brother, Sonny, whose ambition to become a highly-acclaimed musician causes him to fall into the ceaselessly tragic world of drugs and crime. The damaging psychological effects of parental conflict are seen within Sonny, and in turn this affects the narrator. To elaborate, Sonny's father saw a lot of himself in Sonny and as a result, he and his son constantly argued. Sonny's father used alcohol in order to find "something a little better", eventually dying while intoxicated. Later in Sonny's life, his mother passes away, leaving Sonny without any parental figure, and the narrator with the heavy responsibilities that come with being Sonny's only caretaker.

Though it would seem that Sonny’s life would be miserable compared to that of his brother, he is able to find happiness with his unusual lifestyle. Throughout most of the story Sonny seems to be out of place. He is not accepted by society, and not understood by his family. At the end of the story, however, when Sonny takes his brother to a blues club to see him perform, Sonny becomes the successful and popular one, while his brother is the outsider. When Sonny’s brother first gets to the club he realizes that “everyone at the bar knew Sonny”. The line, “Here, I was in Sonny’s world. Or, rather: his kingdom. Here, it was not even a question that his veins bore royal blood”, shows that Sonny was happy and respected by the people at the club. Though the life of a heroin addict is certainly not considered normal, and should not be glorified, Sonny is still able to find happiness in his individuality.