In Sonnys Blues, Baldwins shifting portrayal of Harlem mirrors the changing relationship of the two brothers: while both the city and the relationship were originally with dark uncertainty, by the end of the story, the narrator has begun to find peace both within his surroundings and his relationship with his brother. 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). Free resources to assist you with your university studies! We went to the only nightclub on a short, dark street, downtown. Through this, we are able to tell that the narrator felt entitled to choose the life he wanted for Sonny. The story seems at first to be about the ways that the narrator tries to help and instruct Sonny. James Baldwins short story, Sonnys Blues, tells the story of two brothers living in 1950s Harlem. I wanted to talk about will power and how life could bewell, beautiful. 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. The narrator is a husband, father, son, and brother. This well-written short story is my favorite. "That's right," he said quickly, "ain't nothing you can do. It was mocking and insular, its intent was to denigrate. At the club, the narrator begins to appreciate the value of Sonny's music as a response to suffering and he sends over a drink to show his respect. #10. Yet, there was no battle in his face now, I heard what he had gone through, and would continue to go through until he came to rest in earth. 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. Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan! Complete audio reading of James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues" Sonnys Blues is about an older brothers relationship and differences with his younger brother, Sonny. Youve successfully purchased a group discount. Sonny never wanted drugs, he wanted. James Baldwin is a renowned author best known for his work of essays, books and short stories, particularly those which dwell deeply into important social and psychological issues of discrimination, gender inequality, homophobia and so on. #14. The narrator insinuates that "It's only light we've got in all this darkness (Baldwin 139)." All they really knew were two darknesses, the darkness of their lives, which was now closing in on them, and the darkness of the movies, which had blinded them to that other darkness. "Sonny's Blues" is a short story by James Baldwin that was first published in 1957 . "I told him it felt great." #34. Renew your subscription to regain access to all of our exclusive, ad-free study tools. Here's where you will find analysis of the key literary devices in Sonny's Blues.. Sonnys Blues incorporates racial frustration, self-expression, avoidance, lightness/darkness and symbolic nature of music. 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. "It makes you feel-in control. On any level." #26. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. ", But houses exactly like the houses of our past yet dominated the landscape, boys exactly like the boys we once had been found themselves smothering in these houses, came down into the streets for light and air and found themselves encircled by disaster. So I got mad and then he got mad, and then I told him that he might just as well be dead as live the way he was living. I guess I didn't want to believe this. #22. Sonny's Blues. James Baldwins Sonnys Blues uses Sonny as an antagonist character to the protagonist, his eldest brother. This story was written by James Baldwin, in 1957. However, as the title of the story goes, music forms the center of the short story. Renews March 10, 2023 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. In order of importance, the ideas are family, home, suffering, and drugs. #9. Through this, the narrator was able to know that music acted as a unifying factor in the African American society as many people like Sonny had their own families out there who loved them. "Some guys, you can tell from the way they play, they on something all the time. And then he'll just start working his way back in again. Great On Kindle: A high quality digital reading experience. It's to stand it, to be able to make it at all. In this Library of America Zoom event, Farah Jasmine Griffin, chair of Columbia University's Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies, off. The narrator chooses to voice of reason throughout the story. Baldwin is a novelist, poet, and a social critic by profession. 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. Yet there is a sense that this darkness provides safety for Sonny, rather than menace. Want 100 or more? 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. "Analysis of "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin." Sonny's Blues by James Baldwin Sonny's Blues book. My clothes were wet-I may have looked as though I'd been sitting in a steam bath, all dressed up, all afternoon. The silence of the next few days must have been louder than the sound of all the music ever played since time began. It's what they've come from. #32. The narrator points out that nothing has really changed since their childhood. The author utilizes conflict, symbolism, and the narrators point of view to give the story a deeper meaning and significance to the story. A summary will tend to be straightforward and not move back and forth as the main story. In the story two key characters, Sonny and the narrator, face several tribulations. I wanted to write you many a time but I dug how much I must have hurt you and so I didn't write. James Baldwin spent most of his adult life living in France, but is widely recognized as an essentially American writer. After accompanying Sonny to the performance, the narrator realizes how people adore him and for the first time, he was able to see Sonny being appreciated by many people for what he was doing. I will discuss Baldwin's writing style, the life/value of an african american's life during this time, and the relationship between Sonny and his brother. We've received widespread press coverage since 2003, Your UKEssays purchase is secure and we're rated 4.4/5 on reviews.co.uk. Read our full plot summary of Sonny's Blues.. At the end, the narrator realizes why Sonny turned to drugs in the first place. Baldwin, James. "I had to try to tell you," he said. You'll also receive an email with the link. From simple essay plans, through to full dissertations, you can guarantee we have a service perfectly matched to your needs. On the west side-I haven't seen the city in so long. It's on "a short, dark street," and the narrator tells us that "the lights were very dim in this room and we couldn't see.". Baldwin's first novel, Go Tell it On the Mountain, was published just four years before "Sonny's Blues," and in this story (which also incorporates many autobiographical elements of. When she smiled one saw the little girl, one sensed the doomed, still-struggling woman beneath the battered face of the semi-whore. The time that the narrator has spent apart from Sonny, he was unsure of his appearance. "Has it?" 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. And his triumph, when he triumphs, is ours. And though the narrator in some ways has escaped the "darkness" of his childhood by getting a respectable job and starting a family, he realizes that his children are facing all the same challenges he faced. Some escaped the trap, most didn't. This was because I had begun, finally, to wonder about Sonny, about the life that Sonny lived inside. The narrator gets lost and disconnects from the family at the beginning. 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. Copyright 2023 IPL.org All rights reserved. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. 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. Sonnys life in his sister in-laws family creates conflict due to his behaviors and lack of commitment to his college studies. 1. 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). 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. I'm not talking about none of that old-time, down-home crap."). Only contained the short story Sonny's Blues Sonny's Blues book. Yet, when he smiled, when we shook hands, the baby brother I'd never known looked out from the depths of his private life, like an animal waiting to be coaxed into the light. "Oh, honey," she said, "there's a lot that you don't know. Baldwins acknowledgement as he declares, I knew, no matter what anybody said, that the future I faced, was not the future they faced. Abstract. Thus, I have never experienced such. ", I first read a small passage in ECC.and created a essay about it. for a group? #31. This is a fictional literature work where Baldwin is trying to put it on paper about drugs. Enhance your understanding of Sonny's Blues by learning more about James Baldwin as well as about historical contextfor this short story. Written in 1957 by an African-American author James Baldwin the piece . This was also the source of their argument and constant fighting, simply because the narrator could not find anything good with Sonny and his life choices. 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. Who Set You Feelin? Is your time best spent reading someone elses essay? Music is also seen as an aspect that creates the generational difference and disparities between Sonny and the narrator, which are sources of conflict between the two. 5.0 out of 5 stars 2. I had kept it outside me for a long time. The older brother, a Harlem algebra teacher, is the unnamed narrator who represents every big brother; the younger man is . This wordless conversation among the musicians contrasts with the resigned silence of the "old folks.". 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. He says he never in his life seen anything as dark as that road after the lights of that car had gone away. Sonnys Blues by James Baldwin was a short story about the struggles of living in a tough, rundown neighborhood and looking to drugs as a way out. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of UKEssays.com. It makes you feel sort of warm and cool at the same time. In summation, "Sonny's Blues" is a fictional adaptation of the real, deep-rooted experience of the American Negro. This therefore makes the story not only interesting, but relevant in the 1950s society. 1245 Words5 Pages. Therefore, Sonnys Blues was imperative in influencing and presenting the setting of the story. By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from SparkNotes and verify that you are over the age of 13. 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. He looked very unlike my baby brother. 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. Order original essays online. I used to say that it sounded to me as though they were getting away from wisdom as fast as they could. Sonny's blues. When he was about as old as the boys in my classes his face had been bright and open, there was a lot of copper in it; and hed had wonderfully direct brown eyes, and great gentleness and privacy (Baldwin, 1957, pg. The assumption is that Sonny was going to get whatever he was being told and as a result would be redeemed from all that he was going through. Ruby Washington / Archive Photos / Getty Images. 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. about it in the paper, in the subway, on my way to work. This article "Sonny's Blues," was written by James Baldwin where he narrates a story about Sonny, his younger brother. First published in 1957, Sonnys Blues, perhaps Baldwins best known and most widely anthologized short story, was later collected in the volume Going to Meet the Man (1965). It begins with Sonny's drug arrest. Registered office: Creative Tower, Fujairah, PO Box 4422, UAE. "It can come again," he said, almost as though speaking to himself. Subscribe now.