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What are the topics in sonny's blues by james baldwin that are touched
What are the topics in sonny's blues by james baldwin that are touched
Literary analysis on james baldwin's sonny's blues
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Trying to get out of the city a few years earlier by joining the army like his brother, he returned to the place that he knew best, Harlem. However, unlike his brother who made something of himself, Sonny’s aspiration was to be a musician. Upset with Sonny’s desire, the narrator did not understand why Sonny wanted “to spend his time hanging around nightclubs” (Baldwin 1978). We can assume the narrator associates these types of establishments with partying, mischievous mischief and drugs; a common occurrence in a poverty stricken section of New York like Harlem. Though the narrator judges the nightclubs as a bad influence on Sonny’s survival, Sonny uses his music to escape the many obstacles he faces everyday as a poor black man in
James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues" analyzes a very complex relationship between the narrator and his brother, Sonny. Before directing to the attention of the relationship between these two brothers, we have to first understand the personality of each character. Initially, the narrator has a stable job as a hardworking math teacher and makes an effort to assimilate himself to his surroundings, but has never comprehended his brother, Sonny. Sonny is the complete opposite of the narrator. Sonny separates from his brother to become a Blues musician, though becomes addicted to drugs, such as heroin, in order to control his own feelings.
This disapproval of the narrator and the extreme want of Sonny to pursue jazz counteract each other. It shows the dominance jazz can have over someone and how special it can be to people. The fact that Sonny stopped to essentially restate his previous desire to play jazz also shows
For instance, Sonny has the ability to release his worries and sorrows while he is into his music. He is able to express himself through his music. Music also gives Sonny the will power to escape for his heroin addicted. Sonny and his brother never meet eye to eye because of the fact that Sonny had always wanted to end making a career out of performing jazz. In the article, “Troubled reading: 'Sonny's blues' and empathy,” Kowalska, explores Sonny’s Blue, in depth.
“Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin is a short story that has many significant parts to it. The narrator gives readers insight on how his relationship with his brother was like, how his brother was suffering from a heroin addiction. The narrator also gives the readers insight on his own problems. Due to Sonny’s heroin addiction, he suffered quite a lot as what was implied in the story. The narrator implies and describes so many themes in this short story.
James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” is a short story depicting the relationship of two brothers, Sonny and an unnamed narrator. The story takes place in the project of Harlem, New York in the early 1950s. The narrator is a high school math teacher. His younger brother Sonny is a troubled musician struggling with his addiction to drugs. Before their mother dies, she asks the narrator promise to her he’ll look after his younger brother when she is gone.
As a musician, Sonny takes his misery and that of people around him and changes it into something beautiful. Like characters from the Bible, Sonny chooses salvation, but his fate is uncertain. Perhaps, his suffering is a price paid for being an artist. Moreover, there is something Christlike concerning Sonny's agony, and his suffering is at once redemptive and inevitable (King and Lynn 35-37). In fact, at the end of the text, it remains unclear whether he will continue suffering from playing music or whether a greater redemption and peace await everyone involved.
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. One of Mr. Baldwin 's most appreciated literary works is the short story 'Sonny 's Blues ' which focuses on two brothers who grew up together but take different paths in life. The story follows the narrator learning about his brother Sonny 's incarceration due to the use and selling of drugs until his brother gets parole. Throughout the story, we learn about the relationship between the pair and are able to witness the narrators ultimate understanding of Sonny and his ambition. As we continue to observe the impressive short story, we find the most recurring theme to be that of sorrow.
He tried so hard to get out of the poverty, violence, drugs, and gangs, but he became influenced by the wrong people and fell into heroin. Baldwin wanted the show the readers that people cope with pain and suffering in different ways. However, Sonny had a passion for music and wanted to become a jazz musician. This was also his way of coping with
Clark states in his article “James Baldwin’s Sonny’s Blues: Childhood, Light, and Art” that “…the narrator is seated “in a dark corner” ...in contrast the stage is dominated by light” (Clark). Clark shows by this that within the darkness that surrounds Sonny, music is a place of hope for him. Light is shown to effect Sonny in a different way than his Uncle. Light is shown to effect Sonny in a surrounding that would have been a place of comfort for him before his addiction. The narrator states, “…[they] were being careful not to step into that circle of light too suddenly…that if they moved into the light too suddenly… they would perish” (Baldwin 112).
Moreover, Baldwin’s short story “Sonny’s Blues” centers on the social issue of drug use in the music scene as the story’s main characters—Sonny, a jazz musician, and ex-heroin addict, and the narrator, Sonny’s older brother, try to reconcile after one of them reads in the paper that the other has been arrested. The text demonstrates both characters that have taken different paths and the outcomes for both—the narrator has a job, family, and a place to live but is dealing with identity issues and with feeling truly “happy”, while Sonny has ended up with a heroin addiction and in prison. Baldwin presents many social issues within the short story, but the one that stands out most is the use of drugs amongst musicians, which is still ongoing as you have popular names such Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, etc. who have died as a result; it is clear that this is still a social issue. Just like the
In James Baldwin's short story, Sonny’s Blues, the reader should understand and visualize the historical context in order to understand the world being presented. The reader has to comprehend the harsh life of a male African-American who struggles with his dreams and drug addiction sometime around early 1957. 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. Baldwin’s short story illustrates the hardships a person faces while searching for themselves in a world full of people or obstacles that stand in their way. Some of these obstacles are self inflicted, present from the beginning of their existence or appear as though they are random.
The description Baldwin uses to describe how the Sonny’s brother was hearing him play for the first time was a realization for his brother and how exactly music makes Sonny feel and how he puts in every bit of emotion into his music. His brother was now realizing how much music played an important role in Sonny’s life and how it helped him out of his
In the short story, “Sonny’s Blues,” James Baldwin utilizes heroin addiction to exemplify the societal stereotypes surrounding drug addiction. Set in Harlem in the 1950’s, an unnamed narrator and his brother, Sonny, experience the consequences of growing up in an impoverished neighborhood, eventually separated by their differing coping mechanisms. The author introduces the characters in their adult lives after one brother entangles himself into the lifestyle that accompanies heroin. By contrasting the narrator’s prosperity with Sonny’s misfortune, Baldwin illustrates his view on the inescapable cycle of drugs and poverty.
Sonny is the main character in the story who has been through a lot in life. He wanted to be a jazz musician. After going through all the trouble, Sonny was a great musician and he loved to play music more than anything. He used music to escape from all the bad things around him. Most black people grow up in the slums and it is extremely hard to make it out of there without getting stuck on something bad.
