Reciprocal Communication In Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin

What are the means of communicating when words can never entirely reflect the intense burning of emotions endured by one individual and the generations before them? Music has always had a way of allowing us to express ourselves in a sense that can be both equally understandable and confusing, but perhaps it is still better to be heard even if the noise that comes from you is unrecognizable to whomever it encounters. To some, this reciprocal communication is what they desperately reach for while others just crave to have the sounds of their sentiments perceived in whatever way they can. Within James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues”, we see this deep longing for connection and communication in the character Sonny himself, as he uses music to cope with

Despite never being given a name, the narrator is the only perspective we truly follow which itself is a pretty ironic aspect of the text since for a story so focused on musicality and the power of blues, we are placed in the standpoint of someone who seems to have the least understanding of it. The title already heavily implies which character’s struggles are to be focused on such as the difficulties of Sonny’s addiction and his codependent relationship with the music he utilizes to deal with them. Nonetheless out of all the characters, the one with the slightest amount of knowledge of the subject seems to be the key focal point. As a result of this, this lack of insight reflects how the narrator sees the music around him and the different approaches he takes in trying to communicate with his brother through his

Sonny being the headstrong character that he is shows an immediate disliking towards this idea, he denies it until he is only convinced by the fact that there would be a piano he could practice on if he agreed to go. One of the important factors regarding this scenario is that music was Sonny’s only key motivator, this was one of the very first signs that we and the narrator get to gain a sense of the intense connection between Sonny and his music. A connection that is so large within his own secluded world, that the severity of it is not easily apprehended by others. Although everyone is happy with the agreement at first, it quickly becomes sour as we are then revealed the nature in which Sonny practices. Sonny’s practice is described as almost inhuman and had a power that normal practicing didn’t possess. It seemed to control his own will, overtaking his days and actions as if it were just as important as breathing for him. Just as it was his key motivator for moving in, it also seemed as if it was his key motivator for living itself as the narrator began to see that Sonny was not only playing for practice but for his life altogether. It was as if they were living with a sound rather than a person, a sound that no one but Sonny could