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Sonny's Blues Thesis

1213 Words5 Pages

Marcus Campos
English 102
Mrs. Jerien Rausch
“What You Do Today, Will Effect You Tomorrow” Sonny’s Blues is the story of the upbringing of a African American child during a time that he was not welcomed, at a place, the Harlem ghetto, where its easier to remain a street smart child. Being, black during this time period I believe that everyone has an untold story. I would argue that in Sonny Blues by James Baldwin poverty, drugs, and living conditions eventually result with doing time in prison . We sympathized with Sonny, being a drug addict, rather than with his brother, the narrator. “Sonny Blues” presents a complex picture of drug use as a means coping with sorrow and fear. We as human beings react to the things that get thrown at us …show more content…

“Special kind of ice , It kept melting, sending trickles of ice water all up and down my veins, but it never got less” (Baldwin 74). The narrator was representing his emotion, once he read about Sonny’s arrest in the newspaper. This was an image of darkness to the narrator about his brother. The narrator, is a school teacher and he wants Sonny to be just like his students. Throughout, the story I think when the word “ice” appears in the short story it is symbolizing fear and the feeling of being …show more content…

The short story was explaining why many people get addicted to drugs. Baldwin tried to present that Sonny’s drug use affects more than one person. I believe drug addiction does not just affect the person using it; it also affects the person’s family. Once, the brother found out about Sonny’s arrest by reading it in the paper he felt sick to his stomach. It seemed that Sonny’s brother knew that he was using heroin but was denial by not finding out the truth. His emotions deeply took him over all at once. When, Sonny received the letter from his brother in prison and responded his brother was impatiently waiting for him to be released. The letter had a profusion of significance and deep meaning to their relationship. Once a person becomes dependent on any substance, the only needs or feelings that they are concerned about are their own. It took Sonny to going to prison and rehabilitation to finally realize he hurt his family. Sonny lost the most important factor in life from his family. His family no longer trusted him and was just hurt. At the end of the story when the brothers are bonding it opened the eyes of the narrator. He has finally seen who his brother truly was, a musician.

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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.

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Every time the narrator attempted to control what his brother wanted to do in life, the more he lost power over his brother. Not only did he lose power he lost that deep connection one should have with their sibling. Sonny’s desire to not be powerless anymore gave him the determination to gain power which he could not handle. This lead him to lose all of that power once again. People when reading this should really consider how what they are doing to gain power is affecting others in theirs lives.

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James Baldwin, Sonny's Blues Lesson: Read 1. How does Baldwin's real-life experience connect to his short story, "Sonny's Blues"? Read Baldwin's biography for more background on his life. - James Baldwin’s real-life experience connects to his short story by demonstrating that in the story his father had passed away when he was a young age. In real life, he didn’t even know his father.

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It can be seen present in many different sections throughout the story. This theme is presented to show that love will keep a family together after trails and tribulations. Although Sonny and the narrator had their fair share if arguments and fights, it was brotherly love that prevailed through it all. Which is what kept the two together as a family in the

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Sonny’s 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. Baldwin’s intent on writing this piece focuses on pain and suffering. The author stresses that not everybody is born in the best circumstances. Sonny was one of those people who grew up in a rickety town where people often did not make it out successful.

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Seeing Sonny's eternal eagerness to music, it is reasonable to assume that music is the only drug for Sonny, his only way of expressing his hopes and dulling his pain, incomparable even to his drug addiction. Sonny's devotion to Jazz is even able to change the upstanding mind of his brother by the end of the story. Comparing to his brother, who is afraid of the disorder and cannot face pain and uncertainty of the way Sonny lives, Sonny has a radically different perception of the world. Due to Sonny's artistic nature, tenacity and willing to struggle, his brother finally begins to understand not only the value of jazz and blues music, but also himself and his relationship with Sonny. In the club he starts to appreciate Sonny in a way he never did, as a "real musician" (p.107).

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Sonny’s blues consist of everything the character Sonny went through during his life. Sonny and his brother, who are both African American, grew up in Harem, New York during the mid-1900’s. Because of this, Sonny had a difficult life. He found drugs at a young age and became a heroin addict and seller. He wanted to become a musician however his brother did not approve of his choice and when sent to live with his brother’s fiancé, found that they only endured his piano playing and found him a burden.

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In James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” the author uses Sonny’s struggle for a redeemed life to push the narrator toward the realization of his own need for rescue; through this realization, the narrator can find his identity and be free from his sadness. The narrator needs rescuing from himself. He hides behind a curtain of denial trying to protect himself from emotional reality. The narrator struggles to understand when and how Sonny began his troubles with drug addiction; he does not understand where he went wrong in being a role model for his younger brother. Now, years later the narrator is a school teacher who is trying to be a role model for the young boys in his class.

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As I read through “Sonny's Blues”, to familiarize myself with the story again, I began to build my argument against the narrator/brother. The conclusion that I have drawn is simply that the brother plays a pivotal role in this story from its beginning to the end. The first impression is that the brother doesn't seem to feel anything, when he reads about his brother’s incarceration in the paper. He seems to be mindless yet deep in thought of Sonny, both as a young boy and now as a grown man. How did his brother come to be delivered at this place?

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