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The Theme Of Light And Darkness In Sonny's Blues

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“Sonny’s Blues” is a short story about a young heroin addict who uses music as his way of healing. Sonny’s healing is a main focus of this story. Therefore, suffering is one of the dominant themes in this story. Sonny suffers through jail whereas his brother suffers the loss of his young daughter. The theme of suffering can be shown throughout by the image pattern of light and darkness. The images of light and darkness are complete opposites. Light represents the times that are pleasant, and darkness represents the pain of the characters. In the story, the narrator was remembering the first time Sonny had ever “had a horse” (31) and how “he couldn’t have been much older than these boys were now” (31). The narrator is showing how at such a young age the darkness has creeped up inside the boys. The narrator says, “All they really knew were two darknesses, the darkness of their …show more content…

This story is consumed in darkness. The theme of suffering is shown through the images of light and darkness. All that the young students know is darkness. In the example, the narrator is talking about the students popping needles with heroin, and how this is the way they cope with the darkness in their lives. When the narrators mother passes away, he talks of her younger years, and the Sunday dinner gatherings. Then, he talks about how the child that sits in the room is filled with darkness, but that the mother comforts him and “shields” him away from the outside world of hardships. In “Sonny’s Blues” that flash of the headlights may have been a sign that things will get better. This led to the narrator’s realization of the darkness and troubles in Sonny’s life. This story shows that even in times of darkness you can turn your life around, and learn how to cope in ways of rewards rather than leading yourself down the path of

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As Donald C. Murray has said in his article, “James Baldwin’s ‘Sonny’s Blues’: Complicated and Simple”, “Images of light and darkness are used by Baldwin… ( Murray 354)”. Also, Baldwin is able to tell a story that can make the reader visualize what is happening to this character Sonny, even though it is being narrated through the eyes and perspective of his older brother. He portrays the older brother as someone who can understand and recognizes the internal struggles of Sonny and be compassionate about them, even though the elder brother does not agree with all the life choices his brother has

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When the narrator accompanies Sonny to the nightclub to listen to him play his music; Sonny’s music portrays his wisdom as he plays about his brother’s frustrations with the trials and sufferings they both endured. Sonny’s artful playing of the blues opens the narrator’s heart to listen genuinely. If one listens to what lies on the inside that is the key to finding oneself. Joseph Flibbert states in the article “Sonny’s Blues” Overview, “In the music he hears, he sees his mother’s face, and that of his little girl … The powerful incantations of Sonny’s art reaches his soul, and for the first time, he listens to the dark voice within”.

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