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What Is The Theme Of Voice In Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin?

487 Words2 Pages

After reading James Baldwin’s short story, “Sonny’s Blues”, the word that comes to mind is voice. The relationship between the two brothers was very distant. The brothers needed to each let their thoughts, ideas and mainly their voice out to each other. Sonny especially needed to express his thoughts and feelings to his brother. He had a lot of suffering built up that he needed to express somehow. Instead of directly saying how he felt, Sonny used music and drugs as a way to express himself. He needed to let it all out. His life was full of suffering and Sonny was able to let his voice out through his music. The word voice came to my mind when reading this story because at the ending of the story when the narrator sees his brother play at the …show more content…

The word comes to mind because the man is determined to take this dangerous journey across the Yukon territory of Alaska to Henderson Creek although it is about 50 degrees below zero. During his journey the man builds a fire and eats his biscuits. After he ate he starts to walk again for a while longer, but the man breaks through the ice and has to stop and build a fire all over again to dry his boots and warm his feet. As he builds a new fire, he thinks about an old man who told him that people should never travel alone in the Yukon when it's colder than fifty degrees below zero. The man thinks the old man should man up. He became determined to show this man that you can travel alone. The man builds his fire but makes a mistake by building it under a tree and the snow from the tree falls off and buries his fire. The man determined to get another fire going and make it out alive begins to light all of his matches at once for a big fire. When the man tries to add more fuel to his fire he scatters all the pieces and they all go up in smoke. Determined to make it through his journey he thinks he could kill his dog he had been walking with and use the fur as a coat. The word determined really stuck to my mind while reading this story because this man thought and thought of different ideas and ways to get through his journey and prove that you could survive this journey

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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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Although both characters were different they found an understanding by trying to feel what each other were feeling. Also by coping with their tough childhood and feelings together without directly communicating. Sonny wanted so desperately to please his brother, but couldn’t find a way to avoid Jazz but still get that feeling he craved. Sonny was clearly disappointed and embarrassed by his choice of actions and despite what anyone said, he realized the choice he made was poor and it was time to follow his dream. At the end, the narrator realizes why Sonny turned to drugs in the first place.

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“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.

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Once the narrator arrives to Sonny’s apartment they are reunited but get into an altercation. It ends with the narrator exiting the room filled with sorrow and anger. “I started down the steps whistling to keep from crying. I kept whistling to

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Sonny aspired to be a musician because it motivated him to express his feelings through the music. Within playing Sonny could tell how he was feeling without ever having to leave his comfort zone. The addiction to drugs Sonny suffered had nothing to do with Sonny being a musician it had to do with Sonny being able to express his emotions in ways he was incapable of when he wasn’t

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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 most prominent message that can be deciphered and recognized in Sonny 's Blues is that the sadness and sorrow that one experiences in their life can bring about many obstacles but it can be countered and used for something greater by a search for understanding and acceptance. James Baldwin establishes this implication through the use of his characters; the narrator, Sonny, and the singer seen on the street. All these characters experience sorrow and sadness in their

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He sees that Sonny's music is a bona fide reaction to life. He sees that one who makes music is managing the thunder ascending from the void and forcing request on it as it hits the air. He comprehends that his sibling's music is an endeavor to recharge the old human story For while the story of how we endure, and how we are enchanted, and how we may triumph is never new, it generally should be

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For all the characters, Sonny was a son who helped his family and embraced his African heritage; these features were really considered and respected. Contrary to the narrator who melted or tried to melt in the American culture in order to survive, but the turning point occurred when he lost his daughter; so he recognize the pain of the others as well as his brother that he was forgotten during years ago. Besides, thanks to his brother’s music the narrator finds redemption. The evolution of the character’s trait moves from being a selfish person to a suffering man who finally finds peace deep inside himself.

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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.

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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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