“Sonny’s Blues,” written by James Baldwin, is a story about addiction told from the narrator’s point of view about his brother, Sonny. Sonny is a long-time drug addict who has spent a majority of his life trying to fix himself in order to find his identity. Told through his brother’s eyes, who also struggles with his own identity, he explains the multiple paths Sonny has to take in order to find his identity. Social Identity is something that effects everyone just like with the character’s in Sonny’s Blues. Whether it is from our genetic makeup causing an addiction or from our own environment the theme of darkness and light shows how we find our identity based on our lowest and highest times which influences us in some way to finding our identity.
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It is almost guaranteed one will be at an all-time low and an all-time high just like Sonny’s. He exemplifies this when he goes from the lowest low with rehab to high with his piano playing. Baldwin writes, “I was sure that the first time Sonny had ever had horse…against the low ceilings of their actual possibilities” (Baldwin 814) this shows how Sonny was hitting the ultimate low. Sonny always tried to help himself but he just couldn’t get out of his dark shell. While hitting that low he went through a series of different ways to get his identity back but he couldn’t. From joining the military to going to rehabilitation, Sonny’s brother does many things to find his identity. The narrator says, “I want to join the army. Or the navy, I don’t care. If I say I’m old enough they’ll believe me (Baldwin 830). Sonny’s major problem is that he cannot find something stable to grab onto to that will help him from straying far off from his path of …show more content…
The narrator says, “Then he began to make it his” (Baldwin 844). The narrator states that Sonny is finally out of the darkness and finally finds his identity as a musician. At first the narrator did not agree with his music because he felt that the common misconception of a good musician is a guy who goes out a does drugs. His music that he played allowed for the narrator to see that his suffering may not have been completely, but it was greatly diminished because he finally found his identity. Along with Sonny’s suffering being over so was the narrator’s suffering from seeing all the darkness was too. In the music, the narrator heard, he was able to see old family members through Sonny’s music which brought tears to his eyes. But when he listened to the music he also was able to use it as an escape and to find his own identity. Just as much as it was for Sonny playing it, this music he played was also the narrator’s escape and his identity. The narrator also remains nameless throughout the entire story. This may get the reader wondering why Baldwin did this. Baldwin did this in order to tell the story from the narrator’s perspective. Although he is telling Sonny’s story he shows how he was negatively affected by his actions. The narrator shows this when he says, “It kept melting, sending trickles of ice water all up and down my veins, but it never got less” (Baldwin 813)
It is almost guaranteed one will be at an all-time low and an all-time high just like Sonny’s. He exemplifies this when he goes from the lowest low with rehab to high with his piano playing. Baldwin writes, “I was sure that the first time Sonny had ever had horse…against the low ceilings of their actual possibilities” (Baldwin 814) this shows how Sonny was hitting the ultimate low. Sonny always tried to help himself but he just couldn’t get out of his dark shell. While hitting that low he went through a series of different ways to get his identity back but he couldn’t. From joining the military to going to rehabilitation, Sonny’s brother does many things to find his identity. The narrator says, “I want to join the army. Or the navy, I don’t care. If I say I’m old enough they’ll believe me (Baldwin 830). Sonny’s major problem is that he cannot find something stable to grab onto to that will help him from straying far off from his path of …show more content…
The narrator says, “Then he began to make it his” (Baldwin 844). The narrator states that Sonny is finally out of the darkness and finally finds his identity as a musician. At first the narrator did not agree with his music because he felt that the common misconception of a good musician is a guy who goes out a does drugs. His music that he played allowed for the narrator to see that his suffering may not have been completely, but it was greatly diminished because he finally found his identity. Along with Sonny’s suffering being over so was the narrator’s suffering from seeing all the darkness was too. In the music, the narrator heard, he was able to see old family members through Sonny’s music which brought tears to his eyes. But when he listened to the music he also was able to use it as an escape and to find his own identity. Just as much as it was for Sonny playing it, this music he played was also the narrator’s escape and his identity. The narrator also remains nameless throughout the entire story. This may get the reader wondering why Baldwin did this. Baldwin did this in order to tell the story from the narrator’s perspective. Although he is telling Sonny’s story he shows how he was negatively affected by his actions. The narrator shows this when he says, “It kept melting, sending trickles of ice water all up and down my veins, but it never got less” (Baldwin 813)