Religious Allusions In Sonny's Struggle

Baldwin makes several religious references within the text, as well. Much of the religious allusions aid the moralistic undertones and themes of much of his writing. Baldwin spent a portion of his teenage years as a youth minister. He later confessed in an interview that he, in so many words, saw religion as an illusion. He used religion, initially, as a vehicle for escape from the abuse of his stepfather, a preacher, as well. Being an activist and prolific writer, one can surmise that Baldwin may have seen his talent, as well as his need for self-expression, as tools on which to teach moral lessons.
In the text, Sonny’s struggles may have been a fictional account of the story of any (Negro and/or gay) man living in America at the time. It