Sonny’s Blues “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin depicts the story of two distant brothers separated by age and way of life, coming together despite their differences. “Sonny” the younger of the two is a real jazz hipster out of Harlem, recently out of jail for getting caught with heroin. Sonny’s brother, the unnamed Narrator, on the other hand is a man with steady work and steady surroundings that tasks himself with not only rehabilitating Sonny, but understanding his unconventional views on life. The central idea of “Sonny’s Blues” is that struggle can bring people together. Both Sonny and the Narrator are reacquainted by the troubles in their lives. When news first reaches the Narrator of Sonny’s arrest he states that “[Sonny] became real
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The story is littered with allusions to popular icons of the era like “Louis Armstrong” (Baldwin 134) and “Bird! Charlie Parker” (135) to help create a feel for the era. But it is the biblical allusion used to conclude the story that summarizes the Narrators understanding for the pain of his brother. “For me, then, as they began to play again, [the glass of scotch and milk] glowed and shook above my brother’s head like the very cup of trembling” (Baldwin 148). This biblical allusion, taken from Isiah 51, creates a physical representation of Sonny’s struggle against addiction, and as the verse in Isiah claims “thou shalt no more drink it again” (Isiah 51:22), the reader is left with a hope that Sonny’s affliction may have found it’s …show more content…
Baldwin contorts the depiction of darkness by giving it physical shape “growing against the windowpanes” (Baldwin 130) but also as an unstoppable force lying in wait for a powerless child, already weary of the cyclic darkness bound to his kin and “what’s going to happen to him” (Baldwin 131). This displays the unescapable nature of the struggle in “Sonny’s Blues”. Even the dark nightclub where the story concludes (Baldwin 145) serves as a temporary solace from the darkness as it inhabits the space around the afflicted, rather than the space inside them. This temporary departure from darkness exhibits Sonny’s most earnest attempt to combat suffering that ultimately leads to the Narrator developing a better understanding for the pain that unites them
The story is littered with allusions to popular icons of the era like “Louis Armstrong” (Baldwin 134) and “Bird! Charlie Parker” (135) to help create a feel for the era. But it is the biblical allusion used to conclude the story that summarizes the Narrators understanding for the pain of his brother. “For me, then, as they began to play again, [the glass of scotch and milk] glowed and shook above my brother’s head like the very cup of trembling” (Baldwin 148). This biblical allusion, taken from Isiah 51, creates a physical representation of Sonny’s struggle against addiction, and as the verse in Isiah claims “thou shalt no more drink it again” (Isiah 51:22), the reader is left with a hope that Sonny’s affliction may have found it’s …show more content…
Baldwin contorts the depiction of darkness by giving it physical shape “growing against the windowpanes” (Baldwin 130) but also as an unstoppable force lying in wait for a powerless child, already weary of the cyclic darkness bound to his kin and “what’s going to happen to him” (Baldwin 131). This displays the unescapable nature of the struggle in “Sonny’s Blues”. Even the dark nightclub where the story concludes (Baldwin 145) serves as a temporary solace from the darkness as it inhabits the space around the afflicted, rather than the space inside them. This temporary departure from darkness exhibits Sonny’s most earnest attempt to combat suffering that ultimately leads to the Narrator developing a better understanding for the pain that unites them