The blues are in essence the story of a musician’s life. All the pain they have felt in their lifetime goes into the beautiful music that they enchantingly produce. James Baldwin’s short story, “Sonny’s Blues”, is written to tell the pain of Harlem in its lifetime, and the escape route those who live there take. “Sonny’s blues” has a broad focus on grace, escaping, and the black community.
“Sonny’s Blues” indirectly focuses on grace. In the short story Grace is the name of the narrator’s “beautiful little girl” (Baldwin 113). Grace can be seen as simply being the name of the little girl, or it can be seen as for what it truly means. In her essay, “Lost and Found: The Fall of Grace in SONNY’S BLUES”, Caitlin Stone states that, “Grace, …show more content…
The Meriam-Webster dictionary defines grace as a way of moving that is smooth and attractive, while using the term mercy as a synonym. In the story Grace died of polio. One day when the narrator’s wife, Isabel, was in the kitchen, she heard Grace fall and then she heard silence. Isabel ran into the living room to see “little grace on the floor, all twisted up,” and then the narrator continues mentioning that, “the reason she hadn’t screamed was that she couldn’t get her breath.” The fall of Grace is the families first experience of losing the smooth and attractive way of moving, which is the first loss of themselves, and the loss of breath. In his essay, “The Biblical Foundation of James …show more content…
The characters are attempting to escape their environment, as well as their life. In his essay, “The Biblical Foundation of James Baldwin’s Sonny’s Blues”, James Tackach states that, “The narrator has escaped the dangers of Harlem's streets to become a solid family man and a mathematics teacher in a Harlem high school” (Tackach 112). The narrator attempts to run from the life of a black man in Harlem, which is very difficult. He originally uses the military as his escape route, but eventually returns home. In his essay, “James Baldwin’s Image of The Community,” John M. Reily mentioned how little the narrator knew about the current trends of African Americans when he returned home from the military. Reily states, “The possibility of Sonny's being a jazz rather than a Classical musician had “seemed—beneath him, somehow.” Trying to understand the ambition, the narrator had asked if Sonny meant to play like Louis Armstrong,” (Reily 233) this quote shows how the narrator felt about the type of music sonny wanted to play. The narrator seems to be behind on the current African American trends, and holding on to an “American” culture instead of an “African American” Culture, which will be further discussed in the following paragraph in detail. Sonny, on the other hand, enjoys the feeling of being in control. In his essay, “To the Deep Water: James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues,”” Robert P. McParland states that, “Sonny wants
“Sonny’s Blues” indirectly focuses on grace. In the short story Grace is the name of the narrator’s “beautiful little girl” (Baldwin 113). Grace can be seen as simply being the name of the little girl, or it can be seen as for what it truly means. In her essay, “Lost and Found: The Fall of Grace in SONNY’S BLUES”, Caitlin Stone states that, “Grace, …show more content…
The Meriam-Webster dictionary defines grace as a way of moving that is smooth and attractive, while using the term mercy as a synonym. In the story Grace died of polio. One day when the narrator’s wife, Isabel, was in the kitchen, she heard Grace fall and then she heard silence. Isabel ran into the living room to see “little grace on the floor, all twisted up,” and then the narrator continues mentioning that, “the reason she hadn’t screamed was that she couldn’t get her breath.” The fall of Grace is the families first experience of losing the smooth and attractive way of moving, which is the first loss of themselves, and the loss of breath. In his essay, “The Biblical Foundation of James …show more content…
The characters are attempting to escape their environment, as well as their life. In his essay, “The Biblical Foundation of James Baldwin’s Sonny’s Blues”, James Tackach states that, “The narrator has escaped the dangers of Harlem's streets to become a solid family man and a mathematics teacher in a Harlem high school” (Tackach 112). The narrator attempts to run from the life of a black man in Harlem, which is very difficult. He originally uses the military as his escape route, but eventually returns home. In his essay, “James Baldwin’s Image of The Community,” John M. Reily mentioned how little the narrator knew about the current trends of African Americans when he returned home from the military. Reily states, “The possibility of Sonny's being a jazz rather than a Classical musician had “seemed—beneath him, somehow.” Trying to understand the ambition, the narrator had asked if Sonny meant to play like Louis Armstrong,” (Reily 233) this quote shows how the narrator felt about the type of music sonny wanted to play. The narrator seems to be behind on the current African American trends, and holding on to an “American” culture instead of an “African American” Culture, which will be further discussed in the following paragraph in detail. Sonny, on the other hand, enjoys the feeling of being in control. In his essay, “To the Deep Water: James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues,”” Robert P. McParland states that, “Sonny wants