The Symbolism Of Flow In Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin

“Sonny’s Blues” is a short story, written by James Baldwin, about an African American teenager whose name is Sonny. Sonny has a history of heroin use and incarceration. Now that he has been released from prison, the story follows his journey to become a jazz pianist. Sonny’s brother is the narrator of the story and the setting is Harlem after World War II, most likely during the late 1940s and early 1950s. During the story, Sonny experiences flow, primarily while playing the piano. The basic definition of flow, as defined by Csikszentmihalyi and others, is a universally recognized psychological state that primarily involves a sense of enjoyment. “Flow is a state of concentration, low self-awareness and enjoyment that typically occurs during activities that are challenging but matched in difficulty to the person’s skill level” (Ullén 167). Other characteristics of flow include feelings of effortlessness, control, and pleasure. Examples of the concept of flow, founded by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, can be found throughout “Sonny’s Blues”, specifically in scenes that involve Sonny playing the piano. The concept of flow can be found in the passage when Sonny first begins playing the piano while staying at Isabel’s house.
At first, Isabel would write me, saying how nice it was that Sonny was so serious about his music …show more content…
Now these are Sonny’s blues. He made the little black man on the drums know it, and the bright brown man on the horn . . . . Then they all gathered around Sonny and Sonny played. Every now and again one of them seemed to say, amen. Sonny’s fingers filled the air with life, his life . . . . Then he began to make it his. It was very beautiful because it wasn’t hurried and it was no longer a lament. I seemed to hear with what burning he had made it his, with what burning we had yet to make it ours, how we could cease lamenting. (Baldwin