The story “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin (1957) explores the theme of suffering experienced by African Americans. It features the struggle of two brothers separated and caught in the entanglements of time, space and ideals. Both Sonny and his brother are surrounded by a world full of shadows and light, structure and antistructure. The narrator must understand his brother 's fall into drugs, while Sonny himself must recover and learn to stay afloat. Baldwin utilizes aspects of African culture and in particular the three stages of Victor Turner’s rites of passage to talk about pain and affliction done to African Americans during the 1950’s.
The story of “Sonny’s Blues” mainly concerns two African American brothers and their struggle to understand …show more content…
Sonny uses music to reconnect to sacred time and is removed from isolation. Sonny’s healing occurs in his own world--his kingdom of a nightclub, where the other brother accompanies Sonny. The narrator has never heard his brother perform before, and has never met any of his brother 's jazz friends; he is overwhelmed by the warmth he receives. "It turned out that everyone at the bar knew Sonny, or almost everyone; some were musicians, working there, or nearby, or not working, some were simply hangers-on, and some were there to hear Sonny play. I was introduced to all of them and they were all very polite to me. Yet it was clear that, for them, I was only Sonny 's brother. Here, I was in Sonny 's world" (Sonny’s Blues, page 145). Sonny begins to be reoriented to his old community of musicians similarly to healing through drums of affliction. The narrator then tells how Creole, the bass player or perhaps a healer, coaxes a risky performance out of Sonny, "He wanted Sonny to leave the shoreline and strike out for the deep water. He was Sonny 's witness that deep water and drowning were not the same thing -- he had been there, and he knew"(Sonny’s Blues, page 146). In order to heal and continue healing, Sonny had to musically put his whole soul on the line. Creole set up a sense of call and response, where “the drums talked back” and “the horns insisted” as the entire band …show more content…
This suffering is symbolized throughout Baldwin’s piece by a sense of darkness that invades the lives of the narrator 's family and the African American community. In the absence of structure in Sonny’s life, communitas was spontaneously created during the musical performance. Sonny was no longer side by side the members or above or below, he was equal and balanced. This ceremony helped Sonny address his difficult circumstances by use of strong rhythms, symbols and dance, similar to affliction cults. Sonny was purified as he was initiated and healed. In Turner’s final state of reincorporation Sonny finds a sense of “coolness,” a key element of African diaspora. He finds a harmonious life with himself as well as others through his musical performance. The narrator explains his healing by saying, “Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at last, that he could help us be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we did.” In this moment, Sonny was cured and became the healer for his brother. Between Sonny and his brother there was a common bond between dealing with their mutual suffering. When the narrator finally accepts Sonny’s lifestyle as a musician, by extension he accepts himself and his place in the African
The story of “Sonny’s Blues” mainly concerns two African American brothers and their struggle to understand …show more content…
Sonny uses music to reconnect to sacred time and is removed from isolation. Sonny’s healing occurs in his own world--his kingdom of a nightclub, where the other brother accompanies Sonny. The narrator has never heard his brother perform before, and has never met any of his brother 's jazz friends; he is overwhelmed by the warmth he receives. "It turned out that everyone at the bar knew Sonny, or almost everyone; some were musicians, working there, or nearby, or not working, some were simply hangers-on, and some were there to hear Sonny play. I was introduced to all of them and they were all very polite to me. Yet it was clear that, for them, I was only Sonny 's brother. Here, I was in Sonny 's world" (Sonny’s Blues, page 145). Sonny begins to be reoriented to his old community of musicians similarly to healing through drums of affliction. The narrator then tells how Creole, the bass player or perhaps a healer, coaxes a risky performance out of Sonny, "He wanted Sonny to leave the shoreline and strike out for the deep water. He was Sonny 's witness that deep water and drowning were not the same thing -- he had been there, and he knew"(Sonny’s Blues, page 146). In order to heal and continue healing, Sonny had to musically put his whole soul on the line. Creole set up a sense of call and response, where “the drums talked back” and “the horns insisted” as the entire band …show more content…
This suffering is symbolized throughout Baldwin’s piece by a sense of darkness that invades the lives of the narrator 's family and the African American community. In the absence of structure in Sonny’s life, communitas was spontaneously created during the musical performance. Sonny was no longer side by side the members or above or below, he was equal and balanced. This ceremony helped Sonny address his difficult circumstances by use of strong rhythms, symbols and dance, similar to affliction cults. Sonny was purified as he was initiated and healed. In Turner’s final state of reincorporation Sonny finds a sense of “coolness,” a key element of African diaspora. He finds a harmonious life with himself as well as others through his musical performance. The narrator explains his healing by saying, “Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at last, that he could help us be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we did.” In this moment, Sonny was cured and became the healer for his brother. Between Sonny and his brother there was a common bond between dealing with their mutual suffering. When the narrator finally accepts Sonny’s lifestyle as a musician, by extension he accepts himself and his place in the African