Religion in “Sonny’s Blues”
By Jade Burgess
Most critics prefer to view James Baldwin as a civil rights writer rather than as a Christian writer with his Bible close at hand. Baldwin knew the Bible intimately and once claimed, "I was born in the church" ("Notes" 14). Tackach wrote that according to Campbell, Baldwin "knew the Bible so well that he colored his phrases with Old Testament rhetoric and poetry, with full conviction". Campbell states that "although he [Baldwin] left the church, the church never left him". Some religious related works that Baldwin wrote are The Fire Next Time, Go Tell It on the Mountain, and “Sonny’s Blues”.
There are surprisingly few critical discussions of "Sonny's Blues" that have focused on the story's religious themes. After reading repeatedly and deeply, there are religious and biblical themes and motifs at the center of many of Baldwin's best literary efforts, including "Sonny's Blues." The references of Adam and Eve, The Prodigal Son, Cain and Abel highlight the theme of good and evil …show more content…
Throughout the story, the narrator seeks out the knowledge of his who his brother is. This search for knowledge is similar to the story of Adam and Eve. The tale of the creation and the fall shows a moral principle that emerges from the biblical narrative of Adam and Eve on which both biblical fundamentalists and biblical critics can agree: merely seeking knowledge of good and evil is problematic. As stated in the King James version of the Bible 3:6 the tree was “desired to make one wise”. By fulfilling her desire to achieve the knowledge of good and evil, she consumed the fruit of the tree, disregarding an ethical directive to the contrary. Golden states that “the quest for knowledge is not problematic by itself; rather, Eve’s problem was that she sought the “what” of knowledge without regard for the “how” of ethics”
By Jade Burgess
Most critics prefer to view James Baldwin as a civil rights writer rather than as a Christian writer with his Bible close at hand. Baldwin knew the Bible intimately and once claimed, "I was born in the church" ("Notes" 14). Tackach wrote that according to Campbell, Baldwin "knew the Bible so well that he colored his phrases with Old Testament rhetoric and poetry, with full conviction". Campbell states that "although he [Baldwin] left the church, the church never left him". Some religious related works that Baldwin wrote are The Fire Next Time, Go Tell It on the Mountain, and “Sonny’s Blues”.
There are surprisingly few critical discussions of "Sonny's Blues" that have focused on the story's religious themes. After reading repeatedly and deeply, there are religious and biblical themes and motifs at the center of many of Baldwin's best literary efforts, including "Sonny's Blues." The references of Adam and Eve, The Prodigal Son, Cain and Abel highlight the theme of good and evil …show more content…
Throughout the story, the narrator seeks out the knowledge of his who his brother is. This search for knowledge is similar to the story of Adam and Eve. The tale of the creation and the fall shows a moral principle that emerges from the biblical narrative of Adam and Eve on which both biblical fundamentalists and biblical critics can agree: merely seeking knowledge of good and evil is problematic. As stated in the King James version of the Bible 3:6 the tree was “desired to make one wise”. By fulfilling her desire to achieve the knowledge of good and evil, she consumed the fruit of the tree, disregarding an ethical directive to the contrary. Golden states that “the quest for knowledge is not problematic by itself; rather, Eve’s problem was that she sought the “what” of knowledge without regard for the “how” of ethics”