Sonny's Blues: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|1957 short story by James Baldwin}} |
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{{about|the short story|the Sonny Moorman album|Sonny's Blues (album)}} |
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'''"Sonny’s Blues"''' (1957)<ref>{{cite book | title = Making Arguments about Literature | publisher = Bedford/St. Martins | year = 2005 | location = [[Boston, Massachusetts]] | pages = 553}}</ref> is a short story by [[James Baldwin]]. It later appeared in the 1965 short story collection, ''[[Going to Meet the Man]]''. |
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{{Original research|date=April 2024}} |
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{{Unreliable sources|date=April 2024}} |
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"'''Sonny's Blues'''" is a 1957 short story<ref>{{cite book | title = Making Arguments about Literature | publisher = Bedford/St. Martins | year = 2005 | location = [[Boston, Massachusetts]] | pages = 553}}</ref> written by [[James Baldwin]], originally published in ''[[Partisan Review]]''. The story contains the recollections of a black algebra teacher in 1950s [[Harlem]] as he reacts to his brother Sonny's drug addiction, arrest, and recovery. Baldwin republished the work in the 1965 short story collection ''[[Going to Meet the Man]]''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Baldwin, James|title=Going to Meet the Man|url=https://archive.org/details/goingtomeetman0000bald|url-access=registration|year=1965|publisher=Dial Press}}</ref> |
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==Plot |
==Plot== |
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Sonny's Blues is a story written in the first-person singular narrative style. The story opens with the narrator, who reads about his younger brother named Sonny who has been caught in a heroin bust. The narrator then goes about his day; he is a teacher at a school in Harlem. However, he cannot get his mind off Sonny. He thinks about all the boys in his class, who don’t have bright futures and are most likely doing drugs, just like Sonny. After school, he meets a friend of Sonny’s, who tells him that they will lock him up and make him detox, but eventually he will be let out and be all alone. |
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"Sonny's Blues" is a story written in the first-person singular narrative style. Much of the story is told through a series of flashbacks as memory and family history are revealed to be central drivers of the trauma and alienation experienced by Sonny and the Narrator. |
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Originally, the narrator doesn’t write to Sonny. After his daughter Gracie dies of polio, he decides to write Sonny a letter. Then Sonny writes back, so they got in contact again. At this point, we learn how Sonny is related to the narrator—they are brothers. They keep in contact, and after Sonny gets out of jail, he goes to live with the narrator and his family. They eat a family dinner, which then turns into a flashback about their parents. |
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The story opens with the unnamed narrator reading about a heroin bust resulting in the arrest of a man named Sonny, his brother. The narrator goes about his day as an algebra teacher at a high school in [[Harlem]], but begins to ponder Sonny's fate and worry about the boys in his class. After school, he meets a friend of Sonny, who laments Sonny will struggle with addiction even after his detox and release. |
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The narrator describes his father, a drunken man, who died when Sonny was fifteen. Sonny and his father had the same privacy; however they did not get along. Sonny was withdrawn and quiet; while their father pretended to be big, tough, and loud-talking. |
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After the narrator's daughter Grace dies of polio, he finally reaches out to Sonny. The narrator remembers leaving for the war, leaving Sonny with his wife Isabel and her parents. Sonny decides to play the piano, and his passion is obsessive. Once Isabel's parents find out that Sonny has not been attending school, he leaves their house, drops out of school, and joins the Navy. |
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The narrator then thinks back to the last time he saw his mother alive, just before he went off to war (most likely fought in World War II). She told him the story of how his uncle died (was run over by some drunken white kids), how his father was never the same, and that the narrator has to watch over Sonny. The narrator was married to Isabel two days after this talk, and then he went off to war. The next time he came back to the states was for his mother’s funeral. |
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Sonny returns from the war. Their relationship sours, as the narrator intermittently fights with Sonny. |
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When he comes back for the funeral, he has a talk with Sonny, trying to figure out who he is, because they are so distant from one another. He asks Sonny what he wants to do, and Sonny replies that he wants to be a jazz musician and play the piano. The narrator does not understand this dream and doesn’t think it is good enough for Sonny. They also try to figure out his living arrangement for the remainder of his high school career. Both of these subjects lead to an argument. Sonny calls his brother ignorant for not knowing who Charlie Parker is, and argues that he does not want to finish high school or live at Isabel’s parents' house. Eventually, however, they find a compromise; Isabel’s parents have a piano, which Sonny can play whenever he wants, provided he goes to school. Sonny, begrudgingly (but somewhat excited about the piano) agrees. |
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Back in the present, the narrator reveals that Grace's death has caused him to reflect on his role as an older brother, surmising that his absence impaired Sonny's personal growth. The narrator resolves to reconcile with Sonny. |
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Sonny stays at Isabel’s and supposedly is going to school. When he gets home, he constantly plays the piano. Sonny, however, is more like a ghost; he shows no emotion and doesn’t talk to anyone. |
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While Isabel takes her children to see their grandparents, the narrator contemplates searching Sonny's room. He changes his mind, however, when he sees Sonny in a revival meeting in the street below his apartment, where a woman sings with a tambourine alongside her brother and sister, and enraptures the audience. |
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It is soon found out that Sonny is not going to school. Instead, he is going over to Greenwich Village, and hanging with his jazz friends (and most likely doing drugs). Once Isabel’s parents find this out, Sonny leaves their house, drops out of school, and joins the navy. |
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Some time later, Sonny invites the narrator to watch him play in Greenwich Village. The narrator begrudgingly agrees to go. Sonny explains his heroin addiction in vague analogies. The woman's performance reminded him of the rush he got using heroin, equating it to a need to feel in control. The narrator asks Sonny if he has to feel like that to play. Sonny answers that some people do. The narrator then asks Sonny if it is worth killing himself just to try to escape suffering. Sonny replies that he will not die faster than anyone else trying not to suffer. Sonny reveals that the reason he wanted to leave Harlem was to escape the drugs. |
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They both get back from the war and live in New York for a while. They would see each other intermittently, and whenever they would they would fight. Because of these fights, they did not talk to each other for a very long time. |
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The brothers go to the jazz club in Greenwich Village. The narrator realizes how revered Sonny is there as he hears him play. In the beginning, Sonny falters, as he has not played for over a year, but his playing eventually proves to be brilliant and he wins over the narrator and everyone in the club. The narrator sends a cup of Scotch and milk up to the piano for Sonny and the two share a brief moment of bonding. The narrator finally understands it is through music that Sonny is able to turn his suffering into something worthwhile. |
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It then flashes forward, and he talks about Gracie and her polio affliction. It was then that the narrator decided to write to Sonny. It seems that the narrator could better understand his brother now. (“My trouble made his real.”) |
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But the story ends with an ominous symbol: the Cup of Trembling, which leaves readers suspecting that the brothers will continue to face challenges in spite of this moment of harmony. |
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It then flashes forward to what we would assume is the present. It’s a Sunday and Isabel is gone with the children to visit their grandparents. The narrator is contemplating searching Sonny’s room and begins to describe a revival meeting that both he and Sonny are watching. There is a woman singing, which seems to hypnotize them both. |
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==Symbolism== |
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Sonny comes into the house, and asks the narrator if he wants to come and watch him play in Greenwich Village, and the narrator, unsure, somewhat begrudgingly agrees to go. |
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'''Darkness and Light:''' Throughout “Sonny’s Blues”, there is a tension between light and darkness. Baldwin uses darkness to describe the adversity that the characters go through. |
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Sonny then begins to talk about his heroin addiction in somewhat ambiguous terms. He says that when the lady was singing at the revival meeting, it reminded him what it feels like when heroin is coursing through your veins. Sonny says it makes you feel in control, and sometimes you just have to feel that way. The narrator asks if he has to feel like that to play. He answers that some people do. They talk about suffering. And the narrator asks Sonny if it’s worth killing yourself, just trying to escape suffering. Sonny says he is not going to die faster than anyone else trying not to suffer. Sonny divulges that the reason he wanted to leave Harlem was to escape the drugs. |
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“All [the youth] really knew were two darknesses, the darkness of their lives, which was now closing in on them, and the darkness of the movies, which had blinded them to that other darkness…” (Baldwin 1) |
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They go to the jazz club in Greenwich Village. The narrator realizes how revered Sonny is there. He hears Sonny play. In the beginning, he falters, as he hasn't played for seven months, but after a while, it becomes completely magical and enchants the narrator and everyone in the club. The narrator sends a cup of scotch and milk up to the piano for Sonny and the two share a brief connecting moment. His brother finally understands that it is through music that Sonny is able to turn his suffering into something worthwhile. |
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Baldwin uses darkness to convey the suffering that the youth in Harlem are fated to go through. Although they are not suffering yet, the seeds of their future have already been sown, and the darkness of their lives is already closing in on them. |
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==Characters== |
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* '''Sonny''' is the main character's brother. The reader sees him through his brother’s eyes, as a quiet, introspective person with a tendency to withdraw inside himself. Sonny is also described by the narrator as wild, but not crazy. He has a heroin addiction, which led him to jail, but because of his passion for jazz, he became a musician. |
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“And when light fills the room, the child is filled with darkness. He knows that every time this happens he's moved just a little closer to that darkness outside. The darkness outside is what the old folks have been talking about. It's what they've come from. It's what they endure. The child knows that they won't talk any more because if he knows too much about what's happened to them, he'll know too much too soon, about what's going to happen to him.” (Baldwin 9) |
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* '''Sonny’s brother''' is the narrator and main character; his name is never mentioned throughout the story. He is a high school algebra teacher and family man. Unlike Sonny who is constantly struggling with his feelings, he chooses to ignore his own pain. |
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* '''Isabel''' is Sonny’s sister-in-law, she is open and talkative. After Sonny’s mother died, he lived with Isabel in her parents' house for a while, while his brother was in the army. |
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Similarly to the previous quote, Baldwin uses darkness to describe the suffering that the children in Harlem are fated to go through. The children have seen the darkness that the adults have endured, and they feel worried about the suffering that they will have to endure. |
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* '''Creole''' is a bass player who leads the band that Sonny plays in at the end of the story. He functions as a kind of father figure for Sonny. |
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* '''Sonny's Mother''' |
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“[Your father] says he never in his life seen anything as dark as that road after the lights of that car had gone away. Weren't nothing, weren't nobody on that road, just your Daddy and his brother and that busted guitar.” (Baldwin 10) |
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* '''Sonny's Father''' |
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* '''Sonny's Uncle''' (His father's brother) |
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Baldwin uses darkness to reveal the depth of suffering that Baldwin’s father must have gone through after he witnessed the death of his brother, as he says that “he had never seen anything as dark as that road.” Baldwin uses acknowledges that suffering is constant and deep. |
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* '''Sonny's Friend''' |
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Overall, Baldwin uses darkness in “Sonny’s Blues” to convey the profusion and depth of suffering. In contrast, Baldwin uses light to describe hope and salvation, in opposition to the darkness. |
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“[The band] horsed around, standing just below the bandstand. The light from the bandstand spilled just a little short of them and watching them laughing and gesturing and moving about, I had the feeling that they… were being most careful not to step into that circle of light; if they moved into the light too suddenly, they would perish in flame” (Baldwin 23) |
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Baldwin uses light to represent that although hope is present, it is still scarce, “just a little short of them.” The band members are skeptical of light, and if they moved into the light too quickly “they would perish in flame.” Baldwin also mentions the light while showing the characters experiencing happiness. |
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“For, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. There isn't any other tale to tell, it's the only light we've got in all this darkness.” (Baldwin 24) |
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Baldwin propounds that light can be discovered, or reached, through self-expression. Again, light is mentioned in the context of hope or happiness. |
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In conclusion, darkness and light are in constant tension throughout “Sonny’s Blues”, and they represent the prevalence and extent of suffering and the existence of salvation and hope, respectively. |
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'''The Cup of Trembling:''' The Cup of Trembling is mentioned at the end of the story, when Sonny is performing; the cup symbol is borrowed from the Bible. Sonny’s drinking from the cup of trembling serves as a reminder of the suffering he has endured, but also offers him a chance for redemption and salvation. As a musician, Sonny takes all his suffering and that of those around him and transforms it into something beautiful; his suffering is almost a consequence of him being a musician. It’s a final recognition of the tension of light and darkness, and how in the presence of suffering, there is still room for salvation and redemption. |
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“He didn't seem to notice it, but just before they started playing again, he sipped from it and looked toward me, and nodded. Then he put it back on top of the piano. For me, then, as they began to play again, it glowed and shook above my brother's head like the very cup of trembling.” (Page 25) |
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'''Housing Projects:''' The housing projects represent the oppression that African Americans in Harlem faced. Although they are built with good intentions, they are inevitably transformed into what the builders were trying to fix, and there is no attempt to correct such transformation. It sort of becomes a “parody of good.” It’s a representation of the ever-present societal oppression that African Americans in Harlem faced. |
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“These streets hadn't changed, though housing projects jutted up out of them now like rocks in the middle of a boiling sea. Most of the houses in which we had grown up had vanished… ut houses exactly like the houses of our past yet dominated the landscape, boys exactly like the boys we once had been found themselves smothering in these houses, came down into the streets for light and air and found themselves encircled by disaster. Some escaped the trap, most didn't. Those who got out always left something of themselves behind” (Page 7) |
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==Themes== |
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'''The Prevalence of Tragic Optimism:''' Through the aforementioned symbol of light and darkness, Baldwin conveys his message of tragic optimism. Tragic optimism is the ability to remain optimistic, even in the face of immense suffering. It’s important to note that Baldwin mentions darkness often, yet only refers to light occasionally. This shows that even in the presence of overwhelming darkness, and profuse amounts of suffering, there is still room for light and hope. Baldwin’s message of tragic optimism in “Sonny’s Blues” is commonplace in his other works, and he is known as one of the mainstream tragic optimists, alongside the likes of [[Viktor Frankl]]. |
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'''The Obligation Toward Brotherly Love:''' The entire story revolves around the relationship between the narrator and his brother Sonny. Before the narrator’s mother dies, she bestows him the role of Sonny’s keeper; she tells the narrator to watch over Sonny, and to “let him know that [he’s] there.” Later in the story, Sonny reminds the narrator that although he is clean from drug abuse, his problems are far from over, and the narrator makes a silent promise to himself to always be there for his brother. |
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'''Music as a Form of Expression:''' The theme of music as a form of expression is mainly conveyed through Sonny. Music, and jazz, are described as Sonny’s salvation, and his light in all the darkness. As he starts to play his music again, and finally gets to express his suffering through his music, others are also touched by his music. |
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'''The Limited Opportunities for African Americans in Harlem:''' Through the symbol of the housing projects and the overall descriptions of the setting, Baldwin provided a social commentary on the generational oppression of African Americans, and the limited opportunities that they get as a result of such oppression. The poverty that exists in the community is constantly conveyed, and this connects constantly to feelings of hopelessness and desolation. Even for the youth, the seeds of their future have already been sown, and they are all fated to suffer. |
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==References to other works== |
==References to other works== |
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* [[Louis Armstrong]] and [[Charlie Parker]] are mentioned during a conversation between Sonny and his brother. |
* [[Louis Armstrong]] and [[Charlie Parker]] are mentioned during a conversation between Sonny and his brother. |
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* In the final scene Creole, the band and Sonny play "[[Am I Blue?]]". |
* In the final scene Creole, the band and Sonny play "[[Am I Blue?]]". |
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* A reference to a passage in the [[Bible]] is made |
* A reference to a passage in the [[Bible]] is made at the end of the story, when Baldwin compares the Scotch and milk placed in front of Sonny as the "cup of trembling." This is an allusion to [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]] 51:17. |
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===Songs referenced=== |
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==Allusions to actual history== |
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*"Lord You Brought Me From a Long Ways Off" |
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Throughout the short story there are several mentions to the war, although it is not stated which one. Considering the story occurs during the mid-20th century, critics argue it could be either the [[Korean War]] or the [[Second World War]]. |
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*"Mighty Long Way You've Brought Me" |
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*"Some Cold, Rainy Day" |
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==Major themes== |
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*"[[The Old Ship of Zion]]" |
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*Suffering - One of the most important aspects of the short story is how Sonny and his brother endure suffering. This reveals how different they are and the reason why Sonny’s brother cannot understand him. While Sonny feels more intensely all the hardships in his life, his brother keeps his feelings locked in. Most importantly, the short story focuses on the sufferings of black people in America. |
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*"[[If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again]]" |
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*Artistic expression - Baldwin believed in art as a powerful means to ease or relieve one’s suffering. It is only through music, by playing jazz, that Sonny is able to externalize his pain and also help his brother to face his own issues. |
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*"[[God Be with You Till We Meet Again]]" |
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*Racism and segregation - Racism is a recurrent theme in Baldwin’s work. In the short story, much of Sonny’s blues result from the conditions [[African Americans]] live in. Although Baldwin only presents one clear example of racism, the entire story reveals a separation made by society between blacks and whites. In spite of being an algebra teacher, Sonny’s brother has to continue living in Harlem and cope with the poverty and violence existent in the neighborhood. In this manner we can see that his efforts to have a better lifestyle were not successful. |
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*"[[Am I Blue?]]" |
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==References== |
==References== |
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{{Reflist}} |
{{Reflist}} |
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==External links== |
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*[https://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/wooda/2B-HUM/Readings/Baldwin-Sonnys-Blues.pdf PDF of the short story] as included in ''The Jazz Fiction Anthology'' |
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*[https://bu.userservices.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/delivery/01BOSU_INST:AlmaGeneralView/121027668920001161?lang=en&viewerServiceCode=AlmaViewer#131027667430001161 Archive of the 1957 Partisan Review] that originally published ''Sonny's Blues'' |
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{{James Baldwin}} |
{{James Baldwin}} |
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[[Category:1957 short stories]] |
[[Category:1957 short stories]] |
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[[Category:Short stories by James Baldwin]] |
[[Category:Short stories by James Baldwin]] |
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[[pt:Sonny’s Blues]] |
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Latest revision as of 10:37, 1 August 2024
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"Sonny's Blues" is a 1957 short story[1] written by James Baldwin, originally published in Partisan Review. The story contains the recollections of a black algebra teacher in 1950s Harlem as he reacts to his brother Sonny's drug addiction, arrest, and recovery. Baldwin republished the work in the 1965 short story collection Going to Meet the Man.[2]
Plot
[edit]"Sonny's Blues" is a story written in the first-person singular narrative style. Much of the story is told through a series of flashbacks as memory and family history are revealed to be central drivers of the trauma and alienation experienced by Sonny and the Narrator.
The story opens with the unnamed narrator reading about a heroin bust resulting in the arrest of a man named Sonny, his brother. The narrator goes about his day as an algebra teacher at a high school in Harlem, but begins to ponder Sonny's fate and worry about the boys in his class. After school, he meets a friend of Sonny, who laments Sonny will struggle with addiction even after his detox and release.
After the narrator's daughter Grace dies of polio, he finally reaches out to Sonny. The narrator remembers leaving for the war, leaving Sonny with his wife Isabel and her parents. Sonny decides to play the piano, and his passion is obsessive. Once Isabel's parents find out that Sonny has not been attending school, he leaves their house, drops out of school, and joins the Navy.
Sonny returns from the war. Their relationship sours, as the narrator intermittently fights with Sonny.
Back in the present, the narrator reveals that Grace's death has caused him to reflect on his role as an older brother, surmising that his absence impaired Sonny's personal growth. The narrator resolves to reconcile with Sonny.
While Isabel takes her children to see their grandparents, the narrator contemplates searching Sonny's room. He changes his mind, however, when he sees Sonny in a revival meeting in the street below his apartment, where a woman sings with a tambourine alongside her brother and sister, and enraptures the audience.
Some time later, Sonny invites the narrator to watch him play in Greenwich Village. The narrator begrudgingly agrees to go. Sonny explains his heroin addiction in vague analogies. The woman's performance reminded him of the rush he got using heroin, equating it to a need to feel in control. The narrator asks Sonny if he has to feel like that to play. Sonny answers that some people do. The narrator then asks Sonny if it is worth killing himself just to try to escape suffering. Sonny replies that he will not die faster than anyone else trying not to suffer. Sonny reveals that the reason he wanted to leave Harlem was to escape the drugs.
The brothers go to the jazz club in Greenwich Village. The narrator realizes how revered Sonny is there as he hears him play. In the beginning, Sonny falters, as he has not played for over a year, but his playing eventually proves to be brilliant and he wins over the narrator and everyone in the club. The narrator sends a cup of Scotch and milk up to the piano for Sonny and the two share a brief moment of bonding. The narrator finally understands it is through music that Sonny is able to turn his suffering into something worthwhile.
But the story ends with an ominous symbol: the Cup of Trembling, which leaves readers suspecting that the brothers will continue to face challenges in spite of this moment of harmony.
Symbolism
[edit]Darkness and Light: Throughout “Sonny’s Blues”, there is a tension between light and darkness. Baldwin uses darkness to describe the adversity that the characters go through.
“All [the youth] really knew were two darknesses, the darkness of their lives, which was now closing in on them, and the darkness of the movies, which had blinded them to that other darkness…” (Baldwin 1)
Baldwin uses darkness to convey the suffering that the youth in Harlem are fated to go through. Although they are not suffering yet, the seeds of their future have already been sown, and the darkness of their lives is already closing in on them.
“And when light fills the room, the child is filled with darkness. He knows that every time this happens he's moved just a little closer to that darkness outside. The darkness outside is what the old folks have been talking about. It's what they've come from. It's what they endure. The child knows that they won't talk any more because if he knows too much about what's happened to them, he'll know too much too soon, about what's going to happen to him.” (Baldwin 9)
Similarly to the previous quote, Baldwin uses darkness to describe the suffering that the children in Harlem are fated to go through. The children have seen the darkness that the adults have endured, and they feel worried about the suffering that they will have to endure.
“[Your father] says he never in his life seen anything as dark as that road after the lights of that car had gone away. Weren't nothing, weren't nobody on that road, just your Daddy and his brother and that busted guitar.” (Baldwin 10)
Baldwin uses darkness to reveal the depth of suffering that Baldwin’s father must have gone through after he witnessed the death of his brother, as he says that “he had never seen anything as dark as that road.” Baldwin uses acknowledges that suffering is constant and deep.
Overall, Baldwin uses darkness in “Sonny’s Blues” to convey the profusion and depth of suffering. In contrast, Baldwin uses light to describe hope and salvation, in opposition to the darkness.
“[The band] horsed around, standing just below the bandstand. The light from the bandstand spilled just a little short of them and watching them laughing and gesturing and moving about, I had the feeling that they… were being most careful not to step into that circle of light; if they moved into the light too suddenly, they would perish in flame” (Baldwin 23)
Baldwin uses light to represent that although hope is present, it is still scarce, “just a little short of them.” The band members are skeptical of light, and if they moved into the light too quickly “they would perish in flame.” Baldwin also mentions the light while showing the characters experiencing happiness.
“For, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. There isn't any other tale to tell, it's the only light we've got in all this darkness.” (Baldwin 24)
Baldwin propounds that light can be discovered, or reached, through self-expression. Again, light is mentioned in the context of hope or happiness.
In conclusion, darkness and light are in constant tension throughout “Sonny’s Blues”, and they represent the prevalence and extent of suffering and the existence of salvation and hope, respectively.
The Cup of Trembling: The Cup of Trembling is mentioned at the end of the story, when Sonny is performing; the cup symbol is borrowed from the Bible. Sonny’s drinking from the cup of trembling serves as a reminder of the suffering he has endured, but also offers him a chance for redemption and salvation. As a musician, Sonny takes all his suffering and that of those around him and transforms it into something beautiful; his suffering is almost a consequence of him being a musician. It’s a final recognition of the tension of light and darkness, and how in the presence of suffering, there is still room for salvation and redemption.
“He didn't seem to notice it, but just before they started playing again, he sipped from it and looked toward me, and nodded. Then he put it back on top of the piano. For me, then, as they began to play again, it glowed and shook above my brother's head like the very cup of trembling.” (Page 25)
Housing Projects: The housing projects represent the oppression that African Americans in Harlem faced. Although they are built with good intentions, they are inevitably transformed into what the builders were trying to fix, and there is no attempt to correct such transformation. It sort of becomes a “parody of good.” It’s a representation of the ever-present societal oppression that African Americans in Harlem faced.
“These streets hadn't changed, though housing projects jutted up out of them now like rocks in the middle of a boiling sea. Most of the houses in which we had grown up had vanished… ut houses exactly like the houses of our past yet dominated the landscape, boys exactly like the boys we once had been found themselves smothering in these houses, came down into the streets for light and air and found themselves encircled by disaster. Some escaped the trap, most didn't. Those who got out always left something of themselves behind” (Page 7)
Themes
[edit]The Prevalence of Tragic Optimism: Through the aforementioned symbol of light and darkness, Baldwin conveys his message of tragic optimism. Tragic optimism is the ability to remain optimistic, even in the face of immense suffering. It’s important to note that Baldwin mentions darkness often, yet only refers to light occasionally. This shows that even in the presence of overwhelming darkness, and profuse amounts of suffering, there is still room for light and hope. Baldwin’s message of tragic optimism in “Sonny’s Blues” is commonplace in his other works, and he is known as one of the mainstream tragic optimists, alongside the likes of Viktor Frankl.
The Obligation Toward Brotherly Love: The entire story revolves around the relationship between the narrator and his brother Sonny. Before the narrator’s mother dies, she bestows him the role of Sonny’s keeper; she tells the narrator to watch over Sonny, and to “let him know that [he’s] there.” Later in the story, Sonny reminds the narrator that although he is clean from drug abuse, his problems are far from over, and the narrator makes a silent promise to himself to always be there for his brother.
Music as a Form of Expression: The theme of music as a form of expression is mainly conveyed through Sonny. Music, and jazz, are described as Sonny’s salvation, and his light in all the darkness. As he starts to play his music again, and finally gets to express his suffering through his music, others are also touched by his music.
The Limited Opportunities for African Americans in Harlem: Through the symbol of the housing projects and the overall descriptions of the setting, Baldwin provided a social commentary on the generational oppression of African Americans, and the limited opportunities that they get as a result of such oppression. The poverty that exists in the community is constantly conveyed, and this connects constantly to feelings of hopelessness and desolation. Even for the youth, the seeds of their future have already been sown, and they are all fated to suffer.
References to other works
[edit]- Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker are mentioned during a conversation between Sonny and his brother.
- In the final scene Creole, the band and Sonny play "Am I Blue?".
- A reference to a passage in the Bible is made at the end of the story, when Baldwin compares the Scotch and milk placed in front of Sonny as the "cup of trembling." This is an allusion to Isaiah 51:17.
Songs referenced
[edit]- "Lord You Brought Me From a Long Ways Off"
- "Mighty Long Way You've Brought Me"
- "Some Cold, Rainy Day"
- "The Old Ship of Zion"
- "If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again"
- "God Be with You Till We Meet Again"
- "Am I Blue?"
References
[edit]- ^ Making Arguments about Literature. Boston, Massachusetts: Bedford/St. Martins. 2005. p. 553.
- ^ Baldwin, James (1965). Going to Meet the Man. Dial Press.
External links
[edit]- PDF of the short story as included in The Jazz Fiction Anthology
- Archive of the 1957 Partisan Review that originally published Sonny's Blues