Preview

Symbolism In Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
963 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Symbolism In Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin
Scott
ENGL 102
Module 3 Essay

Assessing Essay

"Sonny's Blues"

"Sonny's Blues" is a heartfelt story written by an incredible author, James Baldwin, who has long been one of my favorite writers. This piece, like many of his others, details the plight of African Americans freeing themselves from the mental bondages of their surroundings, the ghetto. This story tells us about two brothers, their individual flight from their repressed surroundings and their eventual unification as brothers through the powerful language and musical art knows as jazz. The title of the story "Sonny's Blues" is an excellent use of symbolism. The term "blues" accurately depicts the bondage and plight of Sonny and his brother as Black men in a white society, it is used as a method of discussing Sonny's struggles with his addiction, and it personifying as the Sonny's aspirations of a jazz career. Baldwin frequently writes in the first person, and this piece is no …show more content…
His struggles are much different than his brothers. He is not able to cope with the demands of society and flees physically from his ghetto surroundings. He also flees mentally to an altered state of consciousness produced by using heroin. Although the story is not written through Sonny's voice, we are able to understand the pain of his addition as it is articulated through and to his brother. The older brother is not well versed in the consequences of the drug world; he does not understand the nature of addiction. In a conversation with one of Sonny's buddies he posses the question, "Tell me why does he want to die? He must want to die, he's killing himself, why does he want to die?" The response of "He don't want to die. He wants to live. Don't nobody want to die, ever." does not extinguish the burning questions that the brother maintains regarding Sonny's addictive life
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Aha Moment In Sonny's Blues
    • 706 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Aha Moment In Sonny's Blues

    In Sonny’s Blues the narrator was a bit apprehensive towards Sonny’s music and passion for playing the piano. He felt that it would only drag Sonny back down the same road to heroin use that he had recovered from. At the same time the narrator showed a great deal of love toward his brother because he kept his promise to his mother to look out for Sonny. When the narrator sees Sonny perform in the nightclub, he notices that’s the way Sonny escapes his problems. The narrator also at that same moment realized, he too is in a way like his brother, looking…

    • 706 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Comparing Sonny's Blues 'And The Things They Carried'
    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Comparing Sonny's Blues 'And The Things They Carried'

    The Characters In “Sonny’s blues” represent a wide range about human nature. For example, Sonny is a character with very non serious sense of humor and he is drug addict his brother (narrator) is character with good sense of humor and he was not drug addict. Sonny is the musician But he cared mostly about himself and not about the nation but narrator he cared about the nation and place where he was more then just himself. Furthermore most of the other people in Harlem were drug addicts and had no reason to live, this is the reason why Sonny wanted to leave Harlem just…

    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    An Analysis Of Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin
    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages

    An Analysis Of Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin

    James Baldwin’s short story, Sonny’s Blues, is a story about the narrator’s younger brother, Sonny, who has been in trouble with selling and using heroin, and how the narrator deals with it. Throughout the story, the author uses music and imprisonment as motifs. He also uses rage and fury as a common theme. Blues music, which is characterized as a template of chords with lyrics reflecting sadness and usually pertaining to African Americans, is very similar to Sonny’s Blues. Baldwin uses these motifs and themes to shape the story similar to the musical structure of blues.…

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    A Literary Analysis Of Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin
    • 1080 Words
    • 5 Pages

    A Literary Analysis Of Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin

    The story “Sonny’s Blues” was written by James Baldwin in 1957. The story is narrated by Sonny’s elder brother, however the narrator’s name is never mentioned in the entire text. The story revolves around two African American brothers from New York who were trying to understand one another on an emotional level. The younger brother Sonny is a musician, who gets subjugated with heroin abuse in the beginning of the story. However, Sonny’s elder brother, the last remaining member of his family, worries and bring Sonny into his home after he finished his period of rehabilitation. The elder brother reminds himself of the promise he made to his mother to protect Sonny before her untimely demise. Further creating a sense of responsibility of the elder brother towards the younger, due to the past insecurities caused by Sonny; his elder brother pondered about his goals and ambitions. However he finally understands what Sonny is capable off musically…

    • 1080 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Social And Internal Issues In Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin
    • 339 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Social And Internal Issues In Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin

    The short story “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin exposes and explores many social and internal issues. The story is told by an unnamed, self-loathing narrator living in Harlem during the middle of the 20th century. He is an everyday family man and school teacher who does not like to expose his emotions and the pain that he’s dealt with in his life. Much of this pain has come from his brother Sonny, the main character in the story. Sonny is a long-time heroin addict that has just recently been released from prison, and his brother feels as though he has had something to do with Sonny’s addiction. I believe that this feeling could come from the fact that even though they both have come from the same racially-oppressed…

    • 339 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin: Literary Analysis
    • 1653 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin: Literary Analysis

    “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin is about two brothers, Sonny and the unnamed narrator. The story chronicles a part of their lives. It begins with Sonny’s drug arrest. The tale then travels back to Sonny’s teenage years and ends up with Sonny living with his brother after his arrest. The story uses imagery throughout the tale. One of the most used is that of the contrast of light and darkness. This becomes the theme of the story. Even though Sonny has struggled with a drug problem and arrest readers may wonder who is in more darkness.…

    • 1653 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Pephony In James Baldwin's Sonny
    • 238 Words
    • 1 Page

    Pephony In James Baldwin's Sonny

    As the short story comes to an end, Sonny causes his brother to experience an epiphany. Sonny desperately wants his brother to understand that he is not a failure and that he has a valid reason for using drugs. That reason is suffering. Sonny believes that in order to achieve…

    • 238 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Story Analysis: Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin
    • 1429 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Story Analysis: Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin

    James Baldwin’s short story “Sonny’s Blues” displays a lot of take to heart messages that we could learn from. Throughout this story we got a firsthand look at what a teenager’s life in Harlem looks like. It is told from the perspective of Sonny’s younger brother who is an algebra teacher in high school. Towards the beginning of the reading the narrator expresses concern about the root issue contributing to Sonny’s problems; Horse, otherwise known as Heroin. He states “I was sure that the first time Sonny had ever had horse, he couldn’t have been much older than these boys now”, (Baldwin 22). This sentence makes a wide-spread drug problem in their community evident. As any writer does Baldwin…

    • 1429 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Brotherhood In Sonny's Blues, By James Baldwin
    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Brotherhood In Sonny's Blues, By James Baldwin

    Sonny's brother was very skeptical and decided that supporting his brother was the most important thing to do at this point in their lives. When the older brother heard Sonny play and saw the way people responded to Sonny he realized this is his little brothers passion and life. "There was a long pause, while they talked up in their indigo light and after awhile I saw the girl put a Scotch and milk on top of the piano for Sonny. He didn't seem to notice it, 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." This particular scene symbolizes that the feud is over and that the past is gone. Also, that Sonny has finally seen the light and will fight his battle with a heroin addiction and beat it because he knows that he…

    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Contradiction In Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin
    • 503 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Contradiction In Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin

    The story Sonny’s Blues was a very interesting to read with the talking about the brothers with more of the story being about the older brother who is the narrator. Sonny comes from a family that lived in what people sometimes call squalor. The narrator talks about how Sonny and his brother did not see eye to eye with him playing music in the bars and night clubs, also talking about the addiction to drugs. Within the book it can be seen that unspoken approval while at the bar from the narrator and Sonny when he sips the scotch and milk; and places it back on the piano to play the next song. The reader can see how the older brother being the narrator has such a hard time with his brother’s choice of life till after he comes to terms with his mother’s death, his daughter death and having a father who was a drunk. The reader can see the ups and downs of Sonny’s addiction to a good obsession being jazz, and the bad device being drugs.…

    • 503 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sonny's Blues Thesis
    • 406 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Sonny's Blues Thesis

    Sonny’s Blues was first published in 1957 by James Baldwin. The story takes place in Harlem, a historically African American neighborhood in New York City. This story was the start of Baldwin commitment to the civil rights movement, and he became a spokesman for African Americans during the 60’s. Sonny’s Blues is about two brothers, Sonny and the narrator, that suffer in multiple ways that involves music, drug abuse, the way the interact with each other, and even nightmares. Suffering can cause a human to change their point of view drastically. Only a few can overcome the curve balls life decides to throw at one. “Sonny’s Blues” is a fantastic example about how suffering can change a person, but…

    • 406 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Compare and Contrast of “Sonny’s Blues” and “Everyday Use”
    • 862 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Compare and Contrast of “Sonny’s Blues” and “Everyday Use”

    In the story “Sonny’s Blues,” Harlem was the home and place where Sonny grew up. In Harlem most people lived very poor lives and were consumed by drugs and addictions. In this place the people lived life struggling socially and economically. Sonny felt trapped within his neighborhood, this was a place where people did not have much of a chance to succeed. Sonny proclaimed to his brother from his heart how he did not want to live in Harlem anymore. He did not want to stay and live in this place where he would be tempted to do drugs. He felt that he would find temptation with drugs in his life because he was constantly surrounded by people who were doing drugs and had become addicted to them. The political system brought upon Sonny lots of frustration and anger which prevented him from…

    • 862 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Analysis Of Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin
    • 1340 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Analysis Of Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin

    When they were young, their mother believed living in Harlem wasn’t safe and their father thought otherwise. Their mother wanted to move to a better place where her children would be safe. This can be seen when the narrator states, “‘Safe!’ my father grunted, whenever Mama suggested trying to move to a neighborhood which might be safe for children” (Pg. 113). Shortly after their father passed away, their mother feared Sonny would have trouble growing up or would become murdered like their unfamiliar uncle and pleaded to the narrator to always look out for him. The narrator was able to succeed by becoming an algebra teacher and tried to create a better life for Sonny, but ultimately he rebelled and started to use drugs. Present day, the narrator had no choice but to still live in Harlem in a housing project due to not being far from where he taught and for his children. The narrator and his family moved in when it was new, but after a few days it was already rundown. The narrator mentions that living in the housing projects became similar to the houses in which Sonny and he grew up in. After Sonny’s imprisonment, the narrator feared that Sonny living with them in the housing project would cause him to fall back again and rely on drugs. This can be seen when the narrator states, “The moment Sonny and I started into the house I had the feeling that I was simply bringing him back into the danger he had almost died trying to escape” (Pg. 112). The narrator began to look out for Sonny and would worry that at any moment Sonny would use drugs again to escape reality. The narrator wanted to make sure that this time he would complete his promise to their mother and help Sonny into a better…

    • 1340 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Symbolism In Sonny's Blues
    • 1165 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Symbolism In Sonny's Blues

    A high school algebra teacher and a drug addict brother. Two different personalities who want nothing but a brotherly relationship. The unknown narrator cares about his brother Sonny but blames himself for who his brother has become. He wishes he could have protected his brother more and in doing so, prevent him his brother’s drug addiction. Sonny and his brother’s relationship is nowhere close to perfect but tries to prove that people can change. In Sonny’s Blue’s, Baldwin uses symbols of Jazz and Blues music, and colors of light and darkness to show their brotherly relationship and their capability of having a good relationship.…

    • 1165 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sonny's Blues
    • 793 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Sonny's Blues

    We will first look at the obvious characteristic of the use of music. The main character of “Sonny’s Blues” is Sonny, a jazz pianist and heroin addict. Sonny uses…

    • 793 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More