Sonny's Blues Literary Analysis
An Analysis of the Theme of Suffering in “Sonny’s Blues”
The brief plot of “Sonny’s Blues” meticulously examines two adult brothers and their divergent approaches to coping with their depressing lives in the dilapidated, drug-ridden streets of Harlem. James Baldwin’s attempt at demonstrating his concern with families, roots, and identity is quite apparent, but the theme of suffering is most prominent. He expresses his thoughts on this subject through his distinctive and eloquent prose which accommodates an abundant use of rhetorical devices and symbols.
The largest and most noticeable devices are his allusions to biblical imagery. In one scene, the unnamed narrator describes the housing projects as “rocks in the middle of a boiling sea.” Such an apocalyptic image invokes a sense of hell on earth and the steadfast decline of Harlem. The rocks, which represent the projects, are massive, yet surrounded by incessant misery. Later, directly preceding Sonny’s performance, the author juxtaposes both light and darkness. For instance, he says “…I had the feeling that they, nevertheless, were …show more content…
These offer the reader an opportunity to understand or become closer to Sonny. This prepares us to sympathize and perhaps celebrate with Sonny as the story unfolds. Also embedded within the story are rhetorical questions and anaphora. In the conversation about unavoidable suffering in life, for example, the narrator says, “I wanted to talk about will power and how life could be – well, beautiful. I wanted to say that it was all within; but was it?” The repetition of the word “wanted” demonstrates an obvious tension within the older brother, a want to provide desperately needed answers, a want to shield from his sibling the true bitterness and unforgiving nature of life. The fact that they appear in rhetorical questions further develops the clear guilt the narrator
The brief plot of “Sonny’s Blues” meticulously examines two adult brothers and their divergent approaches to coping with their depressing lives in the dilapidated, drug-ridden streets of Harlem. James Baldwin’s attempt at demonstrating his concern with families, roots, and identity is quite apparent, but the theme of suffering is most prominent. He expresses his thoughts on this subject through his distinctive and eloquent prose which accommodates an abundant use of rhetorical devices and symbols.
The largest and most noticeable devices are his allusions to biblical imagery. In one scene, the unnamed narrator describes the housing projects as “rocks in the middle of a boiling sea.” Such an apocalyptic image invokes a sense of hell on earth and the steadfast decline of Harlem. The rocks, which represent the projects, are massive, yet surrounded by incessant misery. Later, directly preceding Sonny’s performance, the author juxtaposes both light and darkness. For instance, he says “…I had the feeling that they, nevertheless, were …show more content…
These offer the reader an opportunity to understand or become closer to Sonny. This prepares us to sympathize and perhaps celebrate with Sonny as the story unfolds. Also embedded within the story are rhetorical questions and anaphora. In the conversation about unavoidable suffering in life, for example, the narrator says, “I wanted to talk about will power and how life could be – well, beautiful. I wanted to say that it was all within; but was it?” The repetition of the word “wanted” demonstrates an obvious tension within the older brother, a want to provide desperately needed answers, a want to shield from his sibling the true bitterness and unforgiving nature of life. The fact that they appear in rhetorical questions further develops the clear guilt the narrator