Drug addiction and brotherly love. Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin.
Drug addiction and brotherly love. Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin.
African American literature frequently reveals the suffering of people who live in the world full of racism. The Western society used to put African American people in unfavorable conditions throughout the whole history and life in this condition may lead to tragic circumstances. The following essay concerns the story named “Sonny’s Blues” which was written by James Baldwin. It will discuss the main themes of the story which are struggling of people who live in the ghetto and suffering of people who cannot find their place in this life.
James Arthur Baldwin was an African-American novelist, playwright, essayist, and poet. He is widely known for his social criticism and exploration of sexual, racial and class issues of the Western societies. The story “Sonny’s Blues" is a part of the short story collection "Going to Meet the Man” which was first published in 1965. It is James Baldwin's most anthologized story and it drew the biggest attention among critics and caused a lot of discussions (Tackach, 2007).
"Sonny's Blues" achieved the status of the best Baldwin’s story. This is the story of the establishment of the relationship between two African American brothers. The first one is Sonny. He is addicted to drugs and likes to play music. The second one is the narrator who is also the central figure of the story. The narrator achieved relative success and he feels insecure about it because of the emotional risks of being Sonny's brother (Byerman, 1982).
"Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin was first published in 1957. This is a significant piece of the United States civil rights movement. It was published two years after Rosa Spark's protest to take the backseat on the bus, three years after Brown v.
Board of Education. It is also seven years from famous Martin Luther King’s speech (“I Have a Dream”) and six years before the Civil Rights Act signed by President Johnson.
Baldwin 's "Sonny's Blues" narrates the story of Sonny who lives in Harlem and plays jazz music. He gets addicted to heroin and as a result, he gets sentenced for using and selling drugs. After he is released from prison, he comes to his neighborhood to live with his brother and his family.
This is the story of the recovery of the brotherly love and dealing with anger towards each other. The central theme of the story is drug abuse, family relationships, the part of music and art in one's life and struggling of the ghetto inhabitants.
Identity and imprisonment
The question of man’s need to find identity in a hostile society is discussed in the story. There is also the theme of one’s self-understanding through artistic creation. This story narrates how people from the Harlem ghetto struggle to find their identity. Some people find their way out of poverty, but stay aware of the surrounding issues. Others get into severe drug addiction. Both brothers struggle to find their identity and submerge into middle-class conformity or use of heroin.
The both characters in “Sonny’s Blues” are imprisoned in a physical and emotional level. While Sonny is imprisoned physical due to his drug addiction and the sentence linked to it. The narrator is limited by his life in Harlem and housing project, which he actually hates.
Another prison in which the narrator remains trapped is his inability to express his emotions. He becomes motivated after the death of his daughter when he understands his need of changes. Both brothers are the victims and prisoners of circumstances.At the same time, both brothers are free in their own way. Unlike Sonny, the narrator is free from prison and drug addiction while his brother is free from housing projects. Sonny is also free to express his emotions through music in contradistinction to the narrator.
At the end of the story, Sonny’s brother comes to watch his performance at a nightclub. The nightclub is a dark place. It is situated on a short, dark street and there is no sufficient light inside the club. The darkness of the club may stand in the overwhelming darkness of Sonny's life and the life of the whole neighborhood or even the whole nation.
The narrator sees how talented his brother really is. More significantly, he comes to the understanding of the fact that music is an important part of Sonny’s life Music is the way Sonny continues to live. The narrator sends a drink to his brother as a symbol of that discovery. Sonny places it on the piano above him while playing it. The striking image of this reminds the narrator of the cup of trembling which is the reference to the Bible.
The part of the Book of Isaiah where the cup is mentioned is frequently interpreted as God’s forgiveness and humankind’s atonement. Sonny is a sinner as well as the people in the book of Isaiah.
He has been drinking from “the cup of trembling”. Just as people from the Biblical story Sonny has experienced God’s fury. However, now he is free from disaster. This glass standing on the piano serves as the aureole above Sonny’s head. His sins, suffering, and atonement made him look like a saint (Tackach, 2007).
Sonny's figure may also stand for another Biblical event. It concerns the Prodigal Son. Just as Sonny, the Prodigal Son left his home and wasted his life. After this, he returns home and understands his mistakes. This reference may stand for Sonny’s ability to fight his addiction and also for his brother’s forgiveness. He may have forgiven Sonny for his wasted life and troubles in which he brought his family.
Another way one may read the ending concerns Sonny’s shaking performance. Some aspects of his life may be shaking as well. He might be still vulnerable to drug use. Sonny tells the narrator that he’s still the same person deep inside. He blames Harlem for being the place that forced him to use drugs. Thus, the ending of “Sonny’s Blues” may be interpreted in many different ways as any good piece of literature.
Conclusion
As it may be summed up, “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin is a prominent story. It discusses a great variety of social issues such as drug addiction, life in the ghetto and, consequently, racism and segregation. It also reveals themes of family relationships and redemption. The story has a lot of symbols in it which refer to the Bible, especially at the ending. "Sonny's Blues" is a great example of African American literature as it reveals struggles which black people had to face in the middle of the 20th century.
Though drugs and alcohol may be considered as a main theme of the story, the reader may underline that “suffering” is another primary theme of the novel. Each and every character of the story faces certain issues, making their life unbearably difficult: poverty, extremely limited opportunities in their lives, grief and, of course, addiction.
References
Byerman, K. E. (1982). Words and Music: Narrative Ambiguity in" Sonny's Blues".
Studies in Short Fiction, 19(4), 367.
Tackach, J. (2007). The Biblical Foundation of James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues”.
Renascence, 59(2), 109-118.
