Christopher Bonilla Angela F.

Jacobs ENC-1102 17 April 2014 Sonnys Blues Sonnys Blues, by James Baldwin is about a character, named Sonny, who gets arrested for the use and selling of Heroin. This short story concentrates mostly of how the family reacts after Sonny gets released from prison. Sonny moves in with his brother, also known as the narrator, and there are many problems or struggles that pertain to these two. Sonny has impacted many characters because of his heroin addiction which contributes to numerous themes and symbols that this short story has to offer. Sonny is the character most important in this short story. He is a person who loves to play jazz music, but he is also struggling with life choices. To avoid these choices, he believes in using heroin to escape from the problems that he has to deal with. On top of that, he sells heroin to others. As a result, Sonny gets caught and sent to prison for the possession of drugs. In the quote, I was scared, scared for Sonny (Baldwin, 17), explains how the narrator reacts when he first hears the news about Sonny. He was not only scared about Sonny being sent to prison, but scared of how he was going to deal with his problems in the future. As the story continues, Sonny gets help by going to rehab and tries to get away from his addiction. He is the type of person who channels everything good that he is into his Jazz music that he plays with his band. It is a way for him to express who he truly is in the inside. Sonnys brother, also known as the narrator of this story, is a high school algebra

teacher who is the first to know about Sonnys incident. He is the type of person who wants to avoid all the trouble and drama of the streets in Harlem and wants to concentrate on work and paying his bills. When he hears about Sonnys incident he feels angry and upset even though he hasnt kept much contact with him. He decides to help out Sonny once he gets out of prison, but he manages to take care of him even though he feels indignant towards the poor choices his brother has made. It is even hard the narrator to be able to trust Sonny to think that he would not go back to his old ways. For example, the narrator wants to check Sonnys things when he gets to his house to be sure that he is not carrying any more drugs. The problems that these two face are different, but in the end the trust can be rebuilt. Sonnys mom is a character who dies before the story started, but Sonny and his brother recall events with her. When she died, she gave the narrator full care for his brother. Sonnys mom says, You got to hold on to your brother, ( Baldwin, 16) which opens up the narrators mind to help Sonny out with his drug problem. At this moment, he realizes that his brother is concentrating more with his jazz band and it results with the narrator just drifting apart with his brother. Her life goal was to protect her boys from life choices but, also from the streets of Harlem.

Creole is a very important character in this story for Sonny. He is the bass player who leads the jazz band. He wants to teach Sonny how he can use his musical talent towards good things for the future, instead of a reminder to go back to his drug use. He symbolizes a angel-like figure because he believes he can help Sonny through his rough time and overcome the issues he is facing. He also wants to convince Sonnys brother

that jazz music is a important part of Sonnys life.

There are many key symbols in the story, but one of the most important ones is the jazz music. For it is the inheritance of jazz and the blues that is for Sonny a means for release from the nausea and the absurdity of being in the world (Mcparland, 131), focuses on the willingness to express who he really is and to show that he can live freely without any disturbances. For example, Sonny feels that no one understand him and therefor he feels alone in the streets of Harlem. There is also the lack of connection that he fails to have with his brother and even worse when Sonny gets into trouble. In the end, his jazz music helps create a bond stronger than ever that will finally make the narrator understand the reason why Sonny plays his music. A major theme in this story is the feeling of suffering. Suffering in the means of going through pain of a loved one or undergoing stress. In the quote, The narrator fears that Sonnys lifestyle will kill him and seeks to reduce his suffering ( Champion, 4), it explains how the narrator still cares for his brother and wishes to change the ways Sonny is dealing with his choices. These two brothers have a bond in which develops for the better as the story continues. The main conflict these brothers have is whether to accept the suffering as part of life or whether to avoid it by taking specific measures. The music that Sonny plays can symbolize the suffering that he is trying to avoid and therefor plays a specific tone to it. As his emotions change, so does his music.

Another major theme is the fact of surviving in these dangerous streets. When speaking of surviving, racism plays an important role. In the quote, The death of

Sonnys uncle illustrates the sort of hate crimes that were widespread, and frequently committed without consequence (Goldman, 249), which briefly the describes the world that these characters have to deal with. In Harlem, it is packed with drugs and violence so, these characters not only have to deal with their own problems, but they have to deal with the problems in the streets of Harlem. The narrator wishes to help Sonny survive his problems by showing him the right way from redemption. In conclusion, Sonny has made a difference when dealing with his family members. He copes with his problems by using Heroin and was caught with the possession of it and as a result was sent to jail. His brother, the narrator, was devastated and decided to help him out with his issues. Throughout the story, these brothers face many conflicts such as racism, suffering in Harlem, mothers death, and drugs. This story effectively shows how these two face their problems and deal with it straightforward.

Work Cited
Donald C. Murray, James Baldwins Sonnys Blues: Complicated and Simple Studies in Short Fiction, 14 (1977), 353-357. James Baldwin. Sonnys BluesThe Norton Introduction to Literature. 11thed. Ed. Kelly J. Mays. New York: Norton, 2012. 95-118. Print Laurie Champion, Literary Contexts in Short Stories: James Baldwins Sonnys Blues.Literary Contexts in Poetry and Short Stories; 2006. P1-1. Robert P. Mcparland, To the Deep Water: James Baldwins Sonnys Blues (New York Library of America) p.861-63 Suzy Bernstein Goldman, James Baldwins Sonnys Blues : A Message in Music, in Negro American Literature Forum, Vol. 8, no. 3, Fall, 1974, pp. 231-3.