Literary Analysis Essay on Sonny's Blues

Introduction

Written by James Baldwin, Sonny's Blue short story is about brotherly love and conflict that arises between two brothers. In addition to that, the story describes the impacts of individual choices. The narrator in the short story describes the relationship with his brother Sonny in the first person. The story begins when the narrower learns that his brother has been arrested in drug bust. The information disturbs the narrator, who is a teacher. He starts to recall their lives as children and what made his brother Sonny to change that much. Following the death of their parents, the narrator had the responsibility of taking care of his brother Sonny. As time progressed, the narrator lost control of his brother, and this made Sonny turn into drugs (Baldwin 26). The reason why Sonny did this was for solace. Living with his brother for a short period Sonny can teach himself how to play the piano. He can join Navy bit later, as a result of his addiction, he can seek the required medical attention. In the final section of the story. Sonny host a show and the narrator purposes to attend. Listening to Sonny's blues, the narrator learns that the music describes the pain that his brother has and the pain of the world. He can understand, through music, the nature of the pain and suffering his brother is going through. The use of symbolism such as Jazz music, and theme such as the role of drug and music are critical issues in the short story Sonny's Blue as employed to illustrate brotherly love and consequences of individual choices.

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Characters Analysis

Sonny is the most significant character in this story. Through his life and life choices, the author has brought out various important themes. The author's portrayal of the character shows his hopelessness and why he got himself into drug use. However, readers may feel that there is no justification for such action. As much as we sympathize with the character, we realize that he had better options considering how his brother grew up in the same neighborhood and turned out alright. However, Sonny can also be seen as a hero of the story depending on how one reads it. His turn around from heroin addiction is a commendable accomplishment and need to be applauded. Therefore, we realize that the character Sonny can be a hero, tragic character or even an antihero in different phases of the story as presented by Baldwin (33). He can fit in more than one role within the story.

Narrator, who happens to be Sonny's brother and person narrating the story is an important character through whom we get to know about Sonny's life and his own life. He enlightens us on the effects of drugs on the user and those around the user and the motivation for musicians. It is vital to get his view since Sonny himself would be an unreliable source. The narrator acts as a voice of reason trying to bring Sonny back into the light. He shows that he has the best interest of Sonny at heart. However being human, the narrator also has faults such as abandoning Sonny in times when he was needed the most. Perhaps the narrator is too conservative and fails to acknowledge Sonny's passion for jazz music and instead tries to direct him away from it. However, the narrator recognizes when makes mistakes and rectifies them. This dynamism makes the character relatable to the readers.

Creole only appears towards the tail end of the story, and only a little is known about the character. However, his importance cannot be underestimated as he is the one that welcomes Sonny back into the Jazz music, offering guidance in performance and helps him grow into who he wants to be. The character is a musical father figure for Sonny, and with his experience, he can counsel him accordingly. The character shows wisdom and acts as a teacher to Sonny as well as the narrator in some aspects.

Isabel and Grace are minor characters in the short story. Although little is known about these characters, we use their presence to recognize the importance of family to the story presented by Baldwin (35). They help develop the theme of family and its importance in stabilizing. Isabel id the wife to the narrator of the story she ensures both the narrator and his brother, Sonny feel comfortable when Sonny moves back in. She shows the necessary support in Sonny's bid to recover from drug addiction. Grace is the daughter to the narrator and his wife Isabel who loses her life to polio.

Themes Evaluation

Drug abuse is the main theme described in the short story. In Sonny's Blues, drugs play a central role in their impact on the life of the users and those who care about them. We see heroin leaving utter destruction of families, talents and even lives. For the characters, it offers them a temporary escape from mental stress and the environment that is oppressive to them. The author represents drug addiction as horrible and destructive.

The theme of conflict is also described in details in the short story. The author brings in a family conflict between the narrator and Sonny presented by Baldwin (36). Although Sonny aspires to be a piano jazz player, the narrator views this negatively and tries discouraging him. The two brothers have a problem in communication and agreement, but on getting out of prison, the narrator takes him in.

Role of Music and Drugs

The author of this story has placed music as a very important aspect of this story. The title of the story "Sonny's Blues" implies a type of music and the story ends with music. Ever since he was young Sonny has had aspirations of being a musician, something which his brother disagrees with. Sonny sees himself as a contemporary musician of his era who is not bound by rules. presented by Baldwin (38) He wants to be a voice of the new generation. For him, the world has changed from the times of his brother's youth, and now new reality needs to be created.

Sonny's music is a radical form of jazz which advocates for the freedom to leave live freely. Many of the musicians of the era hailed the new version, Bebop, as it is popularly known, as a breakthrough to defying norms and coming up with original music. It is noteworthy that Sonny's romanticism with the music has a lot to do with his involvement in drugs. His all-time hero in the music is Charlie Parker who died early in his life and was a drug addict. In the end, the narrator watches as Sonny plays and his mind takes him back to the revival songs witnessed earlier, and he realizes that music can bring redemption. The author shows that the purpose of playing the music, for Sonny, is to escape difficulties and take the mind out of the complexities of new life.

Symbols and Dialogue

Light and darkness: the light was a description of the Sonny when he was young and before he was overcome by darkness on the death of his mother. The light with all the best version of Sonny when he was more religious it taken over by darkness. Darkness is seen to have engulfed all the characters as we proceed with the story with Sonny himself ending up in prison for using of drugs and peddling. Darkness symbolizes the sad turn of events and the fact that the characters are unable to find the light which is the best version of themselves. Light is a representation of hope in the light. However, it can also be interpreted from a religious point of view to represent life's best elements and salvation. If a person is living in the light, then the person lives a moral life. For those living in darkness are threatened by various events. It represents facing difficulties in personal and social life. presented by Baldwin (36) The characters in the story are aware of the darkness and are actively seeking the light. Light brings salvation and love whereas darkness is a threat to the same.

Ice: "A great block of Ice settled in my belly and kept melting there all day long, while I taught my classes algebra. It was a special kind of ice. It kept melting..." the reference to ice in this story is used as a symbolism for pain which does not go away (Albert 179). It allows the reader to feel the pain the narrator was going through. The application of dialogues like this help in conveying the emotional message to the reader. It describes how the feeling is as sharp as ice and not able to be rid of it. The symbolism is also used as the narrator, and his brother travels in a cab through New York City into Harlem.

Works Cited

Baldwin, James. Sonny's Blues. Southwest Career and Technical Academy. Web. 14 October 2018. PDF File.http://swcta.net/moore/files/2012/02/sonnysblues.pdf.

Albert, Richard N. "The Jazz-Blues Motif in James Baldwin's Sonny's Blues". Jstor. College Literature, Vol. 11, No. 2 (Spring, 1984), pp. 178-185. Web. 13 July 2013. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25111592