Sonny never wanted drugs, he wanted. At the end, the narrator realizes why Sonny turned to drugs in the first place. If you are the original author of this essay and no longer wish to have it published on the It is at once painful and beautiful. Here, I was in Sonny's world. The Essay Writing ExpertsUS Essay Experts. Baldwin is considered an American activist, author, and play writer. Having been born and raised in New York's Harlem district, he was intimately familiar with the sights and sounds that appeared in his stories even though he'd put an entire ocean between them. In the end, though, what does Sonny teach the narrator? You can view our. Sonny is the main character in the story who has been through a lot in life. Abstract. The child knows that they won't talk any more because if he knows too much about what's happened to them, he'll know too much too soon, about what's going to happen to him. First published in 1957, Sonnys Blues, perhaps Baldwins best known and most widely anthologized short story, was later collected in the volume Going to Meet the Man (1965). While his brother feels like he could never truly explain anything to the narrator. ", "And I'm sick of the stink of these garbage cans! Retrieved from https://speedypaper.com/essays/close-reading-essay-sample-sonnys-blues-by-james-baldwin, Free essays can be submitted by anyone, so we do not vouch for their quality. I stood up and walked over to the window and looked down into the court-yard. In James Baldwin's short story "Sonny's Blues" there is a large array of symbolism. Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more! On any level." And he'd always been a good boy, he hadn't ever turned hard or evil or disrespectful. James Baldwin's Sonny Blues narrates the living conditions of African-Americans back in the 1950s. Thus, I have never experienced such. $2.99 $ 2. I finished reading last night the story goes straight to your heart, well written.. James Baldwin reminds us that childhood isn't rife with happiness like everyone else paints it, that--for most--life isn't a fairy-tale, but far from it. I would have given this story 5 stars, but the story had three too many "it's" (18 on the first page alone, and that drives me crazy!). Want 100 or more? The reader is taken through the pain, suffering, alienation, and anger that Sonny had to go through. The narrator was an algebra teacher. Close Reading Essay Sample: Sonny's Blues by James Baldwin. I was sitting in the living room in the dark, by myself, and I suddenly thought of Sonny. Then they all looked different there." For both men the blues are a means for expressing themselves. Ya'll rock!If you have any requests for short stories or poetry, please let me know in the comments. Ruby Washington / Archive Photos / Getty Images. It might be said, perhaps, that I had escaped, after all, I was a school teacher; or that Sonny had, he hadn't lived in Harlem for years. Find the quotes from Sonny's Blues you need to support your essay or refresh your memory. He had a background as a preacher, so a text from the Book . James Baldwin starts the story with the narrator reading the paper on the subway, in that paper, he sees devastating news. However, as the story progresses, the death of grace enables the narrator to come in touch with reality, which prompts him to contact his brother setting the journey to the path of redemption. I think he sort of looked down on me for that. . Sonny's Blues James Baldwin Full Audiobook Du Bon Mot 2.06K subscribers Subscribe 1.1K 99K views 2 years ago If this video helped you, please consider donating to my audiobook career so I. After a couple of weeks, Sonny invites the narrator to come to hear him play piano at a nightclub. Biography of Louis Armstrong, Expert Trumpeter and Entertainer, 'Down and Out in Paris and London' Study Guide, A Closer Look at "A Ghost Story" by Mark Twain, Biography of Adam Clayton Powell, Congressman and Activist, Ph.D., English, State University of New York at Albany. What I love most about this short story is how well this can be adapted into so many lives and how painful any kind of addiction can be and how tragic and life-changing it is to overcome it. The city of Harlem is of great importance because of the situation depicted in the 1950s whereby African Americans went through social issues such as poverty, drug abuse, insecurity, violence, conflicts, prostitution, and the rise of the music culture (Claborn 92). Subscribe now. James Baldwin spent most of his adult life living in France, but is widely recognized as an essentially American writer. Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Much of the story is told through a series of flashbacks as memory and family history are revealed to be central drivers of the trauma and alienation experienced by Sonny and the Narrator. Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER! Baldwin uses the blues to shape his short story, paralleling Sonny's musical use of the blues. The author wants the reader to believe that every individual can be redeemed and that the suffering that individuals undergo does not always last. If this video helped you, please consider donating to my audiobook career so I can continue producing audio to help students and readers. Baldwin is also known for exploring cultural and societal issues owing from his experiences as an African American in America during the period of widespread racism and segregation. Only contained the short story "Sonny's Blues". One boy was whistling a tune, at once very complicated and very simple, it seemed to be pouring out of him as though he were a bird, and it sounded very cool and moving through all that harsh, bright air, only just holding its own through all those other sounds. #32. One of the best stories I've ever read this year. SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. SpeedyPaper.com 2023 All rights reserved. The narrator gets lost and disconnects from the family at the beginning. I sat alone in the classroom a long time. Then he stood up and he told me not to worry about him any more in life, that he was dead as far as I was concerned. they were growing up with a rush and their heads bumped abruptly against the low ceiling of their actual possibilities. Neither did they dare to make a great scene about that piano because even they dimly sensed, as I sensed, from so many thousands of miles away that Sonny was at that piano playing for his life. Upon arrival the narrator realizes he is in Sonnys world. As said in the story Some escaped the trap, most didnt. The story is relevant to the world today as many of the youths go through the same situation as that of Sonny. Throughout his day, he cannot think of anything else. Is that what you mean? You can see the darkness growing against the windowpanes and you hear the street noises every now and again, or maybe the jangling beat of a tambourine from one of the churches close by, but it's real quiet in the room. The conflict was created because Sonny had to hide the fact that he was studying music. Sonny's Blues. ", I said: "But there's no way not to suffer-is there. It was not to be believed and I kept telling myself that, as I walked from the subway station to the high school. "I couldn't tell you when Mama died-but the reason I wanted to leave Harlem so bad was to get away from drugs. "I think people ought to do what they want to do, what else are they alive for? "That's right," he said quickly, "ain't nothing you can do. All they really knew were two darknesses, the darkness of their lives, which was now closing in on them, and the darkness of the movies, which had blinded them to that other darkness. Sonnys Blues by James Baldwin was a short story about the struggles of living in a tough, rundown neighborhood and looking to drugs as a way out. It's to stand it, to be able to make it at all. No plagiarism, guaranteed! It considers the possibility of . It makes you feel sort of warm and cool at the same time. "It's terrible sometimes, inside," he said, "that's what's the trouble. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. Through this, the author also goes ahead to explore the underlying theme of racism, which is evident in the text. I didn't want to believe that I'd ever see my brother going down, coming to nothing, all that light in his face gone out, in the condition I'd already seen so many others. The final scene moves me every single time that I reread it. Sonny, is the name the readers are captivated with. James Baldwins short story, Sonnys Blues, tells the story of two brothers living in 1950s Harlem. Sonnys ambition to become a jazz pianist points him into an opposite direction than his brother, and into a place where the common suffering is handled with drugs and music. Yes, I have read The Horse Dealer's Daughter which is also a good read, just like Sonny's Blue. The beat-looking grass lying around isn't enough to make their lives green, the hedges will never hold out the streets, and they know it. Sonny's Blues makes use of symbolism such as jazz and blues music, imagery such as ice and allegory. The news doesn't go well with Mabel resulting in an attempted suicide. Can't much help old Sonny no more, I guess, "I'm surprised at Sonny, though," he went on-he had a funny way of talking, he looked straight ahead as though he were talking to himself-"I thought Sonny was a smart boy, I thought he was too smart to get hung. For a moment nobody's talking, but every face looks darkening, like the sky outside. This also helps to show that as the main character of the story representing the life of an African American young man, Sonnys life is filled with the desire to make it in music, against societys backdrop which was highly associated with violence, drugs, and even insecurity. You're pretty goddamn smart, I bet.". But wonders can happen! A teacher passed through them every now and again, quickly, as though he or she couldn't wait to get out of that courtyard, to get those boys out of their sight and off their minds. Isn't it better, then, just to-take it?". I'm shocked. ThoughtCo, Feb. 16, 2021, thoughtco.com/analysis-sonnys-blues-by-james-baldwin-2990467. It was the beginning of the spring and the sap was rising in the boys. No one writes about music and solitude as Baldwin does. Baldwins Sonnys Blues displays the theme of brotherly love to illustrate, that love can keep a family together no matter how many fights or issues there may be. The narrator is a high school algebra teacher and he is a responsible husband and father. All work is written to order. This therefore makes the story not only interesting, but relevant in the 1950s society. The father dealt with horses before his death. "I ain't telling you all this," she said, "to make you scared or bitter or to make you hate nobody. The broken relationship between the brothers was on the mend due to the narrator. While watching his students, he finally started to imagine him as he was. "Some guys, you can tell from the way they play, they on something all the time. #35. Each of the arguments and fights between the two central figures of the story revolves around music and the culture of drug abuse, which in turn builds up tension between the two throughout the story, I gave up, I decided, if he didnt change his mind, that we could always talk about it later (Baldwin 32). #24. After Sonnys return from war, he met with his brother in New York. But this is also his story. James was born on the 2 nd of August 1924, in New York, in a place called Harlem. The light is a sign of redemption at the end of the sufferings. Yet, as the cab moved uptown through streets which seemed, with a rush, to darken with dark people, and as I covertly studied Sonny's face, it came to me that what we both were seeking through our separate cab windows was that part of ourselves which had been left behind. The time that the narrator has spent apart from Sonny, he was unsure of his appearance. This paper will analyze and explicate the text by Baldwin through the development and depiction of the theme of music presented in the short story. I started collecting my stuff. This clearly shows that Sonny is not interested in staying in Harlem due to the fact that his music career is under threat from his brother and other people who do not believe in him and music. Baldwin, James. It's a wonder it doesn't blow the avenue apart.". I read it, and I couldn't believe it, and I read it again. You'll be billed after your free trial ends. The narrator laments that many of them may already be using drugs, just as Sonny did, and that perhaps the drugs will do "more for them than algebra could." He wanted to be a jazz musician. Booklassic, 2015. The information collected is relevant as there exist relevant sources with a plethora of analysis done of the story with credible authors. The supportive older musician Creole "erupt[s] out of all that atmospheric lighting" and tells Sonny, "I been sitting right here waiting for you." The story seems at first to be about the ways that the narrator tries to help and instruct Sonny. those who got out always left something of themselves behind, as some animals amputate a leg and leave it in the trap (Baldwin pg. I wanted to write you many a time but I dug how much I must have hurt you and so I didn't write. I guess Sonny's Blues is OK if you like that sort of thing. Sustana, Catherine. The sense of prophecy here the certainty of "what's going to happen" shows a resignation to the inevitable. The fact that the two characters are always in constant conflict and tension makes the theme of music more evident in the story and a controversial topic. This is a really powerful book in which everyone should read. 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