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Harlem's Harsh Reality In Sonny Blues By James Baldwin

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Harlem’s Harsh Reality James Baldwin (1924-14987) was born and raised in Harlem, New York. At the age of fourteen he became a preacher following in the footsteps of his father. Baldwin became a writer after graduating from high school. Through his writing, he was awarded a grant that allowed him to move to Paris, where lived until demise. Baldwin’s writings focused mostly on religious awakening, black men living in a racist society and homosexuality. The title “Sonny Blues” can be interpreted as Sonny’s trouble or Sonny’s pain. Some people use hobbies or alcohol to deal with pain, Sonny used his music and heroin to escape the darkness in Harlem. In 1957, Harlem was known for poverty. Black men that were born and raised in Harlem during …show more content…

It can be argued that the music playing represented positive times in Sonny’s life when he was focused, not using drugs and when the music stopped it was negatives time and when drugs were being used. “They certainly couldn’t throw him out. 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."(454). The narrator also described how the barmaid was listening to the music and moving around the bar and then when the music stopped, the barmaid stopped. Once the music began playing again the barmaid started back working. Listening and playing music can be referred to as a soothing, relaxing time. Isabel described how Sonny was not of any trouble to them because he would go to school, eat dinner and spend the rest of his time playing the piano. When Sonny started listening to the record and then playing the piano illustrates that he was being going back and forth with his drugs use. It wasn’t until he started to just listening to the record that Isabel described Sonny as living with a monster. Sonny then left with his records and joined the navy. Joining the navy was Sonny’s way to escape Harlem and to stop using drugs the first

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