Light And Dark Symbolism In Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin

James Baldwin experienced two decades of successful writings in the mid-twentieth century, a time when racial tensions were high in the United States. Born in Harlem, Baldwin lived and adapted to the world of social and racial unrest; though most of us cannot understand these times, Baldwin shared through his writings the hardships many families endured. Baldwin reflects on this difficult time by writing a story titled “Sonny’s Blues”. This story is about two black brothers who are tormented with daily life and struggle to overcome the hopeless confines of the city. In this essay, I will discuss how poverty, drugs, prisons and death contribute to the inescapable boundaries of suffering.

Blues of hopes engages mainly with James Baldwin’s short story Sonny's Blues. In Sonny's Blues, the author depicts essentially two characters, two brothers: the first one who gets lost in his illusion of relative social success and the other, who is trying to find his way outside the box. Like Sonny's Blues, Blues of Hope tries to engage the reader in the risky attempt the find, not only another way, but also a better way outside our common social life, our traditional perception of life and our social success standard.

Demonstrating his love for music, it’s the only thing holding him together as his only purpose in life is creating music because his life in prison has changed him and he is unwilling to chase after any other goals besides music. While also displaying the literary device metaphor because the words, “shaken to pieces,” is an implicit comparison between each other. All in all, James Baldwin also develops metaphors throughout the duration of “Sonny’s Blues,” to tie in with his theme of suffering can lead to creation.

“Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin is a short story that has many significant parts to it. The narrator gives readers insight on how his relationship with his brother was like, how his brother was suffering from a heroin addiction. The narrator also gives the readers insight on his own problems. Due to Sonny’s heroin addiction, he suffered quite a lot as what was implied in the story. The narrator implies and describes so many themes in this short story. The main themes in this story is suffering, anger and isolation.

When reading a fiction, not only the plot, but also the narrator and the point of view are important to readers in order to understand the story. Stories can be told in a various angle of vision or in one perspective, depending on which person point of view. “A story is said to be from a character’s point of view, or a character is said to be a focal or focalizing character” (Norton, 174). Readers sometimes feel they are overhearing the narrator’s thoughts because they follow along the narrator’s thoughts, actions, and feelings. Both Sonny’s Blues and the Yellow paper use first person narration. However, the way James Baldwin used first person point of view in Sonny’s Blues and the style Charlotte Perkins Stetson used the first person narration for the Yellow Wallpaper are somewhat different. Baldwin uses Sonny’s brother as a narrator because Sonny is an unreliable character due to his addiction to drugs. However, Stetson chooses Jane Doe, who is considered unreliable, because she goes insane as the story progresses. thesis!!!!

The negativity of light and darkness in Sonny’s Blues magnifies the suffering in the community of Harlem and reveals the how everyone, child and adult are touched by the suffering. While the narrator was reminiscing about his mother and family when they used to sit in the living room, he noticed the darkness in the night. He saw the darkness fill the silence and hoped that he won’t be touched by darkness one day (19). Baldwin wrote, “Light fills the room, the child is filled with darkness, He knows that every time this happens he’s moved just a little closer to that darkness outside” (19). The light revealed the suffering in Harlem to the child which in turn filled the child with darkness and pain. They can’t escape Harlem because of racism,

When writing a story, of any length, the most valuable part of the story are the characters. They drive the narrative and relate the story to a reader. Beyond the characters however, their relationships to others are perhaps even more important. Baldwin takes the relationship between two brothers, a relationship that is often rife with disagreements and strife, and elevates the story by relating the relationship to the struggle of people with different values. By bringing in the human aspect of a sibling relationship, he is able to voice his view on people of different vocational values. Although people might have the same roots, they can be very different people who see the world through a different lens. There is also a sense of light and darkness throughout every aspect of a person’s life which people will be confronted with and have to make a decision where they will go. It is ultimately up to the person and the decisions they make which lead them either to the light or the dark. In James Baldwin’s short story, “Sonny’s Blues” the relationship between two brothers with opposite vocations in life come together once again to begin understanding one another.

In “Sonny’s Blues,” James Baldwin wrote a different type coming of age story. At the end of the story the narrator finally develops a new understanding for his brother, and forgives him.

“Sonny’s Blues,” written by James Baldwin discusses conflicts between two brothers in hopes of mending their relationship. “Sonny’s Blues” begins with the unnamed narrator reading a piece of paper with information regarding the trouble his brother Sonny has gotten himself into. The narrator has not been communicating with his brother during this period, but after the death of his two-year-old daughter Grace, he writes Sonny a letter. Once Sonny has been released, he goes back to Harlem to live with the narrator, and the narrator forces him into staying with his fiancé Isabel and her family because he believes Sonny deserves the opportunity to receive an education. Sonny makes it known to the narrator that he does not want to go back to school

In modern-day life people often have their ups and downs of having power and losing it all. This is a key element in life, which is why many art forms choose to use it as their basis of writing. Literature often shows power and powerlessness through heroes and villains. However, author James Baldwin brings the battle of having and losing power through ordinary people’s life experiences. In the short story, Sonny’s Blues, written by James Baldwin examines the idea of how the desire to have power or control leads to having no power at all through the plot, characters, and setting.

Even though one knows what they want to communicate-they still have problems getting it out. Throughout the story of Sonny’s Blues, it shows that people should learn to express themselves clearly or befall many difficulties in their life. This can relate to the reader 's own experiences of trying to express themselves and having difficulties when they cannot. This can be shown through Sonny 's youth as a teen when he tries to explain himself. This is also shown through the brother 's actions between one another. Throughout the story it reveals how self-expression is difficult for people and can lead to trouble and/or miscommunication which can cause problems. Such as misunderstanding when someone wants to say something.

Throughout the story of “Sonny’s Blues”, James Baldwin develops a theme that can still be related with today. The misunderstanding and lack of knowledge that the narrator experiences, about his brother, is something that many today feel, as their own family members are being prosecuted and they do not comprehend why. Within the story, there are numerous subtle ideas that are used to progress the story and theme along to the ending that is given. James Baldwin advances the theme of his story, that misfortune and anguish can be renovated into a unique art form, using characterizations, settings, and symbolisms.

The short story “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin is about a young man whom is struggling in life. The narrator, who is unnamed throughout the story, and Sonny’s older brother tells the readers in depth about his brothers battle. In the late 1900s during poverty and systematic oppression, many African Americans were subjected to one specific area in modern day known as Harlem. Not only is story about discrimination African Americans faced, it is about two brothers gaining a better understanding on each others lives. Baldwin demonstrates that acceptance over a family member’s decisions can strengthen the bond between two estranged brothers.

In the end, he realizes that Sonny always wanted to play music and he wondered what happened during the time they were separated. As he listened to sonny’s music and the way sonny played, it filled in the missing time Sonny’s gone and what his addiction to heroin did to him all those years. He said “Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at last, that he could help us to be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we did. Yet, there was no battle in his face now, I heard what he had gone through, and would continue to go through until he came to rest in earth” (117). If Baldwin didn’t use family influences to tell the story, we never could conclude the brother ever being able to understand the trials, pain, and how serious heroin addiction was for

In fiction, the narrator controls how the audience connects to and perceives the various characters in a story. A good author can manipulate the narration to connect the audience to certain characters and deepen the reader’s understanding of their conflicts. In “Previous Condition” and “Sonny’s Blues,” James Baldwin illustrates themes of loneliness and isolation in the pursuit of finding a space that feels like home. Although this theme is clear in both stories, Baldwin is able to portray it very differently in each story through the relationship he allows the reader to the characters struggling with these feelings. While “Previous Condition” provides a more intimate relationship to the narrator, “Sonny’s Blues” is able to deliver an additional level of understanding by telling the story through Sonny’s brother, therefore disconnecting the reader in a way that forces him or her to share the characters’ feelings of isolation and confusion.