Power And Control In Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin

Sonny’s 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.

James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” is a short story depicting the relationship of two brothers, Sonny and an unnamed narrator. The story takes place in the project of Harlem, New York in the early 1950s. The narrator is a high school math teacher. His younger brother Sonny is a troubled musician struggling with his addiction to drugs. Before their mother dies, she asks the narrator promise to her he’ll look after his younger brother when she is gone. Throughout the story he struggles to keep this promise. At the end of the story Sonny invites the narrator to come to a music club and hear him play, he accepts the invite. Upon arrival the narrator realizes he is in Sonny’s world. Hearing Sonny play only one set he is in awe and sends his brother a drink of scotch with milk. Sonny accepts it and gives a nod of approval to his brother across the room. In that moment the narrator finally understands Sonny’s love for music. Baldwin’s “Sonny’s 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.

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.

How does Baldwin's real-life experience connect to his short story, "Sonny's Blues"? Read Baldwin's biography for more background on his life.

Using his writing as a form of self-expression, James Baldwin, an African American author, spent his life seeking to reveal the cruel reality of African American men. “Sonny Blues” Baldwin’s short fiction, was published in 1957 and takes place during the Harlem Renaissance. The literary work tells the story of Sonny and his brother (an unnamed narrator), as they seek to understand how to navigate the delicate and dangerous waters of familial relationships, their role in society and themselves. However, it is not until the end of the story when Sonny’s brother narrates the powerful, melodic sound of Sonny’s blues that he acknowledges his own pain. It is during his epiphany, when he finally begins to understand Sonny’s pain and the pain of every generation who came before him and after him. Baldwin’s acknowledgement as he declares, “I knew, no matter what anybody said, that the future I faced, was not the future they faced”

In the story, "Sonny's Blues," James Baldwin portrays Harlem as a place where people are no longer happy and have become trapped. Set after the depression and most likely during and/or after the second world war, Harlem was a time for African Americans to thrive in creative arts; but, it also gave way for poverty and a plethora of drug use. In "Sonny's Blues," the two brothers find their own ways to escape the despair of Harlem; but, through their liberation, they both ultimately complicate their relationship as brothers.

Racism, a very horrible thing, still exists in the world we live in and those who are black will find it very hard to succeed in life due to the constant discrimination and the bad influence near them. A very good example for this is a short story called “Sonny’s Blue.” A short story about a 2 African Americans and how one leads a successful life while the other falls to bad influence and ends up in jail Black people had to face lot of problems before the segregation was ended. . Many people think the past remains in the past and doesn't matter today; the terrible acts of segregation, exploitation, and discrimination that were once upheld by the government are irrelevant now just because the present day isn't like that anymore. But the truth is that racism still exists

This was to take up the responsibility that was given to him and to let his brother know that he has someone on his corner. “I was sitting in the living room in the dark, by myself, and I suddenly thought of Sonny. My trouble made his real” (Baldwin 378). This shows that the brother has grown sympathy for Sonny. This is because his daughter’s death caused him to really sit down and evaluate the series of events that has taken place in Sonny’s life. The narrator says that Sonny’s trouble became surreal when the narrator was put in the position of losing someone dear to

The differentiating pictures of light and dimness, which fill in as truth and the truth, are utilized to portray the battle amongst Sonny and the storyteller in James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues.”

James Baldwin is considered as the most well-known writer of the 20th century. His writings were mainly concerned by the problem of racism in America since he was one of the figures of the civil rights movement. “Sonny’s blues” is one of his greatest literary works, where we will notice how the persistent racism the writer experienced has had a great impact on his devoted writings.

The older brothers are conventionally the one to set an example for his younger siblings. In “Sonny’s Blues,” the narrator opts to join the army. Before he parted to go, he has a conversation with his mother about his younger brother Sonny. His mother tells him “If anything happens to me he ain’t going to have nobody to look out for him,” (Baldwin 370). Therefore, she asks him to make sure that his brother is okay. She enlightens him a story of about his fathers’ brother who was killed and how it affected his father, visually perceiving he couldn’t protect him from the lifestyle he was living. The narrator made a promise to his mother to keep his brother safe from that last time they spoke. He endeavors to tell his mother that Sonny had good sense, his mother continues to ask him to keep Sonny safe and to watch over him. The narrator admits he forgot his promise to his mother and neglects his brother like Cain neglected Abel (Tachack

In James Baldwin’s short story “Sonny’s Blues”, after the death of the narrator’s daughter; he decides to contact his estrange younger brother Sonny; a recovering heroin addict and musician who is in jail. After his release, the brothers reunite and readers learn the family history and experiences from the narrator’s perspective. Together, the brothers experience flow, a positive sensation developed by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentimihalyi, he described it as being immersed in an activity that results in other’s actions becoming irrelevant (Howell). Throughout the story, flow is continually encountered by Sonny and the narrator.

There is nothing quite like the bond shared by siblings. Especially by those of the same gender. Through horrific ups and downs, even situations that would tear even the best of friends apart, siblings somehow manage to always patch things up and continue on. A bond like such was present in James Baldwin’s Sonny’s Blues, which told the story of two brothers on a seemingly detrimental path towards complete destruction. But through it all, they managed to remain close and get over their differences in order to build a stronger relationship. While the story was full of emotional ups and downs, there was a certain point that confirmed to the reader the solidity of their relationship.

Writing content of fictional nature is aimed at providing the readers with an entertaining perspective that engages them. James Baldwin approaches his fictional work in Sonny’s Blues through a complex style that embraces similes and a conversational approach with the characters covered remaining objective while actively engaging the readers. In this literary analysis, his works in Sonny Blues is examined in detail.

Sonny’s Blues is a story written by James Baldwin a man who is known for his involvement in the civil rights movement in the 1960s. The setting of this book takes place in the 50s right after the Korean war when soldiers are coming home from the war. What strengthens this story more is Baldwin's background and his involvement in the Civil rights movement. Sonny’s blues follow from the perspective of Sonny’s older brother which is interesting considering that while Sonny is the main character, his brother is the narrator and also it doesn’t specify what Sonny’s older brother name is. This story puts the reader in the heart of Harlem a poor area. Sonny’s older brother who also lives in Harlem but lives in what he thinks is a better part of Harlem while he’s in a better area still Harlem. One important thing in this story is the