Reconciliation In Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin

“Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin, is a short story that takes place in Harlem and is not recounted by Sonny himself, but by his brother who is also the first person narrator. The story isn’t simply about Sonny’s music, but about how music was redemption for Sonny; it provides a way to establish an identity and find a place in society. Thus, a kind of reconciliation occurs among various conflicts, which is symbolized by the drink his brother sends to him at the end. Music is crucial to Sonny’s identity and that is because of the great jazz musicians of his era, such as Charlie Parker who inspired him to become a musician. While musicians like Charlie Parker helped give Sonny his influence, the world he grew up in gave him the fuel for a new

For Sonny, music served as a source of hope and motivation. It gave him a purpose in life and an optimistic outlook on his future. “I think people ought to do what they want to do, what else are they alive for” (pg.) Before wanting a career as a musician, Sonny’s heroin addiction was the only way he knew how to realive his everyday suffering. His discovery of his passion for music was the turning point in his life. By giving him the opprotunity to overcome the struggles that plagued the society he lived

Seeing Sonny's eternal eagerness to music, it is reasonable to assume that music is the only drug for Sonny, his only way of expressing his hopes and dulling his pain, incomparable even to his drug addiction. Sonny's devotion to Jazz is even able to change the upstanding mind of his brother by the end of the story. Comparing to his brother, who is afraid of the disorder and cannot face pain and uncertainty of the way Sonny lives, Sonny has a radically different perception of the world. Due to Sonny's artistic nature, tenacity and willing to struggle, his brother finally begins to understand not only the value of jazz and blues music, but also himself and his relationship with Sonny. In the club he starts to appreciate Sonny in a way he never did, as a "real musician" (p.107). Rather than trying to make Sonny fit into his world, he is now "in Sonny's world. Or, rather: his kingdom. Here it was not even a question that his veins bore royal blood"