Analysis of Sonnys Blues by James Baldwin Essay - 804 Words

Mollie Colon Comp 111 B04 Mrs. Canella In Class Essay 1 â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† by author James Baldwin tells the tale of two brothers; one good and one evil. The narrator paints the two brothers as â€Å"light† and â€Å"dark†. The author James Baldwin writes about his relationship with his brother Sonny whom was the â€Å"dark† brother. In essence, this story is about the struggle of two black brothers growing up in Harlem. This essay incorporates the struggles that Black men and women go through on a daily basis. Though both brothers were from the ghetto, the narrator seems to have assimilated into the larger society/culture; he was a school teacher doing generally well in what we call life. Sonny on the other hand turned to drugs (heroin) to escape from†¦show more content†¦All of these stories are brothers fighting with one another and each brother in all of three stories has the â€Å"good† and the â€Å"bad† qualities about them. Like previously stated, Sonny w as the good brother; so were the Prodigal son and Cain. Tackach also talked about the â€Å"cup of trembling† which was a Biblical term that symbolizes sinners that were now redeemed. When the narrator sends Sonny a drink at the end of the story, he claims that it is like the â€Å"cup of trembling†. This is another term taken from the Bible to symbolize the relationship between the two brothers. Tackach seems to use biographical and historical criticism when breaking down the story of â€Å"Sonny’s Blues†. Like Tackachs, Michael Clark’s criticism ‘Light and Darkness in â€Å"Sonny’s Blues†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ also uses the â€Å"light† and â€Å"darkness† to describe the story. The â€Å"light† being the ‘good’ and the â€Å"dark† being the ‘bad’ qualities. Unlike Tackachs, Clark uses these terms to refer to the emotions felt by Sonny when he was on drugs, thinking about his life or whe n playing his piano; his jazz music. In â€Å"Sonny’s Blues†, the narrator writes â€Å"I feel like a man who’s been trying to climb up out of some deep, real deep and funky hole and just saw the sun up there, outside. I got to get outside.† Clark uses the â€Å"funky hole† to describe the darkness and â€Å"the sun† to describe the light. To Clark, the whole story is about how Sonny feels and how his music portrays his emotions, his despair and finally his joy. I agree withShow MoreRelated Analysis of Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin Essay462 Words   |  2 PagesAnalysis of Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin In the story of â€Å"Sonny’s Blues,† by Baldwin, the beginning of the story finds Sonny’s brother on his way to work reading about Sonny’s predicament. Sonny got arrested for â€Å"peddling and using heroin.† He didn’t want to believe that his brother was in trouble. While teaching his algebra class he was thinking about the past. He remembered when he first suspected his Sonny of using Heroin. He was always under the impression that Sonny was, â€Å"wild, but heRead MoreAnalysis Of Sonnys Blues By James Baldwin956 Words   |  4 PagesJames Baldwin was born on August 2, 1924, to a single mother in Harlem. After his mother married his stepfather David Baldwin, who was a Baptist minister, he was adopted by him. Growing up, he didn’t feel as if he was accepted the way his other siblings were, though. In some of Baldwin stories, they often have a similar story line where it seems he is the less favored child over everyone else. In â⠂¬Å"Sonny’s Blues,† a similar scenario is presented in some ways. While the unnamed narrator often speaksRead MoreAnalysis Of Sonnys Blues By James Baldwin1139 Words   |  5 PagesKelly J. Warner Professor Carol Wittig EN 234 – Introduction to Fiction 31 August 2017 A Second Chance The story â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† by James Baldwin hits home to my own personal life. In the story, a man learns that his brother is in jail and he is hooked on drugs. This story relates to my life because I have experienced something similar. Not only do I think that it can relate to my life, but so many other people who are struggling with drug and alcohol addiction. My father passed away due to a drugRead MoreAnalysis Of Sonnys Blues By James Baldwin1293 Words   |  6 PagesIn the story â€Å"Sonny’s Blues†, written by James Baldwin, the narrator and his younger brother, Sonny, interact with musical elements that serve as a redemption for Sonny. Baldwin believes in the power of music to rescue or minimize the suffering that people go through. Both characters isolate themselves with several instances of music and issue their reactions toward it. Sonny is an uprising musician that wants to portray his life by playing the piano. This story is about Sonnyâ €™s Blues. His sadnessRead More##ing Suffering Through Music : An Analysis Of Sonnys Blues By James Baldwin1167 Words   |  5 PagesJameka Gaston Dr. Basaninyenzi English 102 11/29/17 Expressing Suffering through Music: An Analysis of â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† Written in 1957 by James Baldwin, â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† is a short story where music plays a dominant role in defining characters, specifically Sonny. The story has three main topics of discussion, family struggles, drug addiction and most importantly music. In the beginning Sonny’s older brother, a high school algebra teacher. He reads about him being arrested for selling heroin.Read More Mending the Relationship of Two Brothers in James Baldwins Sonnys Blues1292 Words   |  6 PagesMending the Relationship of Two Brothers in James Baldwins Sonnys Blues According to Liukkonen, James Baldwin is well known for his novels on sexual and personal identity, and sharp essays on civil-rights struggle in the United States. Sonnys Blues is no exception to this. The story takes place in Harlem, New York in the 1950s and tells of the relationship between two brothers. The older brother, who is the narrator and a participant in the novel, remains unnamed throughout the storyRead MoreLiterary Analysis of â€Å"Sweat† and â€Å"Sonny’s Blues†1549 Words   |  7 PagesLiterary Analysis of â€Å"Sweat† and â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† Amelia Williams ENG125: Introduction to Literature Instructor: Deborah Zeringue December 22, 2014 As living and breathing human beings people are bound to experience some type of conflict. Conflict can be present within a person, between two people, between a person and forces of nature, and even between a person and their society. Conflict is defined as the struggle that shapes the plot in a story (Clugston, 2014, ch.4sect.1 para.4). When readingRead MoreJames Baldwin s Reality Through Sonny1253 Words   |  6 Pages James Baldwin’s Reality through Sonny Sonny’s Blues digs deeply into the â€Å"Negro American† during Civil Rights and Jim Crow Era’s. Set in Harlem, New York in the 1950’s. James Baldwin’s stories give insight based on events of his culture and this becomes apparent through the analysis of the characters in Sonny’s Blues. James Baldwin uses his talents to paint a vivid picture of African American life through a fictional story of two brothers who choseRead MoreAnalysis Of Sonny s Blues By John M. Lee2198 Words   |  9 PagesInstructor: Dr. Kim Course: English 132 Sonny’s Blues is one of the famous stories expressing the deplorable conditions the Black community found themselves in during the struggle against racial segregation in the American history. The analysis given by John M. Reilley is to draw the attention of the readers and audience on the image of the black community, basically as expressed by Sonny’s Blues as a metaphor. Following the publication of Sonny’s Blues, James Baldwin realized he had a role in the AfricanRead MoreSetting Analysis : Sonny s Blues 921 Words   |  4 PagesSetting Analysis of the Nightclub in â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† â€Å"Sonny’s Blues,† which is an outstanding short story by James Baldwin, describes many obstacles in lifestyles and relationships of African-Americans in the influential time of post Harlem Renaissance and discrimination in the 1950s. In the end of the story, the nightclub setting is the most important and emotional turning point of the brotherhood between narrator and his young brother, Sonny. After many conflicts and arguments about their different