Sonny's Blues (short story)

"Sonny’s Blues" (1957) [cite book | title = Making Arguments about Literature | publisher = Bedford/St. Martins | date = 2005 | location = Boston, Massachusetts | pages = 553] is a short story by James Baldwin. It later appeared in the 1965 short story collection, "Going to Meet the Man".

Plot summary

The narrator reads about his brother's being caught in heroin-peddling action in the newspaper. He goes through his day's work as a teacher, and is met by a friend of his brother's, who says they will eventually release him but he will be alone. Though the narrator originally says that he does not want contact with Sonny, he does eventually send him a letter in rehab. He only decides to write the letter after his daughter Gracie died of polio. Sonny soon sends a letter back, promising to come out to Harlem and see him. After this, the two send letters back and forth while Sonny is still in rehab, and once he is released, he immediately goes to meet the narrator in Harlem.

The narrator then thinks back to his childhood in Harlem. His mother had told him to watch over his brother, as the latter shared the same sense of 'privacy' as his father, which meant that they couldn't make the grade unaided. She recounts the way his father's brother was killed by whites running over him with their car, and how she had deemed it taboo for the children.

After their mother's death, the narrator and Sonny sit alone in their kitchen where the narrator, remembering the guidance of his mother, attempts to ask his brother what he wants to do with his life. He tells him he wants to become a jazz musician: a piano player. A little later, it is found out that he has been skipping school and playing jazz instead.

As the story comes to an end, the narrator is taken to a jazz joint where Sonny is performing. Before they go, Sonny tells him that he has taken heroin in the past to help him "deal" with the hardships of life. The two brothers discuss the inseparable nature of life and suffering. Sonny uses in his music the experience of addiction to dig from his soul and create his art. Evidently, Sonny's performance holds the audience captive. His music evokes the narrator's epiphany that music can free them (blacks) from racial discrimination as seen in Harlem in the 1960s.

References to other works

*Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker are mentioned.
*the Bible

Major themes

Like much of Baldwin’s work, "Sonny’s Blues" explores questions of identity and the social context. The effects of racial discrimination are present, as well as the power of music.

References