Sonny Blue's Analysis

James Baldwin, “Sonny Blue’s”, reflects on the relationship between Sonny and the narrator regarding human condition. During the early 1950s, this story takes place in Harlem. Sonny Blue’s is spoken from a point of view in first person by the unnamed narrator. The unnamed narrator of Sonny Blue’s is the brother of Sonny. The narrator, who is married, having two children, and maintains a decent job as a teacher, succeeds greatly in his community. The relator lives continuously aware of the dark, hazardous side of Harlem. He carefully observes the crimes, drug deals, and poverties that outbreak in his community. Preventing from being involved in the community’s problems, he allocates himself from them and neglects any calamities from impacting him emotionally. The

The narrator realizes that conditions will never stay the same between them both. For example, “When she was singing before, “said Sonny, abruptly, “her voice reminded me for a minute of what heroin feels like sometimes--- when it’s in your veins. It makes you feel sort of warm and cool at the same time. “It makes you feel---in control. Sometimes you’ve got to have that feeling.” This quote depicts the struggle on what Sonny was going through. Sonny felt that his older brother was never available when he needed help the most. As Sonny experiences going through the motions under the influence of heroin, he suffers loneliness, and tries to escape from his surroundings by playing music. Not only did music played a role, Sonny had to deal with his distresses that affected him through many occasions. In his childhood experiences, his family was never a place where he could depend on. For example, at a young age, Sonny had lost both parents, which caused his pains to be confined inside, not exposing affection towards others. Born in Harlem, Sonny felt that he did not belong in the community, which became a toil for him to attain music