Theme Of Sympathy In James Baldwin's Sonny

The limits to the narrator’s empathy for Sonny’s concern about his future on pages 496-500 are very hard to overcome considering he has “never played the role of an older brother quite so seriously before.” The narrator doubts Sonny’s decision to play jazz piano or drums so much so that he actually gets angry. “I somehow had the feeling that being a drummer might be all right for other people, but not for my brother Sonny.” He is more uncertain than anything. It’s like when your friend tells you he wants to kidnap a giraffe from the zoo. He wants the best for Sonny, and he can’t even comprehend or imagine Sonny doing anything as outrageous or unstable as being a jazz pianist. “I sensed myself in the presence of something I didn’t really know how to handle,...” To be fair, this is a reasonable mindset to have considering the narrator has a steady paying job and is happy, things people usually want for their kids or siblings. “The chasm” that is the seven years’ difference between them acts as another boundary or limit that the narrator has to overcome. The most obvious aspect of this difference in ages is their tastes in

music. When Sonny tells the narrator that he wants to play piano, the first thing that pops into his head is classical music, something he grew up with. Moreover, when Sonny says jazz, the narrator immediately thinks of Louis Armstrong. Sonny actually gets angry and shouts “Bird! Charlie Parker!” If they can’t even agree on a type of music, how are they supposed to discuss what they want for their future? Earlier, I mentioned that the narrator had “never played the role of an older brother quite so seriously before.” That’s because he’s been playing the role of a father. It is obvious that the narrator takes after his father: he finishes school, gets a practical, steady-paying job, and raises a family. The narrator’s mindset of basically the American dream is the ideal and is, in his eyes, the only proper way to live. Sonny’s desire to play jazz “had never before sounded as heavy…” The narrator also says he puts the jazz musicians like Charlie Parker in a box his father called, “good time people.” He just blatantly goes with whatever his father believes without question. An older brother usually advises you, but doesn’t control you like a father will do from time-to-time.
Even with these incredibly difficult limits, he still overcomes them and achieves the connection he has always been looking for.

The narrator realizes he must become understanding of Sonny’s decisions instead of shaming them and disregarding them. The narrator, influenced by his father’s rugged, John Wayne-esque paternal method, can’t see what Sonny is thinking. The narrator recognizes the reason hs is worried about Sonny; he isn’t listening. Sonny has also always been shy, which really doesn’t help either of them. With a name like “Sonny’s Blues,” you would think the narrator knows a thing or two about listening. “And something told me I should curb my tongue, that Sonny was doing his best to talk, that I should listen.” His deafness to Sonny’s emotions and feelings makes incredibly uneasy; like he is on a balance beam with altitude

sickness.