Thesis For Sonny's Blues

Environments can influence life choices, actions, emotions, along with much more. Those influences can be positive or negative. Two people can grow up in the same environment but can prevail in different ways. James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” takes place in Harlem, NY. The short story shows the narrator, who remains nameless, experiencing numerous of emotional struggles. It is an unquestionably poignant story, presenting countless endeavors. In specific, the narrator’s brother suffers from drug addiction, there multiple family deaths, as well as deteriorating relationships. Though there are troubling times, “Sonny’s Blues” is a genuinely heartwarming story.

The story begins with the narrator on the subway heading to work. He works as

an algebra teacher at his former high school. While on the subway he is reading the morning paper where is he presented with his brother’s name. Sonny, who is the narrator’s younger brother, is arrested the night before for using and selling heroin. “A great block of ice got settled in my belly and kept melting there slowly all day long” (74), is how the narrator explained his emotional state. The brothers have not spoken in over a year. Several conditions contribute to the brothers separating, such as their age gap, their parents’ death, also Sonny’s drug addiction. The news about Sonny is mortifying, confusing, upsetting, furthermore feels responsible for what has taken place.
The feelings the narrator felt earlier never left throughout the day. At the end of the workday, one of Sonny’s friends is standing around outside. He doesn’t care too much for the friend of Sonny but finds himself occasionally conversing with him and gives him money whenever the friend asks. The two spoke about Sonny’s name in the paper and his decisions, that “block of ice” the narrator described earlier is back and has worsened. The friend, who also remains nameless, goes to say, “…when I saw the paper this morning, the first thing I asked myself was if I had anything to do with it. I felt sort of responsible” (76). Although there is no doubt there are various reasons Sonny began using heroin, at the time he should have been mature enough to conceive the right decision.
Suddenly, the narrator’s three-year-old daughter, Grace, dies from polio. This is the turning point in the story. Currently, Sonny is in rehab and the brothers still have not spoken for some time. Grace’s death forces the narrator to write Sonny. Sonny is eventually released and goes to live with his brother, his wife, Isabel, and their two sons. The taxi ride back to the house, started off gawky with pleasantry. After taking a ride around their childhood neighborhood, they eventually arrive at the narrator’s house, where Sonny was greeted by Isabel and his nephews.
At that moment the narrator has a flashback and begins to visualize about their parents; who died when they were younger. Their father passed away a few years before their mother did. The narrator describes their father as an alcoholic, “big and rough and loud-talking” (81). Their father, in fact, died from one drunken night. Sonny and their father always butted heads but were so much alike. Their father argued with Sonny due to the fact he wanted what was best for him. However, Sonny became just like him, instead of drinking he used heroin.
The narrator continues by reminiscing about the conversation him and his mother had when he was on leave from the army. She knew she was coming closer to death; therefore, she told him a story about his father and uncle, the boys had never met their uncle because he was murdered by drunk white men one night. Their mother quotes their father saying, “He says he never in his life seen anything as dark as that road after the lights of that car had gone away.” Darkness plays a huge role throughout the entire story, whether it be a dark street or a metaphor about someone’s emotions. Anyhow, their mother was expressing how much she needed the narrator to take care of Sonny once she was gone. Naturally he was in denial of her dying. Nevertheless, he promised her that he wouldn’t let anything happen to Sonny.
When Sonny was arrested, and he saw his brother’s name in the paper, he felt mortified and responsible because of the promise he made to their mother.

Although, he did what he felt was right at the time. During the time of their mother dying, he was a newlywed and was also getting his career together in the army. After their mother’s death, the narrator was soon returning to his station, leaving Sonny stay with his wife, Isabel and her family. Sonny always had dreams of becoming a jazz musician, but because of the era they were in and being the older brother, the narrator wanted better for Sonny. Sonny was stuck on being a jazz musician and wasn’t letting anything stop him. The living arrangements he had with Isabel and her family wore thin,

quickly.
For the past two weeks the narrator stayed constantly aware of Sonny’s actions, by looking for signs of relapse; he is at home alone and finds himself wanting to snoop around Sonny’s room in search for heroin. When suddenly a revival caught his attention outside; it reminded him of his childhood growing watching revivals. In the corner of his eye he sees Sonny watching the same revival as him, he is relieved he did not snoop through Sonny’s things; although it’s difficult, he should trust Sonny.
Sonny invites his brother to a jig he is having later that night at a Harlem nightclub with his band.

The narrator hesitates to start but goes to support his brother; while at the club Sonny introduces his brother to a few his band members like, Creole, the band leader. Once they began to perform, Sonny was a little shaky, but eventually adjusted just fine. At this moment the narrator finally saw Sonny doing what he loves, it made him look at his brother and his passion differently; the way Sonny and his band played almost brought his brother to tears. “Yet, there was no battle in his face now, I heard what he had gone through, and would continue to go through until he came to rest in earth… I saw my mother’s face again… I say the moonlit road where my father’s brother died… I saw my little girl again and felt Isabel’s tears again, and I felt my own tears begin to rise”

(99-100).
Sonny’s Blues is not just about Sonny and his trails, it is also about the narrator. The story is told from his point of view. We’re seeing everything through his eyes, we’re seeing his emotions, but at the same time, we’re seeing Sonny’s as well. The character’s that were nameless throughout were meant to stay nameless. They didn’t need identities, versus with the named characters. Sonny needed to be given a face and name, same with Grace, Isabel, and Creole. The narrator did not, one reason is because we were reading from his prospective, we could sense him on a different level, we knew his feelings and emotions throughout the story. James Baldwin wanted us to look onto a deeper level, not focus on the surface.