Essay Example on Sonny's Blues: Music, Race, Suffering, and Hope

"Sonny's Blues" addresses several themes of James Baldwin's more extensive oeuvre, such as music and suffering, race and racism, and artistic expression. The story is written in the first-person, revolving around a narrator and his younger brother, Sonny, who is recovering from heroin addiction and a piano player. "Sony's Blues" shows the great charm of African-American music represented by blues and jazz: black music is not only the great spiritual heritage and hope of survival of the black people but also an important guide for the black people to find their roots. This article analyzes the story's storyline, character image, and ideological themes to have more understanding of the lives of black Americans.

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The plot is set at Harlem, where the narrator, a high school algebra teacher, reads in a newspaper about the arrest of his brother for using and selling heroin. The two characters live contrasting lives; while he is a respectable member of the society living a noble life, his brother Sonny, the musician lives a wild life, an obsession with bebop and drug use being among it. Sonny struggles to understand his brother's life and stays alienated to him until his daughter died from polio. After Sonny leaves prison, his brother invites him to live with his family, where he asks him to watch him play the piano in a club. At the club, his brother appreciates how the music helps Sonny escape his suffering and the darkness.

Sonny's Blues portrays the misery in blacks' lives represented by Sonny, his brother, and his students, revealing the pressure that American racism brings to blacks and the use of blues music by blacks. While talking about his students, the narrator says: "All they really knew were two darknesses, the darkness of their lives, which was now approaching them, and the darkness of the films, which had blinded them to that other darkness." When these students develop into adulthood, they are struck by the realization of just how limited the opportunities for success are, some of whom begin to abuse drugs as a way of deviating from those frustrations.

The story also mentions that Harlem district is still broken and full of threats after many years. Although both the narrator and his brother have been around the world enlisted in the army, they eventually had to return to Harlem to the same challenges confronting the black community. This, in itself, is a reflection of the slow development of New York's black neighborhoods and insecurity factors among the black community. The narrator's uncle was killed alive by a group of white people on the highway while coming from a performance on Saturday night. "They thought it was fun. They just scared him as usual, but they were drunk ... your father said that when the car rolled over his brother's body, he heard his scream, he heard the sound of the guitar wood, He heard the sound of the guitar strings breaking, he heard the shouts of the white people, and the car continued to drive to this day without stopping. When your father walked down the mountain, his brother was left with only meat sauce and a Beach blood. "(Baldwin 10).

"Sonny's Blues" reflects on the plight of the black community and how they express their pain and suffering through music and art. The narrator takes a trip to Sonny's jazz club to understand just how important music is to his brother's suffering. As the audience joins him, they get to understand and appreciate the significance of music among black Americans.

"I seem to hear how passionate he is to turn this Blues into his own music ... Freedom lingers on us, and I finally understand that if we listen, he can help us to be free, and if we are not free, he will never be free ... It reminds me of other things too. It brings me back to the past. I saw the tears of my little daughter and Isabella, and I felt that my own tears would also flow. I realize that this is just a moment, the world is waiting outside, like a hungry tiger, struggling to stretch over our heads, it is longer than the sky. "(Baldwin pp. 24-25). This description of the blues played by Sony demonstrates the ability of music in bringing the spiritual freedom of the audience and awaken their memories with the strength to face current challenges. The book allows the readers to feel a black person's search for their identity and a contradiction in their hearts.

Through Sonny's experience, his brother meditates on the pain musicians go through as they attempt to fit in an unjust society.

The narrator slowly rebuilds the life of an African-American and junkie musician who uses the piano to turn their soul, yet, the musician and the music are different. Above the pain, tears, blood, sweat, and hellish nights in search of a connect, the figure of blacks wrapped in some cloud, some fire, some own vision is presented. Although the musicians are familiar with the ineffability of their destinies, they still push forward because they believe they have something to say with their music. There is something about the human plague and the fires of the soul that can only translate into groans.

"Sony's Blues" shows the black life and national spirit through the description of three kinds of music. At the beginning, the bar girl and jukebox pop dance, smiling with a smile attracting predominantly white customers. The fate of the bar girl can reflect the fate of most black women. It is a woman who can't escape but is still struggling. Although she is young, her life can be seen at a glance, and it is destined to be a tragedy.

The second type of music is a hymn performed by three black sisters and a black brother at a traditional Fencing mission. They sang, "God is with you until we meet again." Church music contains beautiful, soothing lyrics, but this music has no social reality function in terms of practicality. However, this music preaches God's redemption and happiness in the afterlife, paralyzing people's will and making them forget reality. The protagonist of the novel, Sonny, says: "Her voice reminds me of heroin sometimes." (Baldwin 19). Apparently, Sonny does not agree to temporarily soothe the wounded mind in a religious way. He compares church music to drugs, temporarily numbing the nerves of black fellows, and escaping from reality rather than positive reality. Sonny looks into the nature of church music and realizes that religion cannot solve the fundamental problems of black people.

The third type of music is Blues played by Sonny with his jazz band. Blues music is growing for Sonny. It helped him face reality and inspired him to pursue a better life. Looking back on Sonny's childhood and adolescence, he is unfortunate. At the age of fifteen, his father died, and soon his mother left the world. He had always dreamed of becoming a successful jazz musician, but his brother couldn't understand him. He was sent to prison for dealing drugs. Facing all kinds of misfortunes, Sonny just started to escape. Drug use is for numbness and escapism; joining the army to flee Harlem; and leaving the United States to settle in Europe to get rid of racial discrimination. However, no matter which direction he flees, he cannot relieve his predicament and avoid racial discrimination. Escape cannot solve the actual problem but pushes him to degeneration and decadence. In contrast, blues music gave him the courage to face a bleak life.

At the climax of Sonny's Blues, Sunny plays the piano at a concert. Since he didn't touch the piano for a year, he bumped when he first started playing, and it was not smooth. Later, he improvised the performance of blues music, and finally expressed his long-pressed anxiety and pain. He sang for his painful experience, and for the oppressed survival of all African Americans. Blues music is used to awaken black people and break the long silence and collective mute.

Conclusion

"Sony's Blues" shows the amazing power of black music represented by blues and jazz. The narrator challenges the audience to listen carefully beyond the music. Even more, it is necessary to listen with their scars and own fires since it is the only way to listen to music and decipher the blues. The blacks' artistic expression through the music is nothing new; it is simply a different way of communicating pain, one that would not exist if it were not for the suffering of generations of slaves. The analysis highlights the spiritual effect of music on black ethnic ties and identity as they cope through life's challenges, such as racism and inequality.

Work Cited

Baldwin, James. Sonny's Blues. 1957.