Brotherly Love And Suffering In Sonny's Blues By James Baldwin
870 Words4 Pages
I liked this story and I thought it was very heartfelt and personal. This story does not remind me of others I’ve read or heard, but it conveyed to me important themes that I can personally relate such as brotherly love and suffering. I can connect to the story based on my own personal experiences since I have had struggles with my older brother and since I have pondered on the concept of suffering. This story also slightly hints at Christianity, so I can also relate to the story based on my Christian beliefs.
The title of this story is significant because the story revolves around the troubles of Sonny. Sonny is the main character of the short story, and he and his family have all dealt with suffering. Though the phrase "Sonny's Blues" doesn't appear until the very end of the story, “Now these are Sonny’s blues” (Baldwin 52), the whole story is about Sonny’s struggle to recover from drug addiction. Based on this, Sonny's blues can refer to his troubles or depression, hence the blues term. On the other…show more content… There isn’t any other tale to tell, it’s the only light we’ve got in all this darkness.” (52) is very significant to the text as a whole because it shows the power of suffering yet at the same time, the power of triumph in this world. This particular quote occurs near the middle of Sonny’s performance at the end of the story and it explicates the powerful function of music in this short story, more specifically for Sonny. Though Sonny and his family have endured hardship in life, it is better to express it and let it be heard through art such as music, like Sonny prefers. Sonny uses music as a creative outlet to channel his anger and frustration. Sonny is trying to do precisely that with his music, just as Baldwin tried to do that with his stories and essays. Art becomes the redeemer, the means by which we can save our