James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues"

     To start of this post I want to share my list of notes/thoughts that I jotted down while I read and I will try to address more or less all of them (they are woven together): darkness vs. light, the 'outside,' childhood, purpose of life, sound/ listening/ music, narrator's tone/description often pessimistic, suffering, and alikeness of father/brother, father/son, narrator/Sonny.
   
     "Sonny's Blues" addresses the opposing darkness and light of both the narrator's and Sonny's lives. In the opening paragraph the narrator is described as being "trapped in the darkness which roared outside" (75). This darkness is mentioned over and over again throughout the short story as a "menace" (72), the place where children who do not play jacks and jump rope hang out (82), and the place where the old folks had come from and where children were going (83). This darkness could refer to many things-- the darkness inside of ourselves? the dangers of the streets of Harlem? the harsh realities of life, especially when exposed to children? and/or loss and suffering? Baldwin seems to distinguish the darkness as a part of the outside, but I'm not sure that I see a difference between the outside and the inside (yet?). It seems to me that the darkness envelops everyone everywhere, it is just more 'silent' on the inside.

***

     One passage that strikes me the most in this short story is found on page 88:

     "Well, Sonny," I said gently, "you know people can't always do exactly what they want to do--"
     "No, I don't know that," said Sonny, surprising me. "I think people ought to do what they want to do, what else are they alive for?"
     "You getting to be a big boy," I said desperately, "it's time you started thinking about your future."
     "I'm thinking about my future," said Sonny, grimly. "I think about it all the time."

     This dialogue makes me think of the perennial question, "What do we live for?" Is it true that we go to school, then go to more school, to get a job, in order to make money or to be 'serious' ? I would like to think there is more to it than that-- that between that mix there is room for passion, love, and joy (as is Sonny's relationship with music). Is this realization a part of the narrator's often bitter tone? Does he realize that although Sonny has problems with addiction, he followed his dreams/passions, unlike himself (maybe?). There are many similarities between the narrator and his brother, they essentially had the same childhood until their parents died (they both stole from the same stores, experimented with sex in basements, and hurled tin cans and bricks from roofs [pg. 81]). I think this relationship is very closely linked with reality. Siblings can grow up in the same situations in life and turn out very different from each other, I can notice that with my own relationship with my brother. For more information on this from a research standpoint check out this NPR article.

***

     I could probably write pages and pages on my thoughts on this story but I would just like to add a few more things...

     I really liked Baldwin's mention of "Am I Blue" by Billie Holiday. After listening to the song's lyrics, I could see the connection between the lyric "Ain't these tears in my eyes telling you," and the performance and I could see Sonny playing the piano and what his eyes must have looked like as they met his brother's.

 

 Lyrics to "Am I Blue"

***

..and lastly, my favorite lines:

"He began pressing the beer can between his hands, I watched the metal begin to give. It glittered, as he played with it like a knife, and I was afraid he could cut himself, but I said nothing." (96)

     In my mind I was screaming at the narrator, say something, you've stayed quiet far too long, but then I thought even if you are silent, at least listen. I'm still not sure how I feel about it.

-Runda