An Unexpected Change in Perspective By Denali Loflin

An Unexpected Change in Perspective

In James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues”, the story is told of two brothers with very different ideas. The younger brother, Sonny, doesn’t have much left in his life after the death of his parents and his struggles with his addiction to heroin, but he does have two things that have been there for him throughout his entire life. These two things include His older brother, and his music. Even though he has gone down a dark path and dealt with drug abuse and loss, Sonny is able to remain a good man through the love and passion he has for music, and through the constant guidance given by his older brother. Growing up in Harlem, post Korean War, was difficult for the family. Often thought of as a trap. Baldwin wrote, “Some escaped the trap, most didn’t. Those who got out always left something of themselves  behind, as some animals amputate a leg and leave it in the trap” (80). The brothers go to and from each other as they grow older. The narrator (older brother) serves in the Army, as well as becoming an algebra teacher. Sonny takes a different path and gets caught up in unhealthy, worldly possessions, and difficult dreams to pursue. Although Sonny’s brother works throughout the story to to try to change Sonny’s destiny, Sonny ultimately changes his brothers perspective through his kind heart, and passion for his music.

James Baldwin’s story, “Sonny’s Blues” is often interpreted as a rendition of “Am I my brother’s keeper.” This makes sense as the narrator feels obligated to protect his younger brother Sonny.  He feels that it is his own responsibility to keep Sonny safe and isolated from the harsh city of Harlem and later the world around them at the time Baldwin published. Is it because he promised his mother that he would never let anything happen to Sonny? Or simply because he loves Sonny and genuinely wants what is best for him? I like to think the latter. Throughout the story, Sonny’s brother refuses to see Sonny as a grown man with his own ideals. In the eyes of his older brother, physically and emotionally, Sonny is still young and innocent. He said, “He was as tall as I was. He had started to shave. I suddenly had the feeling that I didn’t know him at all” (87). He continues, “He was a man by then, of course, I wasn’t willing to to see it” (90). The narrator often undermines Sonny and his dreams of being a musician. When Sonny first opened up to his brother about wanting to become a musician, his brother thought to himself, “This would probably turn out to be one of those things kids go through” (86). Believing that it was only a phase, and Sonny would soon come to his senses and find a real career. As the story proceeded however, Sonny began to change his bothers views on life. He slowly tried to show his bother glimpses into his world. The narrator saw Sonny as a new person as he grew up. He was afraid for Sonny, but only because he wasn’t use to the way Sonny lived loosely. As he came to understand Sonny’s ways, he began to see him in a whole new light.

In a letter Sonny wrote to his older brother, he apologized for having hurt his brother by following the path he did. He then said, “I don’t want you to think it had anything to do with me being a musician” (78). Sonny is determined to enlighten his older brother, who thinks it illogical for Sonny to dream of making a living through his passion for music. In the story, Sonny states, “I think people ought to do what they want to do, what else are they alive for” (83)? Though stated so simply, Sonny expresses his belief that without being able to spend your life doing what you enjoy most, one can find no true joy. Author John M. Reilly writes from the African American Review at St. Louis University. He expresses how the story’s theme encapsulates the idea of “the discovery of identity” (56). Reilly mentions that the story is easy for youth to relate to. The idea that the dreams you have as a child, if believed hard enough are able to come true, is a message that every young boy or girl longs to hear. In the beginning of the story, as Reilly says, “Sonny’s life explodes into his older brother’s awareness when his story of peddling and using heroin is reported in the newspaper” (56). Sonny’s brother seems disappointed, yet unsurprised. It’s as if he finds it easier to push it from his mind, thinking of it only as he reads it in the paper. He hadn’t wanted to know. He said, “I didn’t want to believe that I’d ever see my brother going down, coming to nothing, all that light in his face gone out” (74). For a while, the narrator tries to understand Sonny, but from his point of view only. Reilly mentions how the story really represents the slow accommodation of acceptance from the narrator to the meaning of his younger brother, Sonny’s way of life. It seems as though the older brother tries to solve Sonny, and his actions, like that of a math equation that he might teach his young students in class. What he doesn’t realize until the end of the story, is that Sonny lived in a world of his own. You cant teach someone to paint with a math equation.

In the beginning, Sonny’s character is made out to seem like a hopeless drug addict, who obviously struggles with issues of morality. Timothy Joseph Golden from West Chester University of Pennsylvania, relates “Sonny’s Blues” to old stories derived from the Bible such as the fall of Adam and Eve. He claims that it accurately depicts the moral problem that he calls “Epistemic Addiction.” Golden goes on to connect Sonny to Eve. Referring then to Eve, Golden said, “Fulfilling her desire to attain knowledge of good and evil, she consumed the fruit of the tree, disregarding an ethical directive to the contrary” (Section I). Although Sonny struggles with his addiction to heroin or “horse” (74), he is, as his brother would describe, a good boy with good sense. Sonny, is smart, and has good intentions. He is able to see good from evil. The problem is described perfectly by their mother. She said, “It ain’t only the bad ones, nor the dumb ones that gets sucked under” (83). Sonny knows good and well that heroin isn’t good for him, and lets it control him for a while, however, he never looses his love for music or for his family. He even remembers to bring something for his nieces and nephews when he is brought to visit (81). Golden mentions the struggle that the narrator faces between helping and hurting Sonny, “One senses that the narrator, in his attempts to help Sonny, is actually driving Sonny further away from him. The harder the narrator tries to help Sonny, the more the estrangement between them worsens” (Section III). Golden continues to talk about about the relation between the two stories, but this time relating Eve to that of the older brother, He says, “The narrator takes action to help his brother, but only on the narrator's terms; he attempts to make Sonny like himself” (Section IV). The older brother settles as a math teacher, leading us to believe he is practical, and and educated. While it is noted that Sonny is the opposite of their father, who was “Big and rough and loud-talking.” Though it is further mentioned, that they still had the same privacy (81). These differences made it tough for the brothers to remain friends above respected siblings. Though the narrator is determined to look after his brother and guide his every move, Sonny has grown up and wants to make his own decisions. All he asks is that his older brother listens and supports his choices. It takes his brother a while to understand, but Sonny is ultimately successful.

Suzy Bernstein Goldman talks about how important the story was in 1957, but is just as important today as well. The brothers are really able to relate their relationship and struggles directly to that of Blues music and how it is created and performed. “Form and image blend into perfect harmony and rise to a thundering crescendo.” She so creatively relates the ups and downs of the plot of “Sonny’s Blues” to that of a piece of music (231). Baldwin portrays an internal struggle in the narrator as he feels guilt, and heartache for his brother Sonny, after knowing the trouble he has gotten himself involved in. He also, however, feels connected to his brother in a way that he cannot connect with any other. He writes to Sonny when his daughter passes away to receive peace and comfort. Sonny’s brother is aware of the issues Sonny has become involved with, but still sees him as great and gentle, and never disrespectful. After the narrator leaves with the army, and Sonny is living with his brothers wife and children, Goldman writes that “Because he has no one to communicate with, the piano becomes his only source of expression” (232). This is the key to understanding the musical plot of the story. Sonny expresses his true self through his music throughout the entirety of the story. But, as his older brother struggles to figure Sonny out, it isn’t until he listens to Sonny play, that he sees his brother in full light. Sonny wants his music and talent to be heard, just as he wants his voice to be heard and understood, even if only by his brother who he undoubtedly looks up to and respects.The story depicts that of a song, as it rises and falls, as tension builds and is released, and as there is a powerful yet peaceful ending, that brings the brothers closer than they have ever been before.

As Sonny’s brother steps into Sonny’s “kingdom”, he sees Sonny as having “royal blood” (97). The other musicians like Creole, who play with Sonny greet his brother and claim to have heard of him, and are glad to see him there. This shows that Sonny has always thought of his brother, even enough to mention him to his fellow musicians. Seeing Sonny fit in and express smiles and laughter with people who understood his attitude, brought the narrator into a new light. It is almost as if the music is what allows the narrator to see Sonny in a new way. As less of a younger brother and burden, and more as a successful and grown up man. Tracey Sherard writes about the “bebop” music Sonny is undoubtedly playing, and the role it plays in the story, in “Sonny's Bebop: Baldwin's ‘Blues Text’ as Intercultural Critique.” Sherard touches on the fact that, “‘Sonny’s Blues not only tells a story; It is about the telling of stories” (692). I believe that this is done through the music. Sonny tries to express his ideas and his dreams to his older brother, who is unable to see a reality. It isn’t until Sonny shows his brother, that he is able to understand. Sonny worked hard with this music and was happy to be known and successful in that bar alone. The narrator could see that success once he too stepped into the room. He described the musicians by saying, “The man who creates the music is hearing something else” (98). He also outlined the music that Sonny and his bandmates played as, “Keeping it new, at the risk of ruin, destruction, madness, and death, in order to find new ways to make us listen” (99). As Sonny stepped forward to play his solo, the other men gathered around. Sonny’s brother was mesmerized as “Sonny’s fingers filled the air with life, his life” (99). While he listened to Sonny play, the brother was able to see his mother and his daughter through the life and beauty of the music. He listened and soaked up the sound and scene of Sonny finally being able to speak for himself through his music. “Listen, Creole seemed to be saying, listen. Now these are Sonny’s Blues” (99).

Works Cited

Golden, Timothy. “Epistemic Addiction: Reading ‘Sonny's Blues’ with Levinas, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche.” The Journal of Speculative Philosophy, vol. 26, no. 3,  2012, pp.

Reilly, John M. “‘Sonny's Blues’: James Baldwin's Image of Black Community.” Negro American Literature Forum, vol. 4, no. 2, 1970, pp. 56–60.

Goldman, Suzy Bernstein. “James Baldwin's ‘Sonny's Blues’: A Message in Music.” Negro American Literature Forum, vol. 8, no. 3, 1974, pp. 231–233.

Sherard, Tracey. “Sonny's Bebop: Baldwin's ‘Blues Text’ as Intracultural Critique.” African American Review, vol. 32, no. 4, 1998, pp. 691–705.