Sonny's Blues by Chou, Shu-Ya(Joshua)

The themes in Sonny’s Blues have several themes in the story, religion, music, parenthood, and brotherhood as majority. Religion is part of theme because author James Baldwins as a Christian wrote several bible events that related in the story. Music could be the most influential factor in the story because main character Sonny, the music mentions in the story is jazz. Parenthood can be followed up to narrator’s mother, and brotherhood is the relationship between narrator and Sonny.

          First theme is a bout music; however, through the research by Sherard and other scholar states music can or cannot be important in the story. Even though music is mentioned a lot in the story, it does not show specifically how jazz music and its cultural background has influenced Sonny. It seems that James Baldwin wrote Sonny just wants to play jazz instead of which songs or which famous jazz players has affected.

          Religion is one of the key themes in “Sonny’s Blues”, the factor could because James Baldwin is a Christian since he was a child. Biblical story became part of his literal style, so in the story, Baldwin refers many biblical events to write his story. Bible not only become part of his literal style but influence his life in Harlem. Even though he left the church for a period, the bible still is a motif to his works. The reasons that Baldwin left church because several miserable events, and those events are related to races which Baldwin played as a spokesperson. He wrote those the events in “The Fire Next Time” which book was written after he left church for long times. In this book, people had harm him badly in spiritual way, this is what Baldwin has mention, “…I was just as black as I had been the day that I was born…I had not to stammer, not to curse…When I watched all the children, their copper, brown, and beige faces staring up at me as I taught Sunday school, I felt that I was committing a crime in talking about the gentle Jesus, in telling them to reconcile themselves to their misery on earth in order to gain the crown of eternal life…I really mean that there was no love in the church. It was a mask for hatred and self-hatred and despair.” He not only writes stories related to bible, but also write several stories that criticize church’s corruption, racial discrimination and social issues. There is a story that Baldwin uses to characterize Sonny and the Narrator, Prodigal Son in New Testament in Bible. The story is about younger son is not a good boy, he back home and his father welcomed him. The elder son was not happy what the Father had done because the younger son does not do very well outside of home, the father tell the elder said, “Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should be merry and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.” All these contents are similar to the “Sonny’s Blues” story, elder son characterizes as the Narrator, young son characterizes as Sonny, and the story are pretty similar. Genesis is referred as “The Fall” in the story, Baldwin uses “to fall” in the story to describe Sonny’s situation. There are several parts to illustrate, this example is the Narrator’s mother told the Narrator about Sonny, “to hold on to your brother... and don't let him fall”, “…don't let him fall, no matter what it looks like is happening to him and no matter how evil you get with him…” Another “to fall” situation is talking about Grace (Narrator’s daughter), "Isabel was in the kitchen fixing lunch for the two boys when they'd come home from school, and she heard Grace fall down in the living room.... And she ran to the living room and there was little Grace on the floor, all twisted up, and the reason she hadn't screamed was that she couldn't get her breath"

To conclude, the theme in “Sonny’s blues” are mostly in religion, music, and brotherhood.