The Multiple Themes of Notions of Suffering, Catharsis, Jazz and the Blues, Drugs and Alcohol, and Family Life in the Short Story, Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin

"Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin is much like an intricately designed fabric with the threads of many themes. Among these themes are the notion of suffering, catharsis, jazz and the blues, drugs and alcohol, and family life. The themes that James Baldwin addresses in Sonny's Blues work together strongly to reveal his message about the damage in the lives of the characters he creates.

James Baldwin uses the theme of suffering to describe how the people of Harlem in the 1950s are suffering. The "poverty and neglect" in Sonny's neighborhood clearly illustrates the circumstances that led to his heroin addiction. Race is only a contributing factor in the story, however, because it mostly focuses on the consequences of and the circumstances caused by racial discrimination, such as limited economic opportunities and poor living conditions. (Wilson 249). The racial discrimination, which is clearly indicated by the narrator's mother's anecdote to him, where the narrator's uncle is killed by a car full of drunken white men. (Baldwin 9) Both the narrator and Sonny suffer. The narrator suffers from the immense darkness in his life caused by the poor conditions in the city. (Wilson 249)

The unnamed narrator of "Sonny's Blues" relationship with the suffering he experiences is very different from the way that Sonny experiences suffering. Though they have been through the same things, Sonny's brother copes with the situation in a much more positive way, while Sonny has "the blues". Though Sonny uses music as an outlet for his emotional suffering, he gets entangled with the drug culture associated with jazz music and becomes addicted to heroin. As an algebra teacher, he sees the world in terms of black and white, so the shock that he experiences when he finds out that Sonny is using heroin rocks his world. He begins to question whether his own students could be using the drug, saying "every one of them for all I knew, be popping off needles every time they went to the head [toilet]" (Baldwin 1)

The conditions in which Baldwin grew up significantly contribute to the setting that Baldwin depicts in Sonny's Blues and how he depicts suffering. In his writing, he attempts to depict the African-American experience as something special and black American society as a "community with its own traditions and values". (Hicks 253) However, whether members of this society decide to challenge the white-dominated society's status quo or abandon a part of their identities to become successful is up to them. Sonny's brother becomes an algebra teacher and finds success in the white dominated society, while Sonny struggles to find success because of his passion in the arts and his reluctance to adhere to the rules of authority. This idea also corresponds with the idea of the American Dream, showing that it was more difficult for black Americans at this time to attain. Overall, Baldwin's experiences led to a unique perspective on the world, which he portrays through the themes in "Sonny's Blues". (Hicks 253)

In "Sonny's Blues", where there is suffering, there is catharsis. Because drugs and alcohol were a very temporary and negative solution to Sonny's suffering, Sonny uses jazz and the blues as a more constructive outlet for his feelings of suffering. Effectively, jazz becomes Sonny's heroin. (Wilson 247) Because of jazz, Sonny begins to feel that he has a family again when he is among his bandmates and that he belongs somewhere. At first, Sonny's brother sees jazz as something that is beneath Sonny when he decides to become a musician. (Baldwin 10) This is because in the early days of jazz, the style was seen as very visceral and inherently sexual because it had more exaggerated rhythmic elements and promoted dancing ("clowning around on bandstands"). (Baldwin 10) Later on in the story, however, Sonny's brother comes to the realization that Sonny's music means a lot to him and could be a sign that Sonny will start to recover from his addiction. After all, Sonny had decades of the blues running through him and was ready to carry his family through his music, shown when Baldwin writes "He had made it his: that long line, of which we knew only Mama and Daddy. And he was giving it back, as everything must be given back, so that, passing through death, it can live forever." The blues were originally created as songs for oppressed African-Americans to express their feelings, and the tradition of the blues has been passed down and integrated into almost every style of popular music. Through his music, Sonny finally makes his brother see his world and is able to legitimately show how he feels and give his brother some kind of hope. (Baldwin 21)

The style with which "Sonny's Blues" is written mirrors the emerging bebop style of jazz in the 1940s, with its contrasting ideas of dark and light complementing each other like two soloists in a jazz band. The flashbacks in the story are very much similar to the sections of a jazz record that call back to the themes of suffering. Sonny's brother's very calculated and mathematical attitude also possibly calls to the more technical style of bebop, even though his brother seems to reject notions of artistic expression.

The images of music and street revival throughout the short story contribute to a scapegoat metaphor, shown in the image of the "cup of trembling" at the end of the story. The cup of trembling is an image from both the Old Testament and the New Testament of the Bible, where it represents justice and mercy, respectively. Therefore, Sonny's music brings hope, justice, and mercy to the world, allowing his suffering to make him a Jesus Christ figure. (Robertson 255) The reason for Sonny's suffering also comes into realization when Sonny and his brother attend the revival meeting and Sonny feels empathy for the revivalists. In this incident, Sonny states that they must have gone through a lot in order to play music that evokes such a feeling of suffering. Additionally, to further exemplify his role as a suffering, sacrificial figure, Sonny says that there is no way for him not to suffer. (Baldwin 17)

his: that long line, of which we knew only Mama and Daddy. And he was giving it back, as everything must be given back, so that, passing through death, it can live forever." The blues were originally created as songs for oppressed African-Americans to express their feelings, and the tradition of the blues has been passed down and integrated into almost every style of popular music. Through his music, Sonny finally makes his brother see his world and is able to legitimately show how he feels and give his brother some kind of hope. (Baldwin 21)

The style with which "Sonny's Blues" is written mirrors the emerging bebop style of jazz in the 1940s, with its contrasting ideas of dark and light complementing each other like two soloists in a jazz band. The flashbacks in the story are very much similar to the sections of a jazz record that call back to the themes of suffering. Sonny's brother's very calculated and mathematical attitude also possibly calls to the more technical style of bebop, even though his brother seems to reject notions of artistic expression.

The images of music and street revival throughout the short story contribute to a scapegoat metaphor, shown in the image of the "cup of trembling" at the end of the story. The cup of trembling is an image from both the Old Testament and the New Testament of the Bible, where it represents justice and mercy, respectively. Therefore, Sonny's music brings hope, justice, and mercy to the world, allowing his suffering to make him a Jesus Christ figure. (Robertson 255) The reason for Sonny's suffering also comes into realization when Sonny and his brother attend the revival meeting and Sonny feels empathy for the revivalists. In this incident, Sonny states that they must have gone through a lot in order to play music that evokes such a feeling of suffering. Additionally, to further exemplify his role as a suffering, sacrificial figure, Sonny says that there is no way for him not to suffer. (Baldwin 17)

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