Sonny’s Blues

Sonny’s Blues

Assignment Option One

Analysis of short stories indicates that there is a lot that pertains to the title of story. Most of the times the reader ends up missing out or not being able to comprehend the underlying meaning of the title. This is mainly because each of the words used in the story constitute a significant part of the story, with the title included. There are instances where the title of a story plays a larger role in the constitution of a story. The story, “Sonny’s Blues,” by James Baldwin is in no way an exception to this.

“Sonny’s Blues” also refers to the music that is common with misguided youth. Just like the case of Sunny and his elder brother, these youths travel from light to darkness and through unfathomable experiences that lurk in the darkness of coping and the light that is associated with their suffering. When the title to the story is read aloud, a nuance of contradiction is realized in the sense that Sunny is a character who is endeared with positive connotations while blues on the other hand are associated with being sad and miserable.

This is indicative of the contrasting events and instances that comprise the story. Sonny describes heroin, by saying, “it is usually both warm and cool… giving you a sense of control” (551). This description in itself is contradictory in that the two aspects of temperature are complete opposites. There is also a contrast in the description that heroine provides one with a sense of control while in essence heroine actually renders one with the inability to have self control.

Sonny, who is the ostensible character in this story, seems to play a larger role in the naming of this story. However, on further analysis, there alludes to a deeper meaning to the title itself. The most obvious meaning of the title is that of the character Sonny and the genre of music he plays during the final passages of the story. Sonny is the focal character’s younger brother thus giving him the childhood innocence coupled by a sense of immaturity and idealism that is often characterized by children. In addition, he gets to be treated paternalistically by his much older sibling over the entire story. For instance, the narrator sarcastically refers to Sonny as a “big boy” when he is frantically trying to convince him, that music is not a very successful career for anyone to undertake (545).

The older sibling seems to be very realistic unlike Sonny whose ambitions are considered as idealistic and a vanity affair. The older brother is tend to adopt a very realistic lifestyle in that he is a teacher, which is a very noble profession, married and whose success in life is founded on his mediocrity. The older brother seems to have lack of ambition since he is not chasing after his own dream but the popular “American dream”. Sonny on the other hand is very ambitious in life and has the perception that life is more meaningful that this. He believes that people should harbor personal aspirations in which they should believe in and pursue until fulfillment for this is their sole purpose in life (545).

The title of the story is two parts, with the second part being the “blues”. This superficially refers to the genre of music that is characterized with a melancholic feeling and ballads of suffering and anguish. This music genre is imbued with an outstanding rhythm and a real human soul. The “Blues” mentioned in the title belong to the character Sonny. During the instance where Sonny and his older brother reach the nightclub, the narrator vividly describes that the rest perceived Sonny as the merely the brother to Sonny, while in the real sense, he had entered Sonny’s world. In that place, even his veins could attest to the fact that he had royal blood in him (554).

When the time for Sonny to perform came, the music group’s leader together with the rest of the musicians expressed that those being performed were indeed Sonny’s blues. Sonny adds to this by filling the air with Blues music, his music. From this, it becomes more evident that the music is in his veins. The narrator is ebbed out of his element as his soul is taken over by the performance. Creole goes to the limits of referring to the older brother as “son”. This reference creates another possible inference or meaning to the title, “Sonny’s Blues”. From the plot, Sonny may fail in being the titular character. In essence, the narrator seems to be the immature one of the two. The narrator undergoes a series of changes over the story as opposed to Sonny in relation to his share of “blues” as well.

The narrator undergoes various changes as the story proceeds. He develops his character as the story continues. In this concept, his “Blues”, do not refer to a genre of music but a feeling of depression that engulfs him as opposed to the coping mechanism to come to terms with them. A cloud of grief engulfs him resulting from the sudden demise of his daughter, Gracie. He is also endowed with the responsibility left to him by his ailing mother, in relation with the story concerning the death of his uncle. The mother to the narrator leaves him with the uphill responsibility of taking care of his younger brother (543).

The heroin abuse that Sonny falls into adds onto his grief and suffering. This is primarily because of having the feeling of letting his mother down in taking care of his younger sibling. He also feels that his younger sibling is suffering from heroin abuse and distribution. The latter suffering is in part unfair to him because apparently, Sonny has already developed a coping mechanism for his anguish, with it being music as opposed to the narrator. This continues to a point where the narrator asks Sonny whether it is a better idea “just to—take it.” Further reading reveals that he indeed “takes it,” albeit through mediocrity and misery.

In the instance where he attends the revival meeting, he ends up being a spectator as opposed to taking part in the revival. He even witnesses the music soothe the poison out the womenfolk who were singing at the meeting but does not derive anything from the valuable experience. However, the narrator develops as the story continues until the end where he gets to undergo exponential development. He witnesses the deep sorrow and suffering that Sonny is engulfed in and at this instance stops suffering and starts living life. From this point, the narrator comprehends that no individual is able to “just take it”. Sonny further attests to this. At this point, the younger sibling, Sonny, is depicted as the wiser with the narrator being depicted as the younger of the two who is in deep need of personal development.

Another meaning for the title “Sonny’s Blues,” could be derived, this time by means of contrast as opposed to taking the superficial meaning of the phrase. Sonny is considered a colloquial term referring to someone who is very young and spry with cheeky characteristics. Another allusion to the term sunny in terms of weather refers to a day characterized by the blue and cloudless sky and the shinning sun. The term sunny can also refer to a personal trait of being cheery, bright, or warm-hearted.

The interesting aspect to this is that the introduction of the heroin problems plaguing the Sonny character whereby it is described, “…in the swinging lights of the subway car,” and he sees it in “[his] own face, trapped in the darkness which roared outside” (534). When making a comparison between the Sonny and the term sunny, there is the allusion to a light-darkness motif that is evidenced in the reading of the entire story. The helm of the darkness is experienced during the death of the brother that occurs in the darkness of a drunken night. There is also the instance where the family is gripped with grief during the memorial for the narrator’s mother. At this instance, the members are engulfed in grief on a Sunday afternoon that is characterized by the encroachment of the darkness of the night. The members are also depicted as having darkness in their faces that works to the effect of frightening the child in attendance.

Superficially, the title could allude to the music genre that the Sonny character engages in. From the story, Sonny dedicates his passion into music. This activity evokes contrasting feelings in him in that playing the piano motivates him, keeps him going while at the same time torturing him. “Sonny’s Blues” refers to the music that is common with misguided youth. Just like the case of Sunny and his elder brother, these youths travel from light to darkness and through unfathomable experiences that lurk in the darkness of coping and the light that is associated with their suffering. When the title to the story is read aloud, a nuance of contradiction is realized in the sense that Sunny is a character who is endeared with positive connotations while blues on the other hand are associated with being sad and miserable.

This is indicative of the contrasting events and instances that comprise the story. Sonny describes heroin, by saying, “it is usually both warm and cool… giving you a sense of control” (551). This description in itself is contradictory in that the two aspects of temperature are complete opposites. There is also a contrast in the description that heroine provides one with a sense of control while in essence heroine actually renders one with the inability to have self control.

In conclusion, it is evident that the title, “Sonny’s Blues,” bears several meanings and nuances. The first is that it refers to a pivotal character in the story who is the main character’s little brother. Blues on the other hand refers to a genre of music, which the character Sonny engages in. Sonny also alludes to sunny that is mainly used to represent a hopeful day, happiness and joy. Blues on the other hand refers to a genre of music that is characterized by melancholy and grief. This represents various contrasts that are comprised in the play. The genre of the music, Blues, also alludes to the grief and suffering that is highly evidenced in the story.

 

Works cited

Baldwin, James. Early Novels and Stories: Go Tell It on the Mountain ; Giovanni’s Room ; Another Country ; Going to Meet the Man. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, 1998. Print.

 

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