Sanchez

Sam Casselle Sanchez

Dr. James Wilson

English 123

essay #2

February 26, 2018

The Narrator’s Purpose

“You may not be able to stop nothing from happening. But you got to let him know

you’s there.” In the story of “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin, those were the last words the

Narrator has ever heard from his mom before he left to see Isabel, his girlfriend at the time.

Baldwin shares the harsh reality of the world without a parent on your side and who will be there

no matter what happens. When the narrator’s parents died, his brother Sonny fell into darkness

and suffered from the loss of his parents which led him to use drugs to cope with his broken self.

However, Sonny wasn’t the only one who felt the same suffering, the narrator also felt the same

suffering when his daughter died. Because of their circumstances, the two didn’t have a

connection for a long time and since their parents passed away, there was no one to reconnect

them and to help them build a good relationship, but the narrator went on his way to full fill his

parent’s role. With that being said, they lacked the guidance that would bring them closer and

tells them the right thing to do. However, the narrator didn’t give up on Sonny and stayed as a

supporting brother.

When the narrator was eager to leave to see Isabel, his mother talked to him about Sonny

before he left, saying “if anything happens to me, he ain’t going to have anybody to look out for
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him” (76). She was just reminding the narrator to take care of Sonny because she doesn’t want

them to have a bad relationship. In addition, The mother told the story about how their father’s

brother died and that he regrets how they didn’t have a good relationship. When the mother said

“him and your father would drift around to different places, go to dances and things like that”

(77) she explains that their father and his brother would always separate and because of that, the

brother got hit by a car. Since the father was in the same area, he saw everything that happened

to his brother and was traumatized by it. Which is why he didn’t mention the story because he

was scared that the narrator and Sonny might end up like them.

However, the narrator and Sonny still ended up being just like their father and his

brother. Sonny fell into the darkness, dealing with drugs and was imprisoned because of it.

According to Donald Murray, there are two kinds of darkness, light and dark. It’s ironic how

light could also represent as darkness. Sonny’s “light can represent the harsh glare of reality, the

bitter condition of ghetto existence which harden and brutalize the young” (Murray). He also

mentioned that Baldwin writes “the darkness of their lives, which was now closing in on them,

and the darkness of the movies, which had blinded them to that other darkness.” Murray stated

that there is no escape from the darkness for sonny and his family. The darkness that filled his

family was when their parents died and the narrator’s daughter died. As a result, they both got

separated and followed different paths.

The father may have made the wrong decision of not telling his children the story about

him and his brother because it only led his children to have a bad relationship. If he told them the

story ahead of time, maybe he could’ve prevented them from drifting apart by realizing that one

of them could get in serious trouble if they don’t have each others back. It’s sad that even though
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the father and his brother didn’t have a good relationship, he still loved him. Baldwin justified

this when the father and his brother was walking home, but kind of distant from each other. The

mother said “your father’s brother, being always kind of frisky, decided to run down the hill, and

he did, with the guitar banging and clanging behind him, and he ran across the road, and he was

making water behind the tree. And your father was sort of amused at him and he was still coming

down the hill, kind of slow”(76) this shows that the father would still follow his brother to look

out for him. However he followed him in unobvious way since they don’t have that kind of

relationship. while they were walking down, the father heard a car motor coming, the mother

said “the brother started to cross the road. And your father started to run down the hill, he says he

don’t know why”(77). With that being said, the father felt that somethings bad was going to

happen, then he heard his brother screamed when the car rolled over him, and he heard the wood

of the guitar when it gave in, and he heard the strings went flying. There was nobody else there

but him and his brother that turned into blood and pulp. The parents were scared for the narrator

and Sonny to have the same outcome if ever they drift apart.

Although they were separated and lacked the guidance of their parents, they did have a

hard time to reconnect, but the narrator loved Sonny and still tried to reach out to him. When the

narrator’s daughter died, he suddenly thought about sonny, saying “ I was sitting in the living

room in the dark, by myself, and I suddenly thought of Sonny. My trouble made his real”(84).

Baldwin shows that death can help bring people together, just like when the narrator’s mom died,

he took Sonny with him and started to create a good relationship. However, sonny wasn’t happy

and moved out again. Second was when the narrator’s daughter died, he suddenly thought of

sonny when his daughter died because he realized that maybe it’s time for him to have a purpose

in life and support Sonny to achieve his goals.

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After Sonny moved out, the narrator didn’t see him for a long time. After he thought

about Sonny, there was a revival meeting across his house and he saw Sonny. They talked about

suffering and Sonny mentioned what suffering does other people have to go through just to get

where they are, but the Narrator didn’t care about their suffering but only cared for Sonny’s

saying “ I dont give a damn what other people do, I don’t even care how they suffer, I just care

how you suffer” (87). This shows how mature Sonny have become unlike before when he only

cared about himself. Also it shows how much attention the narrator have for sonny because he

thinks about him more and it’s good since they have made the connection that their parents have

been wanting them to have. At the end the narrator fulfilled his role as a brother and Sonny has

become a musician that he’s always wanted to be. Sonny brought his brother to the bar where he

plays, the Narrator was shocked of what Sonny has become. People were cheering for him and

calling out his name. The narrator didn’t expect all of these to happen since Sonny had an ugly

past, but after listening to his music, the narrator felt really proud to see Sonny having no battles

in his face and he made it all the way through his goal with his own skills.

After reading the story, I have seen so many changes to Sonny and the narrator. Its true

that lack of guidance from our parents could sometimes put us into serious trouble, just like what

happened to Sonny, he started to deal with drugs since his parents died and there was nobody

around to guide him. However, he did have his brother, but he also lacked guidance because he

doesn’t know how to deal with Sonny. But he came to his senses when his daughter died and

started to think that maybe it’s time for him to support his brother and be there when he needs

him. I justified that a death of someone could bring us closer to people because that’s the time

when we are fragile and need someone that will be there for us. In the story, after the death of

their loved ones, the narrator and Sonny have become closer because they realized that the only
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solution to their bad relationship is to be there for each other. Since Sonny knows that his brother

is always there for him, he achieved his goal of becoming a musician and made everyone

acknowledge him. This story shows that a family will always be there for us no matter what

happens.

Citations:

Murray, Donald C. "James Baldwin's 'Sonny's Blues': Complicated and Simple." Studies

in Short Fiction, vol. 14, no. 4, Fall 77, pp. 353-57. EBSCOhost, 0-

search.ebscohost.com.library.4cd.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=7151144&site=eds-

live.

Baldwin, James. Sonny's Blues. Edited by Kelly J. Mays, the Norton Introduction to
Literature.,12thth ed., Las Vegas, Norton & Company, 2017, pp. 66-93.