Preapared by R.

N Raut
Active academy College, Basundhara, Kathamandu

Critical commentary on Sonny’s Blues

James Baldwin is a black American writer who was born on august 2, 1924, in New York’s
Harlem neighbourhood. Most of his literary creations are related with black’s feelings,
emotions and sufferings etc. Sonny’s Blues is one of his literary creation in which the theme
of race and racism has been highlighted by the writer. In the story, Sonny Blues, Baldwin has
articulated how the African-American culture enabled countless numbers of Blacks to
escape, survive, endure and overcome various types of institutionalized racism and
accompanying forms of social, economical and political oppression. African-American
culture refers to a particular society at a particular time and place, which expresses and
shares a set of learned beliefs, values, traditions, history, arts, religion, food and music. The
different forms of the African-American culture gave blacks a sense of belongings. Music is a
powerful language, which speaks to us, moves and fills us with emotion. In the story the
writer has focused on these two characters as having two different perspectives on life,
which keeps them apart. The voice of Jazz music mediates the relationship between two
brothers. The young brother, Sonny is energized by the emptiness that surrounds him and
his community. The African-American culture is the source of his inspiration but he becomes
overwhelmed in the process of facing reality. He turns to drugs as an escape from what he
sees and experiences. He has been arrested in the blame of drug addiction. When the story
comes to the ending, Sonny is out of prison. He realizes that drug has replaced his desire of
jazz music. When he performs jazz music in front of the audience, he forgets drugs and gets
satisfaction in his arts. He exposes his inner feelings and emotions, miseries and troubles
through the medium of jazz music. He represents the black community in America where
the politics of racism by the whites has displaced the blacks. Black people were exploited,
dominated and discriminated by the whites. So Sonny has searched some medium of
expressing his suffering and converted himself druggist. Through medium of jazz music he
wants to create his own separate identity. But his elder brother does not do anything for
creating own identity in the society. He distances himself from the dangers of the world that
surrounds him. The way of survival of elder brother is detachment. The price he has pays for
detaching himself from the life in Harlem is the temporary loss of his roots, culture,
extended family and community.

This story is also presented beautifully about the relation between Drug and Art. Mostly
taking drug is taken as negatively while creating and playing music is taken as very creative
and inspiring work. The writer is attempting to justify another idea that drug and music are
intoxicating but artistic intoxicating is not negative and harmful like that of drug. Sony
avoids drug and starts music which is very symbolic suggestion by the writer because he
indirectly suggests that art such as music is far better than drug for pleasure and
intoxication. This story is also a satire over the degrading social values in America. The writer
suggests that American societies are not emotionally united. If the whites and blacks don’t
have emotional union, America is not really united. The story also attacks the disintegration
of American families because of the capitalist ideology. The narrator’s mother tells him the
story of his uncle, she also reminds him the importance of brother for Sonny and even the
narrator realizes the value of the family members after the death of his daughter. After the
death of his daughter two brothers are united to each other. Growing capitalism in America
has been disintegrating the families and the writer is criticising such realty. He focuses on
the integrative power of the family which is lacking in America.

Baldwin has written this story by using simple plot with some flashback of the past. The
setting is used in America by using the realism in characterization. Among many characters,
Sonny is the protagonist character in the typical characterization. He is also the mouth-
peace of the black writer and his domination in the end of the story reflects the black
people leading to success after that long history of struggle. There is first person narrative
technique used as well as symbolic language. The reality of the race and racism in America,
the identity crisis of the blacks and their quest of original identity as well as the intoxicating
relationship between drug and music all are symbolically presented by the writer.