Sonny's Blues by James Balwin

Notes from the discussion today in class. 
 
 1. Suffering is a major theme in “Sonny’s Blues”. What internal and external factors contribute to Sonny’s suffering? How does Sonny’s art/music communicate his pain? How does his pain reflect the suffering of his community? 
 
 Internal Conflict External Conflict
 different brothers drugs
 depression/unstable harlem
 loneliness - -no family support little opportunities
 family didn’t support his passions uncle’s death 
 narrator doesn’t understand socio-economic constraints/ poverty
 inability to escape 
 war trauma 
 
 Give examples from the text as evidence. You can quote, paraphrase or discuss events from the text. Remember to introduce the quote or paraphrase, give the quote or paraphrase and then explain the quote. It's called a quote sandwich. 
 
 Music gave Sonny an outlet. It gave him feelings of control possibly (although you could also argue that the music was so strong that it played through Sonny and he didn’t create the music so possibly more lack of control than control - up to interpretation). He uses music to express his emotions and the improvisation nature of the music allows him to be creative. Blues gives a ‘voice’ to his feelings. 
 The music reflects Sonny’s feelings and the feelings, the pain of the family and of the community. See the end of

the story for quotes on that - when the narrator sees Sonny play in 
 the bar and he comes to realize how important the music is to Sonny. The music gives sound to the past, the present and the future as well as the past of the community and the pains of slavery. 
 
 
 2. Illustrate, using textual evidence, how Baldwin uses the themes of light and darkness to reflect the struggles of Sonny and his brother. 
 See Richie’s notes on the light/dark question and his list of textual evidence in this weeks module. 
 Ask yourself what does he do with the use of light/dark.
 Remember the scene where the adults tell each other stories about slavery and their pain 
 The light represents innocence possibly, or at least the idea that once there is light things can be seen, be faced, and dealt with. 
 
 The dark might represent the refusal to face the pain. 
 
 Think of the dark of the nightclub. The musicians start playing out in the dark and then move forward to play under the light once they get going. 
 
 The cup of trembling glowed at the end - shining a light on the relationship of the brothers perhaps. 
 
 
 3. Grace’s death acts as a catalyst for the narrator’s acknowledgment of his pain and the pain around him. How does the narrator’s loss of control in his personal life allow him to understand Sonny as an artist? 



 We discussed this one briefly. 
 
 
 4. The end of Sonny’s Blues alludes to a mutual understanding and acceptance between brothers. What textual evidence and Biblical symbolism shows the narrator has forgiven Sonny. 
 
 At the end of the story, the narrator describes the glass of milk and scotch sitting on the piano - the cup of trembling. The image is from the Old Testament in the Bible where it is used as a symbol to describe the suffering and fear the people have gone through. The Biblical passage promises relief from that suffering. Here it reminds us of all Sonny’s suffering and also offers the possibility of redemption and the brothers reaching an understanding. 
 At the end, it is not clear if he will continue to suffer in order to play music or be at peace. The scotch and milk - adult drink and child’s drink, possibly representing the two brothers mixing together. 
 It is the final image the reader is left with so it might be an image of hope for the future. 
 Although it is above his head and trembling /glowing, so maybe the coming together of the brothers is vulnerable and precarious. The future is uncertain for these characters, but the cup of trembling confirms that, through music, they’ve both found a way to relieve themselves, at least for a moment, from the suffering in which they’re immersed.
 The narrator, who has finally learned to empathize with and care for his brother, has found relief from his own suffering through Sonny’s music. Baldwin doesn’t imply

that their lives will cease to be hard, but he at least suggests that their mutual love can spare them the worst of their sufferings.