Music in "Sonny's Blues"

Book Review # 98152

English > Analysis
Literature > American

A discussion on James Baldwin's use of music in his short story, "Sonny's Blues".

1,292 words () | 0 sources | 2000 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how in "Sonny's Blues", Baldwin uses the power of music as the bridge which unites two very different Harlem brothers. It looks at how Baldwin uses music to show the contrast in attitudes between Sonny and is brother and how he also uses it as the mediator that brings Sonny and his brother in touch with themselves and one another.

From the Paper:

"Sonny's brother is a math teacher at a Harlem high school. He does not have much respect or even much hope for his students. He is very skeptical towards them, as he is toward the whole community in general. He has alienated himself from his community and stereotypes its members. He labels individuals into different categories: "the drug addict", "the semi-whore", the "good-time people". Just as he is disengaged from the people of Harlem, Sonny's brother is disengaged from the music that surrounds him. "