The story “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin demonstrates that although suffering is inevitable, it has the ability to bring people closer together. This is conveyed through the use of characterization and symbolism within the text. Sonny, the narrator’s brother, struggles with heroin addiction and ends up getting arrested and sent to prison. The narrator then experiences the death of his daughter and begins to communicate with Sonny again, allowing him to learn about Sonny’s passion for music, and for them to help each other through their hardships. In the story the narrator and his brother Sonny learn to understand more about each other, after the pain that they have both endured, despite coping with it in different ways. Characterization aids in demonstrating this, because the narrator choses to go down the safer path, while Sonny goes with the more creative route, by becoming a jazz musician. Furthermore, the darkness mentioned in the story symbolizes the struggles that they are experiencing, while the light represents the relief that they get from their suffering. The use of binary opposites for the characters and the symbols, help to portray that even though suffering is unavoidable, it can strengthen the relationship that individuals have with each other.
The narrator and Sonny are two distinct characters, meaning that they cope with their struggles differently. This forces them to have to accept each other’s differences, allowing them to grow closer together. The unnamed narrator of the story lives his life as an algebra teacher. He chooses a safer option that allows him to live a life that is considered to be more orderly and respectable. When Sonny first tells his brother that he would like to become a jazz musician the narrator asks, “‘Doesn't all this take a lot of time? Can you make a living at it?…you know people can't always do exactly what they want to do’”(11). Despite the fact that Sonny lets his brother know that he only wants to be a jazz musician, the narrator is unsure about allowing his sibling to do so. According to their father these musicians were “goodtime people” (10), with this instilled in him, he became unsure of allowing Sonny to go down a path with an uncertain future. It is evident that he is scared for Sonny’s future since he even goes on to ask if he could make a living out of it. He would much rather have his little brother chose a stable occupation instead of having him chose something that he “wants” to do. Sonny is the opposite of his brother, he feels as though certain risks are worth taking. For example, because of his passion for music, he is persistent on becoming a jazz musician, regardless of how unsure the future would be, with that occupation. During the conversation between Sonny and his brother he states, “‘I think people ought to do what they want to do, what else are they alive for?’”(11). Unlike his brother Sonny acts based on emotions instead of rational thinking. His passion for music overcomes the standards set by society. He feels no need in restricting himself to do things that he finds no joy in, and restraining himself from the endless possibilities. All in all, the narrator and Sonny are binary opposites because, the eldest would rather restrict himself for a more secure future, while Sonny would rather do the things that he has a passion for, even with the dangers that come from doing it.
Baldwin uses the idea of darkness to symbolize the suffering that the brothers face. The author also uses the idea of light to represent the positive aspects of their life, which is the relief that they get from their pain. A mixture of symbolism and imagery is used to show the suffering that the two main characters face. The narrator himself lives a good life, he has a good job as well as a family to care for and love. The dark part of his life is the promise that he made to his mom, and the burden of caring for Sonny. In the text it states, “I stared at it in the swinging lights of the subway car, and in the faces and bodies of the people, and in my own face, trapped in the darkness which roared outside” (1). The swinging lights of the subway car were what allowed him to read about Sonny’s imprisonment because of his drug use. This light allowed him to have more insight about his brother after not contacting each other for so many years.The darkness is the guilt that he feels upon reading this news, because he not only had he contributed to Sonny’s addiction by not being there to support him, but he had also not fulfilled his responsibility as an older brother. Without light there can be no darkness and vice versa. This implies that although suffering itself can not be avoided, if there is suffering there is bound to also be happiness. For example the text states, “But something deep and watchful in the child knows that this is bound to end, is already ending… And when light fills the room, the child is filled with darkness” (7). Regarding this quote, it can be inferred that the child is implying about Sonny. The darkness that he faces is his drug addiction. Through his music he is able to find light and happiness, his pain doesn’t hurt him as much anymore. However, regardless of this new form of expression Sonny is still aware of the chance that a relapse will happen, even on his road to recovery from drug addiction. For the narrator, the light is the happy and stable life that he is living and the darkness is the issue of taking care of Sonny in place of his mother. For Sonny the light is the passion that he has for playing jazz and the darkness is his use of drugs, and the possible chance of a relapse occurring.
The suffering that both Sonny and the narrator experienced brought them closer together, and made them have a deeper understanding about each other. The narrator had made a promise with his mother in which he would look after Sonny and be there for him. Despite forgetting about this promise, he soon remembers about it after his daughter dies of polio. In the text the narrator states, “And I didn't write Sonny or send him anything for a long time. When I finally did, it was just after my little girl died” (4)
The suffering and grief that he felt after Gracie died, made him remember about the death of his mother and the promise. It also allowed him to understand the pain that Sonny was going through, which is why he made the decision to write him a letter. This letter made him “feel like a bastard” (4), because it allowed him to understand the pain that Sonny was going through because he wasn’t there to support him. Sonny too has gone through suffering, regarding his use of drugs and his overall state of hopelessness. Despite everything that he has done, he wasn’t able to relieve his pain until he found music. Despite the bad aspects of his drug abuse, it was this as well as his music that allowed him to finally communicate with his brother. Him talking to his brother about all his pent up issues allowed them to grow closer. In the text Sonny states, “‘I couldn't tell you when Mama died—but the reason I wanted to leave Harlem so bad was to get away from drugs” (18). After all of the suffering that Sonny had to go through alone, once he talked with his brother, he was slowly able to open up. Him opening up resulted in the narrator being able to understand his views on handling suffering, his reason for wanting to leave Harlem, and most importantly the role that music played in his life. Overall, because of the suffering that the two main characters went through, they learned to express their feelings to each other. Despite the break in their relationship, the narrator’s suffering changed his view on Sonny allowing him to also learn to comprehend the pain in Sonny’s music.
Everybody experiences suffering because it is inevitable, however this suffering can strengthen bonds and bring people closer together. Baldwin used a combination of literary techniques such as characterization and symbolism to portray the suffering that the characters went through. In the end this suffering allowed them to understand more about each other’s perspectives and intentions. Although happiness is what is desired in today’s society, without suffering there would be no happiness. The idea of suffering is not forever, it can be relieved and people can redeem themselves. Similar to how the narrator did with his promise, and how Sonny did with his drug abuse. In conclusion, the narrator and Sonny demonstrate how even though suffering is handled differently by everybody, it can connect people together and make them appreciate one another more.