Sonny’s Blues – James Baldwin

This is one of those realistic stories that I really enjoyed. It was a story I could relate to and feel the emotion that the writer was trying to depict. James Baldwin is noted as being one of the most important American black writers of the 20th century. He was born and raised in Harlem, NY and it shows in his story of “Sonny’s Blues” which takes place in Harlem. The narrator who is unnamed is an algebra teacher who has a brother, Sonny, that is a heroin addict. The narrator is married and has a daughter while Sonny has neither. This shows the extreme difference of the two brothers.
One day, the narrator sees in a newspaper that Sonny has been arrested for selling heroin. This troubles him, but he tries to ignore it, but while the narrator was finishing up a school day at work, he sees and recognizes one of Sonny’s drug buddies waiting on him. The narrator realizes he is high, but in frustration, he walks and talks with him. This man is telling the narrator of what will happen to Sonny with jail and rehab, but that he will eventually be out again. The narrator is anger, frustrated and confused. While Sonny is in rehab, the narrator loses his daughter to polio and he writes his brother to tell him of it. After Sonny is released, he comes to live with his brother temporarily. The narrator gets his wife’s parents to let Sonny come stay with them while he goes back to school and practice his piano playing, but soon, Sonny is skipping school and is hanging out in jazz bars and Sonny’s brother is constantly suspicious of his brother doing drugs again. Sonny asks his brother to come watch him play in one of the clubs and he agrees to. At first, Sonny has difficulty playing, but eventually Sonny becomes a part of the music and he ends up playing beautifully. Then for the first time in years, they briefly have a bonding moment and all is well.
This story uses flashback to give meaning to a few of the circumstances the narrator is involved in. The mood changes from time to time, but only slightly in variation. I think that this story is a reflection of the writers life and the experiences he had and seen in his life. In this area of location, drugs are a prominent aspect of life for many as well as the varied lives of the people. Some succeed while others do not.