Analysis of Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin

laddies vapours by author mob Baldwin tells the tale of devil brothers one good and one evil. The narrator agonyts the two brothers as blithe and dark. The author James Baldwin writes closely his race with his brother cub whom was the dark brother. In essence, this story is ab extinct the assay of two black brothers growing up in Harlem. This essay incorporates the struggles that portentous men and women go through and through on a daily basis.though both brothers were from the ghetto, the narrator seems to confine assimilated into the larger society/culture he was a school teacher doing generally well in what we claim life. Sonny on the other hand turned to drugs (heroin) to escape from the pain and suffering he endured growing up a black manhood in the 1950s. Sonnys Blues similarly tells the reader about how art and music was a huge part of Black communitys lives in Harlem. Many looked towards music for an escape Sonny turned towards Jazz to release his pain and ang uish. This story does have a biblical theme behind it.Like the story of white and darkness in the volume, Baldwin uses these phrases to reference the life or the characters. One critic agrees with this Biblical reading author James Tackach actually wrote a criticism called the biblical foundation of James Baldwins Sonnys Blues. Tackachs reading was based on Baldwins real life. He expressed that Baldwin was innate(p) in the Church and therefore knew the Bible intimately. Tackach fells as though Baldwin uses his extensive k at presentledge of Biblical stories to help tell the tale of Sonny and his brother.In Tackachs critical analysis of Sonnys Blues, he writes that no other critical analysis has identified the two main biblical texts that form the foundation of Baldwins story the Cain and Abel story and the story of the overweening Son. In accordance with Tackachs criticism, I believe that that story did have a Biblical undertone corresponding the two stories listed above. Both stories, Cain and Abel and The Prodigal Son, have the same plot as Sonnys Blues. both of these stories are brothers fighting with one another and each brother in all of three stories has the good and the bad qualities about them.Like antecedently stated, Sonny was the good brother so were the Prodigal son and Cain. Tackach also talked about the cup of trembling which was a Biblical term that symbolizes sinners that were now redeemed. When the narrator sends Sonny a drink at the end of the story, he claims that it is like the cup of trembling. This is another term taken from the Bible to symbolize the relationship between the two brothers. Tackach seems to use biographical and historical criticism when breaking down the story of Sonnys Blues.Like Tackachs, Michael Clarks criticism Light and Darkness in Sonnys Blues also uses the light and darkness to expose the story. The light being the good and the dark being the bad qualities. Unlike Tackachs, Clark uses these toll to ref er to the emotions felt by Sonny when he was on drugs, intellection about his life or when playacting his piano his jazz music. In Sonnys Blues, the narrator writes I feel like a man whos been trying to climb up out of some deep, real deep and funky hole and just power saw the sun up there, outside.I got to get outside. Clark uses the funky hole to describe the darkness and the sun to describe the light. To Clark, the whole story is about how Sonny feels and how his music portrays his emotions, his despair and finally his joy. I agree with Clark, It seems as though Sonny is always in pain or joyous. There seems to be no in between with him. Most of the quantify, Sonny is depressed or melancholy. He only finds real happiness in the last a few(prenominal) sentences of the story. Sonny only expressed his joy when he is clean and playing his beloved piano.This did occur in the beginning of the story too, when Sonny go into Isabelles house. Isabelle had a piano inside and Sonny se emed very capable to know this. Sonny played jazz music all the time until Isabelle and her family received a note saying that Sonny was missing school. aft(prenominal) Sonny was scolded, he stopped playing the piano and began his journey through the darkness. He continued this until the end of the story when he finally kicked his habit. The light and the darkness analogy Clark used were perfect for this story because it captured the struggles Sonny went through, end-to-end the short story.