Sonny's Blues
“Sonny’s Blues” is a 1957 short story by James Baldwin first published in Partisan Review.
| “Sonny’s Blues” | |
|---|---|
| Author | James Baldwin |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Published in | Partisan Review |
| Publication date | 1957 |
Plot
- The story begins with the unnamed narrator on his way to work as a math teacher and opening up a newspaper finding out his brother, Sonny had been arrested for using and selling heroin. [1] The whole day his mind was set on the disturbing news. When his class was over, a friend of Sonny's came through the school yard to talk to the narrator about the situation and that he felt responsible for getting sonny hooked.[2]After the narrator daughter died of polio, he felt the need to write Sonny.[3]When sonny got out of jail he had to live with the narrator wife Isabel's parents so that he could go to school and have access to a piano.[4] Meanwhile, Sonny did not go to school, he started doing acid.[5]After that he ran off to the navy and came back, him and the narrator got into a argument which made the narrator try to figure out sonny.[6]So he goes to where sonny plays the piano and likes it and he send his brother a drink of a alcoholic scotch and milk.[7]
Sonny really didn't have no remorse for losing his parents at all.[3]
Characters
Narrator: He is a math teacher and he is 7 years older than Sonny.
Sonny: He is the narrator's brother, jazz musician, and heroin addict who lived in New York.
Isabel: The wife of the narrator.
Major themes
• One of the major themes is power of music, Sonny compares music's affective power to that of heroin. It makes him feel, "warm and cool at the same time" distant, sure and in control.[8]
•A theme presented in the story is brotherly division. The symbology of the death of Grace plays an essential role in both the narrator and Sonny’s relationship. Sonny’s fall from grace depicts his morality and corroded decisions leading to an isolated life.[9] A fall from grace always has consequences in Christianity. The family is sorrowed over the death of the narrator’s daughter, leading to disintegration of grace within the brothers, causing them to drift apart and threatens to destroy their relationship.[10]
Development history
~history of the work's development, if available (e.g., “The Man Who Studied Yoga”)~
Publication history
~*year, country, publisher ISBN 1234567890, Pub date DD Month Year, binding~
Explanation of the Story’s Title
~Explain the work's title if it's not immediately obvious (e.g., Things Fall Apart)~
Literary significance and reception
~description of the work's initial reception and legacy based on the work of literary critics and commentators over the years, give citations; if no literary significance should just be called reception~
Awards and nominations
~lists awards the work received, and significant nominations, if applicable; include in reception if brief~
Adaptations
~references to major film, TV, theatrical, radio, etc. adaptations, if applicable~
Citations
- ↑ Sipiora 2002, p. 79.
- ↑ Sipiora 2002, p. 80-82.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Sipiora 2002, p. 82.
- ↑ Sipiora 2002, p. 90.
- ↑ Sipiora 2002, p. 91.
- ↑ Sipiora 2002, p. 92.
- ↑ Sipiora 2002, p. 99.
- ↑ Sipiora 2002, p. 94.
- ↑ Stone 2013, p. 2.
- ↑ Stone 2013, p. 3.
Works Cited
See also: Annotated Bibliography
- Sipiora, Phillip (2002). Reading and Writing about Literature. Upper Sandal River: Prentice Hall. p. 94.
Stone, Caitlin (Oct 2013). "Lost and Found: The Fall of Grace in Sonny's Blues". The Explicator. 71 (4): 251–254.
- Eui Young, Kim, (2018 July-Sept). The Sociology of the Ghetto in James Baldwin's Sonny's Blues. Taylor & Francis, Routledge: journal article Language of Publicatin: English Update Code: 2011901. p. 161-165. Check date values in:
|date=(help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)' Due to Baldwin's compelling portrayal of brotherly estrangement and the difficult process of reconciliation, critics have frequently elided the dense description of the physical setting.
Eui Young, Kim (Oct 2013). "The Sociology of the Ghetto in James Baldwin's Sonny's Blues". The Explicator. 94890 (2019402391): 161–165.
External links
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