James Baldwin Critcal Analysis

“Sonny’s Blues,” a story about two black brothers that are struggling with themselves and the limitations put upon them by society, is a great example of this common theme. The story begins with the narrator, Sonny’s brother, telling us of how he read about his brother being arrested for drug use. Right in first paragraph the narrator depicts reading the newspaper article under the lights in a subway and stared at the article, at other people “and in my own face, trapped in the darkness which roared outside” (pg. 103). This is the first clue to Baldwin’s theme of oppression; Sonny’s brother is letting us know that he has not escaped Harlem and lifestyle that goes along with it. This “Light vs. Dark” example is common throughout the three Baldwin pieces. The story “Man Child” does not have any black characters in it, but Baldwin still manages to put in the “Light vs. Dark” example, when at the end of the story, when Jamie kills Eric, Baldwin states that the “terror and agony a

“Sonny’s Blues” is a story about what oppression can drive a person to become and how they can escape that. In this story it is Sonny escaping from his drug addiction. His brother described him as being such handsome kid, full of life, then, just like any other youth, he hit the ceiling of his possibilities, and realizing his situation, turned to drugs as an escape. After getting arrested, and going through rehab, he put all his focus on music, and that became his escape. He decided that he probably would never escape Harlem, but at least he could something of their cultural struggle with music, by playing blues. He could tell his story through the music and be constructive in that way. Baldwin seems to be suggesting that there really was no way to escape the oppression, and really the only way to save yourself was to make something good out of the struggle, Sonny’s music just being one example of that.

nd darkness overtook him” (pg. 80). Earlier on in “Man Child” there is a scene where Eric was laying in his mothers arms, in the bright sun, and did not want to get up and leave the light. Then as the situation with Jamie unfolds, Eric is dragged into the darkness which ultimately leads to his death. In “Man Child” Baldwin describes her eyes as lightless, and absence of light is dark, he saw hopelessness and sadness in her eyes, she was trapped in the darkness just like the rest of them.

Much of “Sonny’s Blues” concentrates on the difference between Sonny and his brother. Sonny has a more spiritual and spontaneous personality, he likes music and took drugs as a way of attaining wisdom. His brother on the other hand was a very organized, black and white character. He taught algebra, solving everything through equations, never stepping out of what he was familiar with. Though they were completely different people, they both wanted the same thing, to escape Harlem, Sonny through his drugs and music, and his brother through job teaching. Really their struggle is to accept their situation, at the very end of the story when Sonny is playing with the band, his brother watching, Sonny’s brother describes them as “up there in the indigo light” (pg. 140). Indigo light being a very dark color, so they were in a dark light, then he tells us about the waiter bringing Sonny a Scotch and milk, a mixture of a very dark drink, with a light one, both descriptions give you a

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