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Music becomes the symbol that changes the brothers. To emphasize the importance of the power of music, Baldwin's narrator cannot grasp what Sonny is speaking about until he sees him play. It is only when he experiences the sound does he finally "get it." Music bridges the chasm that has existed between these brothers for so long and it literally saves their relationship from further darkness and turmoil. Sonny's blues are the very thing that save his life and, whether he realizes it or not, he is one of the lucky ones in that he found a way to escape - if only for a little while.
Works Cited
Baldwin, James. "Sonny's Blues." The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction R.V. Cassill, ed W.W. Norton and Company. New York: 1981. pp. 22-48.
Champion,...
"Literary Contexts in Short Stories: James Baldwin's 'Sonny's Blues.'" 2006. EBSCO Resource Database. Information Retrieved October 19, 2008. http://search.epnet.com
Murray, Donald. "James Baldwin's 'Sonny's Blues:' Complicated and Simple." Studies in Short Fiction. EBSCO Resource Database. Information Retrieved October 19, 2008. http://search.epnet.com
Reilly, John. "Sonny's Blues': James Baldwin's Image of Black Community." Negro American Literature Forum. 1970. JSTOR Resource Database. Information Retrieved October 19, 2008. http://www.jstor.org
Tackach, James. The Biblical Foundation of James Baldwin's 'Sonny's Blues." Renascence. EBSCO Resource Database. Information Retrieved October 19, 2008. http://search.epnet.com
Works Cited
Baldwin, James. "Sonny's Blues." The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction R.V. Cassill, ed W.W. Norton and Company. New York: 1981. pp. 22-48.
Champion, Laurie. "Literary Contexts in Short Stories: James Baldwin's 'Sonny's Blues.'" 2006. EBSCO Resource Database. Information Retrieved October 19, 2008. http://search.epnet.com
Murray, Donald. "James Baldwin's 'Sonny's Blues:' Complicated and Simple." Studies in Short Fiction. EBSCO Resource Database. Information Retrieved October 19, 2008. http://search.epnet.com
Reilly, John. "Sonny's Blues': James Baldwin's Image of Black Community." Negro American Literature Forum. 1970. JSTOR Resource Database. Information Retrieved October 19, 2008. http://www.jstor.org
Tackach, James. The Biblical Foundation of James Baldwin's 'Sonny's Blues." Renascence. EBSCO Resource Database. Information Retrieved October 19, 2008. http://search.epnet.com
This is the start of Sonny's brother's awareness of his cultural narrative, but it is a slow process that leaves him unable to comprehend Sonny's musical aspirations (699). Even what he thinks of as music doesn't line up with Sonny's more in-tune tastes; Sonny refers to Armstrong -- whom his brother thinks of as representing jazz/blues -- as "that old-time, down-home crap," with certain implications of racial turncoating (699). Eventually,
Ellison The literary work of Ralph Ellison is among the most studied and the most controversial. In the context of African-American writers Ellison is both revered and despised for the manner in which he wrote (or failed to write) concerning the question of race. His essay "The World and the Jug" written in 1963 explores the important topic of race and the functions of literature. The purpose of this discussion is