The following quotation, which appears in an annotated bibliography and is in reference to an article by Susan Robbins entitled "Anguish and Anger" that appeared in the Virginia English ulletin in 1986, demonstrates this fact.
Compares James Joyce's "Araby" and James aldwin's "Sonny's lues" in relation to the theme, "Anger and anguish are the fires that burn away innocence…" (59). Sonny gains his freedom from anger and anguish through his music, through playing the blues, and his older brother comes to understand Sonny by listening to Sonny play the blues (Albert, 91)
The reference to anguish in this quotation is important because it demonstrates the feelings of hopelessness and despair that Sonny is enduring, and that others in his neighborhood and in all impoverished neighborhoods are enduring and attempting to overcome. The anger in this quotation is indicative of the type of reaction that Sonny has at the sense of anguish…...
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Bibliography of Jazz Fiction and Jazz Criticism. Westport: Greenwood. 1996. Print.
Music and Understanding in Sonnys BluesSorrow, suffering, loss, and understanding are some of the main themes in James Baldwins Sonnys Bluesbut another theme worth exploring is the power of music to do something to the soul that words cannot do. The title of the short story makes references to Sonnys bluesas in his depressionand his blues, as in his music. Therefore, it is important to consider his music as part of the deeper meaning of the story. The narrator of the story initially feels that Sonny is wasting his life by chasing his dream of being a blues player in a world full of drunks, addicts, and wayward individuals. However, by the end of the story, the narrator has realized that the whole world is that waynot just the world of the blues. In fact, the blues as a form of music become for him a way to transcend the…...
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