Sonnys Blues
Essays

Baldwin's theme of overcoming the desperation that living in an impoverished environment is discussed within this paper. The other themes in the short story, substance abuse and familial relations, merely reinforce this primary theme. An analysis of Baldwin's text and of literary criticism proves this point beyond any reasonable doubts.

This paper discusses James Baldwin's short story "Sonny's Blues." In this story, a young man is trying to get over his addiction to heroin. He replaces this addiction with the love of playing jazz music on the piano. In reality, the drugs and the piano-playing serve the same purpose: to fill a void inside that has been left by suffering through life.