Because alongside the narrator here, we stare at it "in the swinging lights of the subway car, and in the faces and bodies of the people, and in my own face, trapped in the darkness which roar[s] outside."
Because Sonny writes from jail: "I wish I could be like Mama and say the Lord's will be done, but I don't know it seems to me that trouble is the one thing that never does get stopped and I don't know what good it does to blame it on the Lord."
Because the mother says to her less sensitive son: "You may not be able to stop nothing from happening. But you got to let him know you's there."
Because Sonny says to his brother: "I hear you. But you never hear anything I say."
Because Baldwin writes, "All I know about music is that not many people ever really hear it. And even then, on the rare occasions when something opens within, and the music enters, what we mainly hear, or hear corroborated, are personal, private, vanishing evocations. But the man who creates the music is hearing something else, is dealing with the roar rising from the void and imposing order on it as it hits the air. What is evoked in him, then, is of another order, more terrible because it has no words, and triumphant, too, for that same reason. And his triumph, when he triumphs, is ours."
Finally, because: "He and his boys up there were keeping it new, at the risk of ruin, destruction, madness, and death, in order to find new ways to make us listen. For, while the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. There isn't any other tale to tell, it's the only light we've got in all this darkness."
There was a lot "darkness" in this story. It's everywhere - "trapped in the darkness which roared outside" , "All they really knew were two darknesses" , "He says he never in his life seen anything as dark as that road after the lights of that car had gone away." Just to give some examples. Baldwin is not afraid to say it too much. Harlem is a dark place, filled with suffering.
ReplyDeleteI think Sonny and the narrator are both huge, but as much as it may seem to be about Sonny, I think this is the narrator's story. He learned something from Sonny's Blues. He learned that you can't just hide from suffering. It's a part of life, and if you want something, you may have to go through suffering to chase after it. He also needed to understand his brother better, which is what happened when he listened to his blues.
Baldwin's writing is great at putting me in the character. "Everything I did seemed awkward to me, and everything I said sounded freighted with hidden meaning." Or in the moment. "This was the first time I ever saw my mother look old."
I think a really big mystery to the human experience is our inability to feel the repentance of others. We will never feel the way others do about the crimes they commit, even if they are committing the very same crimes as ourselves. It’s like the mistakes we are making behind closed doors are the same mistakes the others are making, but the more unfortunate people, like those in the media or those who just disrupt the pond too much are publicized for all the wrong reasons. I think all of it boils down to what Sonny’s mother says, “You may not be able to stop nothing from happening. But you got to let him know you's there." It’s just being there, but do you know many people who are actually there like that? I don’t know many and within those people their limitations tend to outweigh the help they create, just like Sonny’s brother who is unable to hear what his brother is really saying even in the time that he needs him the most. That in my opinion relates to the second to last quote, “All I know about music is that not many people ever really hear it. And even then, on the rare occasions when something opens within, and the music enters, what we mainly hear, or hear corroborated, are personal, private, vanishing evocations.” I feel like then, even when we come close to explaining the things we can barely find the words to communicate, whoever is listening makes their interpretation of what were saying and then while were finally saying it, it becomes something entirely different that we will try to defend instead of sharing and getting the response we were looking for in the first place, but it’s almost doomed that we don’t get the response we were looking for to begin with?
ReplyDeleteThis story does make me want to be a better person or maybe it gives me some kind of sad-hope that the music you hear can be heard in the same way as someone else hears it. Although I don’t know if that’s what the story is really telling us, but it does bring two brothers who lacked a true understanding of each other into a place of common ground, where at least Sonny’s brother is trying and Sonny, who never felt the need to assimilate into a typical world is finding a place that isn’t as deep as the one he fell into, but still fulfills him. Sonny found the outlet of music and plays blues and jazz to lessen the pain and suffering he has endured and still haunts him as a very real option for his life. He reaches out to his brother who although we can feel this disconnect as the reader, we also can see how he almost gets it, sitting there in the Jazz club. It’s the ‘almost’ that becomes the part of the music that has no words because it’s an understanding without the bright lights or warm and fuzzy ‘movie’ tears. It’s the part of the music that is the purpose of everything else before and after it in this particular story. The ‘almost’ is as close of an understanding we come to the human experience of these two brothers.
Also I really liked the pacing of the story and felt like that beginning, drawing on the voice of the brother was very detailed and specific to how his character stayed throughout the rest of the story. I also really think the double focus of characters makes the story really round and full and thus creates a strong attachment to both characters and makes you really want to see their relationship blossom.
and i really agree with Rory, I think Baldwin is so great at putting 'me' in the character because its so similar to how people really are. We are all so very awkward atleast 85% of the time, some of you even more.
THis si a story that kind of hit home for me like Autumn said with the reputance of others and bad things they have done. I think with the background setting being that of Harlem, a lot fo people dont realize how hard it is to grow up in a place like that, i have little experience with something like that but having grown up near Compton, East L.A. and Watts I have seen hard life and what it looks like.
ReplyDeleteI really like how Baldwin is incredible at putting the "me" on into the main character, i felt closer with the main character as i read on.
Since I’ve got strep and won’t be in class tomorrow to be one of the discussion leaders…
ReplyDeleteI absolutely loved the ending of this story. Throughout the beginning of it, when we learn little tidbits about Sonny, I was waiting for more like to be breathed into the character and I certainly got it at the end when he’s playing the blues. It felt like I was finally getting to know this title character, even though it wasn’t through direct characterization. The language throughout that part really kept the pace moving and kept me reading and wanting to know more about the characters. I almost wish I could hear how they sound….which may be my fever talking.
With the suffering that happens throughout this piece, it really, I don’t know, “spoke to me.” I really felt the pain that narrator was trying to express and when his mother was telling the story to him about his father’s brother, oh my. I think Baldwin certainly knows how to make his characters feel real. Now, I’m not sure if that’s because we are reading a first person narrator, or if it’s just because James Baldwin is just that good.
I would agree with Rory that this is the Narrator's story. While that may be seen as a conceit, that it's easy to call any story from a first person perspective "The Narrator's Story" I don't think that's the case here. It's interesting that the story is titled "Sonny's Blues" in that respect, because it's not really about "Sonny's Blues," but rather about the narrator's "Sonny Blues," if you'll forgive the inherent cheesiness of that statement. The story here really isn't about Sonny himself, but rather it's a look at the Narrator's views on life as a reflection of Sonny.
ReplyDeleteMusic and Drugs work as dual themes of the story, perhaps that's why I enjoyed it as much as I did, as the two tend to be themes I rely on in my stories as well. They seemed to work as foils of each other in this story, one working in contrast with one another in relation to Sonny's humanity.
He's definitely my second favorite Baldwin brother.
ReplyDeleteWhat stands out in this story to me (the Scotch-Irish German from South Jersey) is the differences in the narrator's and the brother's way to cope with society. The narrator tries to blend in with the dominant white society, which subtly, at this time in history, rejects him for his skin color. The brother on the other hand, actively rebels against the white status quo. He does hard drugs and becomes (if only in spirit) a part of the Beat society of the 1950s. The narrator even wonders if Sonny is smoking defiantly or habitually. I think this is an interesting way to tell a story. While the narrator is trying to help his brother, he is coming from a completely different angle of a shared background.
I thought it was interesting how Rory pointed out that there is a lot of darkness described in this story by the narrator. In the same vein that I've (glibly; just kidding, I never sound intelligent) mentioned above, I think this was done intentionally by Baldwin. The narrator almost has a betrayed-his-people kind of feel to him, and thusly (I've used that a lot, still not sure its a word), I think this darkness relates to his attitude. Sonny, however is passionate, if not flawed.
I saw the movie Precious yesterday, and this story brought back a lot of the same emotions. Both are about living in a world alongside darkness, and facing that darkness, identifying it, and finding beauty in the midst of it. Baldwin takes the the platitude of "finding the good in everything" and spins a touchingly real story from it. I was glad it didn't end on paage 72 like I first thought it would. The last three pages were amazing, the best part of the story.
ReplyDeleteIt's another new twist on the oldest classic that ever lived. Like when the famous artists became more diverse, more than just the people that painted landscapes and Biblical scenes and portraits of kings and queens. You can't ignore the darkness of life, the best you can do is draw it close to you and create something beautiful from it. Then share it with as many people as you can.
I thought this story gives a very interesting perspective on the playing on music. In a normal situation, you hear the music, and judge the music based on the sound of the insturment, or the talent of the artist.
ReplyDeleteIn this situation, we the artist's story first. We see this world full of darkness - pain, drugs, suffering, death, accidents, etc. We see a troubled community full of people like Sonny who are searching for meaning - or simply a way out. And at the end of the story, we hear Sonny's blues. And now we can see what has led to them - we can hear the pain and sadness behind the music, and it leads one to believe that more goes into it than just writing notes on a paper or drawing ones hand to a keyboard. Very touching and interesting story.
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ReplyDeleteI can recommend this story to my friens, it influenced me a lot! if you are interested in James Baldwin's art and his Notes o a native son in particular, visit bigpaperwriter.com
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