The Theme of Narration throughout Short Story “Sonny Blues”
Narration in the field of literature is regarded as the process of recounting a sequence of events in a story. Narration uses either written or spoken commentary in conveying the story to the audience. It is also termed as storytelling, and the person recounting the events is the narrator. It is worth noting that the story “Sonny Blues” uses narration to provide insight into Sonny as well as their environment. It is through the narration that the readers get the narrative and the alternative view of Sonny’s life. In the play, the narrator is the Sonny’s brother, as well as the main character. He is a math teacher in high school and a family man. The theme of narration is used throughout “Sunny Blues” to highlight the cycles of suffering, family bonds, and passion, and control.
The theme of narration is used in the story to illustrate the cycles of suffering, which is the central concern of the story. Baldwin stresses the fact that suffering is a universal and cyclical concept. He shows that suffering often leads to more suffering and how it affects personal life and that of the family and society generally. The story was set in 1950s Harlem – a society filled with blacks, showing the stressful lives that awaited the black men in America. This has been explicitly portrayed through the reflections of the narrator on the painful life experiences that his students were facing as well as the difficulty he and Sonny had leaving Harlem. Baldwin writes that “I had begun to wonder about Sonny, about the life that Sonny lived inside that made him older and thinner…” (127). Some of the life difficulties include drugs, violence, and rage. Based on the narrator’s feelings, Harlem becomes a trap, a place characterized by violence and suffering owing to the trauma and racism experienced by the residents. The aspect of suffering is also revealed through the kinds of lives the members of the narrator’s family had to undergo. First, his father’s despair following him witnessing his brother die shows the guilt and sadness of his failure to watch over Sonny with is drug addiction. Regardless of the fact that he is a school teacher, he has not been able to provide better opportunities for his children. His daughter dies of polio, and he becomes a worried man of his sons like Sonny will become a drug addict since drugs are everywhere on the streets of their neighborhood. Furthermore, the narrator portrays the fact that suffering makes people bitter and leads people to addiction, illnesses, or death. At first, the narrator seems to be living a better life, but he later becomes resentful and afraid. However, Baldwin shows how suffering can be lessened; the narrator joins the jazz club to express his pain to take control over it.
The theme of narration is also used to illuminate the aspect of family bonds of brotherly love. The element of family bond has been well portrayed in the story through the narrator’s failure to keep the promise of his mother that confirms his presence for Sonny. As Baldwin states, “I won’t forget. Don’t you worry, I won’t forget. I won’t let nothing happen to Sonny” (133). The halfheartedly met obligations are also seen when the family of the narrator’s wife takes orphaned Sonny. The primary intention is not met since it clearly shows they only did this because there was a need and not because they had compassion for Sonny’s predicament. Consequently, Sonny’s problems and despair were further fueled by these familial indifference instances that further confirms the power of family. However, when family obligations are met with compassion are mutually rewarding. The need to build a family on compassion becomes more apparent through the narrator’s growth when Sonny moves in with his family. Initially, the narrator thinks that he is obliged to take care of Sonny since he is stable and has to give Sonny something, yet, he will get nothing in return. Later, he understands and accepts Sonny the way he is and forgives himself for the guilt of failing his mother and brother. Both Sonny and the narrator need each other – Sonny needs a place to stay compassion, and on the other hand, the narrator needs someone who strives for joy despite the sufferings around them, making the bond to be of mutual benefit. Additionally, there is a complexity of this kind through the narrator’s promise to his mother, which was he was forced to make. His mother construes the promise to be a corrective move since his father failed to protect his brother from a violent death. Indeed, compassion for a family member can lead to surprising rewards like relief from individual suffering.
The theme of narration is also used to illustrate passion, control, and restraint. Through narration, the reader can realize that both the narrator and Sonny are all black Americans and live in a world that controls them at the same time, overwhelming because it is full of suffering. Baldwin shows the two brothers as having two different responses to the suffering. One is after passion, artistic expression, and determined to leave the traditional life to find meaning, whereas the other aims at being responsible and pursuing an orderly life. In essence, they strive for these lives to try to control their suffering. They can help each other by sharing life skills and ways to cope with pain. It is clear that the narrator lives responsibly and must make rational decisions. He has a family and works as a high school math teacher, and he is worried that the choices he has made in life have not led him to a better experience. Also, his sacrifices have not provided better opportunities for thus children compared to the ones he had. His obsession with choosing a path that would lead him to a better life has actually made him suffer since he has never focused on finding joy and meaning in his life. Sonny, on the other hand, has had his love for music since his childhood and determined to make a life out of it because he believes people should do what makes them happy. As Baldwin writes, “I think people ought to do what they want to, what else are they alive for?” (135). However, his ambition for music led him astray as he becomes a drug addict and eventually goes to prison. He channels his suffering in a positive direction through music; hence the need for one another.
The narrator, through his perspective, readers are able to get and understand the narrative. The narration also provides an alternative view of Sonny’s life, including his drug addiction that affects his education and eventually goes to jail. Someone living a professional life suddenly becomes interested in what motivates someone termed as a loser to cope with his suffering. It is, therefore, important that readers hear the story through the narrator because Sonny could have been an unreliable narrator. Thus, through narration, the author highlights the cycles of suffering, family bonds, and passion, and control in the story.
Work Cited
Baldwin, James, and George Kirby. Sonny’s blues. Klett, 1970.