This piece was my best work because I felt like I understood the main character's issues with his brother. My brother went through a time similar to what Sonny went through and I had a very hard time learning to trust my brother again. When I finally did, we were able to talk about his past and why he did some of the things that he did. Having that personal insight made me feel like I was able to connect with Sonny's brother.
Megan Weeks
Ms. Beck
ENG 202
26 March 2007
Drugs and Addiction in “Sonny’s Blues”
“
Sonny’s Blues” is the story of two brothers trying to overcome many difficult situations in their lives. The narrator, who remains unnamed throughout the story, is not only constantly trying to overcome the racism and stereotypes of African-Americans in the early 1950s, but is also trying to overcome his reservations about his brother’s drug use and choice of profession. The narrator’s brother, Sonny, is striving to overcome his internal suffering and his heroin addiction. While the story’s author, James Baldwin, writes about the brothers’ past lives before the drug use became an issue, the bulk of the story surrounds drug use by African-Americans in poor cities such as Harlem and New York, and how it affects the individuals as well as their families; but what was the main point that Baldwin was trying make about drug use during this difficult time?
One thing that Baldwin tried to explain through this story is why many people become addicted to drugs in the first place. More often than not, one may become addicted to drugs as a form of self-expression. In the story, Sonny tells his brother that when he was listening to the woman on the street singing, her voice reminded him of what it felt like to be high, “ ‘warm and cool at the same time. And distant. And—sure…It makes you feel—in control’ ” (Baldwin 2210). In a world where white supremacy was the norm, minority groups often felt as if they had no control over their lives—as if what they felt and what they said were meaningless to society. Sonny knew that if he could not get his own brother to understand and accept him, then he had little or no hope of getting society to do so. Sonny tried desperately to express himself through his music. When that was not enough, he resorted to heroin. It gave him a sense of control and expression as well as that extra “edge” that he felt had been missing in his life. Heroin helped him, not so much to play well, but “to stand it, to be able to make it at all” (Baldwin 2210).
Another point that Baldwin tried to clarify was that drug use affects not only the person actually doing the drugs, but that person’s family and friends. When the narrator first read of Sonny’s drug use and then arrest in the paper, it made him feel literally sick. He had suspected that Sonny was using but kept himself in a sort of denial by never trying to find out the truth. He was sad, angry, and disappointed all at the same time. After a while, the narrator finally sent Sonny a letter. When Sonny responded, the narrator decided that he was anxious to see him when Sonny was released. He told Sonny about his kids and his wife and how they were doing. Sonny was told about missing his niece’s death. When they arrived at the narrator’s home, Sonny realized that, while his older nephew remembered him, the younger one did not, though he did like his uncle. In his letter to his brother, Sonny mentioned that he was glad that his mother and father were dead so that they could not see what had happened to their son. He also told his brother how he knew that he had hurt him and that he felt sorry for that, as well as hurting and letting down all of the other people who had been so helpful to him and believed in him (Baldwin 2198). When a person becomes dependent on any substance, the only needs or feelings that they become concerned with are their own. It took Sonny going to jail and rehabilitation to finally see how much he had hurt his family. Not only had he hurt them, but he also had also shattered their trust in him. The narrator constantly considered searching Sonny’s room for evidence that he was using again. If it had not been for the brothers’ outing at the end of the story, they may never have had a chance to bond in any way again. While his brother would probably still doubt Sonny’s sobriety for a long time, their trip to the club was a huge step forward for the narrator. It was a way for him to finally see his brother for who he was, a musician.
Not only is this story about the effects of drug use on a family, but it is also about a man’s struggle to kick that habit. Sonny will have a long way to go before he can honestly say that he is no longer a heroin addict. He realized the pain that he caused his family, and he must learn to deal with that struggle, and he will have a hard time since struggling is what pushed him to using in the first place. If he continues to play music, which at the end of the story seems to be his intention, then he will have to learn to deal with the constant temptation of using again and how to say no to it. He was even tempted by listening to the voice of the woman singing on the street (Baldwin 2210). He will have to become strong enough mentally and physically to make it on his own again. Most importantly, he will have to regain the trust of his brother. he battle will take many years, but it is a necessary step before he can claim the he is fully rehabilitated.
In “Sonny’s Blues.” Baldwin writes about the struggles of being an African-American during the 1950s. However, one of the struggles that he writes about is the constant temptation of drug use. Often in his other stories he wrote more about racism, while in this story he only wrote about the murder of the brothers’ uncle by drunken white men. It seems that in this particular struggle, he wanted his readers to know that racism, while extremely difficult to deal with, was only one of the battles that African-Americans faced during that time.
Works Cited
Baldwin, James. “Sonny’s Blues.” The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Paul Lauter and Richard Yarborough. 5th ed. Vol. E. Boston: Houghton Miller Company, 2006. 2194-2215.
Class Lecture on “Sonny’s Blues”: For the Jazz and Literature Unit of Literature and Social History; An AP Class in English Literature. U.C. Davis University. 27 March 2007. http://cai.ucdavis.edu/uccp/sblecute.html#bebop.
