What Is Blue? Sonnys Blues, by James Baldwin, is a story about the relationship between two brothers. The central Idea of this story is how peoples own experiences of personal hardships make them better able to empathize with the troubles of others. Language is the dominant element employed by Baldwin, in which he uses imagery in the story. The imagery of light and dark is prevalent throughout this story and plays an important role in creating a VIsual mental picture, which gives way to underlying messages for the reader to decipher. The story begins with the brother, who is riding the subway and reading about the arrest of his brother Sonny. The brother stared at it (newspaper article) in the swinging lights of the subway car, representing that this could be either good or bad for Sonny and himself; he could not decide.
Though, while stll on the train, the brother felt, trapped in the darkness which roared outside, which leads the reader to believe that the situation is more gloomy than pleasant. The brother then thought back to a time in Sonnys youth and recalled how Sonny looked as a child. The brother remembered Sonnys boyish appearance as, his face had been bright and open, there was a lot of copper in it. The image of ight in sonnys tace suggests that he was a blisstul and affable child. The copper light adds to Sonnys disposition with a warm and caring nature. While in prison Sonny responds to a written correspondence from his brother. In his letter Sonny describes what it is like for him to be in prison as, I feel like a man whos been trying to climb up out of some deep, real deep and funky hole and just saw the sun up there, outside. I got to get outside. This metaphor statement of imagery showS how dismal sonny viewed his situation and the struggle he knew it would take for him to get back on the right track, back into the light
Though to Sonnys benefit, he could see the light at the end of the dark tunnel he is in, is able to follow it, and get out After Sonny is released from prison the brother meets him and describes the look of Sonnys face as that of, an animal waiting to be coaxed into the light. Like an animal hiding in the dark that does not trust its surroundings, Sonny is unsure and does not know if he can trust the world outside, a world that led him to prison. Later in the story it is discovered that Sonnys father witnessed the murder of his own brother one night. It was late at night, they were walking home, feeling kind of good, and there was a moon that night, it was bright like day. Then after his brother was maliciously run over by a car the tather recalls, he never in his life seen anything as dark as that road after the lights of that car had gone away. The moonlight gave a great visual effect to the joyous time that the father and his brother were having.
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Since it was nightime, this gave a bit of foreshadowing to what ugliness was soon to happen Then the sudden onset of darkness gives the reader the fathers point of view of the traumatic situation. The horrid killing of his brother left him so distraught that his vision was jaded to the bright moonlight. At the end of the story, imagery of light is used beautifully by Baldwin. Sonny takes his brother to a, nightclub on a short, dark street. Once inside, the lights were very dim in this room and we couldnt see and the brother is seated at a table in a dark corner, before Sonny goes on stage. When Sonny and the other band members start to perform, the stage lights, turned to a kind of indigo. During the show the lead band member talks about the blues, what they are and hoW, there isnt any other tale t tell, its the only light weve got in all this darkness. Then Sonny plays his blues. Because the brother believed that Sonnys lifestyle sent him to prison, everything from the lighting in the bar to the place he s seated has a sullied appearance to him. The talk about the blues is representative of the peoples troubles, and having someone to help them through those times is the sunshine at the end of the tunnel. The blue stage lights suggest several things. They symbolize the blues as a type of music, Sonnys struggle to make the music, and the hardship stories told within the music its self.
In conclusion I found Baldwins use of language in, Sonnys Blues, to create imagery is exceptionally well demonstrated. Baldwin employs imagery of light and dark to help foreshadow upcoming circumstances, as well as conveying a message to the reader. Also, the appealing use of light paints Vivid pictures in ones mind, especially at the end of the story with the blue stage lights. My favorite part of this story is at the end. Sonny is on stage, showered in an indigo light, where he is singing the blues, and in his song he sings of his sorrow, his blues. What an incredible use of imagery to illustrate a vivid portrayal that sums up Sonnys life!
References
- biography.com – James Baldwin
- goodreads.com – Reviews and discussion on Sonny’s Blues
- owl.purdue.edu – Research papers guide
- citefast.com – Online citation generator
- scholar.google.com – Scholarly articles on related topics
- academichelp.net – Essay writing guides and tips
- jstor.org – Academic journals and research articles
