"Sonny's Blues" has been one of my favorite stories in Going to Meet the Man so far. I enjoyed watching the narrator and Sonny's relationship unfold. The whole story builds up to Sonny's performance at the nightclub with the narrator watching him play for the first time. This scene was very powerful, and especially touching in the context of the series of events leading up to it.
The narrator has an almost strained relationship with Sonny. He does not agree with Sonny's lifestyle and aspirations to be a musician. When Sonny tells the narrator that he wants to be a musician, the narrator assumes Sonny means a concert pianist. The narrator has a pre-disposed view of jazz, wondering why his brother would "want to spend his time hanging around nightclubs, clowing around on bandstands, while people pushed each other around a dance floor" (Sonny's Blues, 121). To him, jazz is almost beneath Sonny in some way. The narrator's reaction to Sonny's news hurts Sonny, and there's an even deeper blow when the narrator suggests Louis Armstrong. Sonny doesn't want to be like Louis Armstrong; he wants to be like Charlie Parker or Bird, and the narrator struggles with grasping that. Armstrong represented lighthearted happy jazz—the kind that you dance to. Sonny calls Bird one of the greatest jazz musicians alive and Bird was indeed a musical genius that invented bebop. However, Bird struggled with drug addiction throughout his life and Sonny also has a past with drug usage. The narrator knows nothing about and doesn't understand this avant-garde jazz scene that Sonny wants to be a part of and that increases the tension between the two brothers.
There's a conversation right before the nightclub scene in which Sonny's trying to explain the jazz scene he's part of but the narrator just doesn't get it. However, at the nightclub, the narrator is finally able to catch a glimpse of Sonny's world. In the ending nightclub scene, the narrator is able to capture Sonny's struggle at the start to dig deeper into the music all the way to Sunny's breakthrough. From watching Sonny's profound performance, the narrator is able to unlock his emotions. During the performance, the narrator starts envisioning his family. Throughout the story, we see that the narrator struggles with compassion and empathy and that's why he struggles so much with Sonny. This performance is not only a breakthrough for Sonny, but also for the narrator who finally understands what jazz truly means to Sonny.
The narrator has an almost strained relationship with Sonny. He does not agree with Sonny's lifestyle and aspirations to be a musician. When Sonny tells the narrator that he wants to be a musician, the narrator assumes Sonny means a concert pianist. The narrator has a pre-disposed view of jazz, wondering why his brother would "want to spend his time hanging around nightclubs, clowing around on bandstands, while people pushed each other around a dance floor" (Sonny's Blues, 121). To him, jazz is almost beneath Sonny in some way. The narrator's reaction to Sonny's news hurts Sonny, and there's an even deeper blow when the narrator suggests Louis Armstrong. Sonny doesn't want to be like Louis Armstrong; he wants to be like Charlie Parker or Bird, and the narrator struggles with grasping that. Armstrong represented lighthearted happy jazz—the kind that you dance to. Sonny calls Bird one of the greatest jazz musicians alive and Bird was indeed a musical genius that invented bebop. However, Bird struggled with drug addiction throughout his life and Sonny also has a past with drug usage. The narrator knows nothing about and doesn't understand this avant-garde jazz scene that Sonny wants to be a part of and that increases the tension between the two brothers.
There's a conversation right before the nightclub scene in which Sonny's trying to explain the jazz scene he's part of but the narrator just doesn't get it. However, at the nightclub, the narrator is finally able to catch a glimpse of Sonny's world. In the ending nightclub scene, the narrator is able to capture Sonny's struggle at the start to dig deeper into the music all the way to Sunny's breakthrough. From watching Sonny's profound performance, the narrator is able to unlock his emotions. During the performance, the narrator starts envisioning his family. Throughout the story, we see that the narrator struggles with compassion and empathy and that's why he struggles so much with Sonny. This performance is not only a breakthrough for Sonny, but also for the narrator who finally understands what jazz truly means to Sonny.
This was also my favorite story so far! The vivid descriptions at the end really allow you to feel what the narrator is feeling. I think the fact that he approaches Sonny's issues from the perspective of a third party make Sonny's struggles seem a lot more tragic and I liked that we also got to hear Sonny articulate some of his feelings so there was a good mix of insider-outsider perspective. The ending was so stressful up until Sonny started to get into the grove because it seemed like it was a formative moment for Sonny. If he couldn't handle playing sober, it seemed quite possible that he would return to drugs to alleviate his suffering.
ReplyDeleteI agree! Sonny's performance is a powerful scene like you said. It shows the transformation in Sonny as he struggles to play but in the end, is able to perform clean. It also shows somewhat of a shift in Sonny and the narrator's relationship since the performance moves the narrator and he realizes that Sonny's music isn't as frivolous as he thought. I just love this story so much, and I think the final scene is such a nice way to end. Good post!
ReplyDeleteI agree that the ending scene was a pivotal moment in the narrator's and Sonny's relationship. Here, while playing his music, Sonny is able to express all his emotions that he wasn't able to with words. The narrator recognizes this and gets his own message from the music. He's finally able to understand why music is such an important part of Sonny's life.
ReplyDeleteI really loved this story as well, and thought the ending was beautiful. I think one of the most important elements is definitely Sonny's music, because it conveys what words can't, and it can touch people in ways nothing else ever could. Before Sonny's performance, the narrator obviously had a really difficult time understanding Sonny's pain and finding empathy within himself. Music was the only form of communication that truly worked between the two brothers. I also love this little detail where the narrator buys Sonny a drink—scotch and milk—and Sonny nods in recognition that it's from his brother. Again, a small action that speaks louder than words.
ReplyDeleteI agree, the ending is a really critical part of the story. "Sonny's Blues" was honestly one of my favorite stories so far because of the last scene. There is so much more silent dialogue between the two characters than there ever was in real life. The music really conveys who Sonny has become as well as detailing his past to his brother.
ReplyDeleteI especially liked how much description went into this ending. It really is a satisfying climax because it shows us in a very interesting way how the narrator finally understands Sonny. I would agree that this is one of, if not the best story we've read so far from Baldwin. He writes a lot of very interesting and cool descriptions, but this ending in particular has been my favorite of his.
ReplyDeleteI agree, and I think the tension in their relationship is so strongly founded in the narrator's non-willingness to open up about any aspect of jazz because of his discomfort with drug culture. Baldwin's use of sitting him down and giving him a "breakthrough" ends up being even more powerful because he is finally forced to recognize every deeper aspect he'd missed about his brother.
ReplyDeleteI love how Sonny's performance opened up much of the empathy and understanding that the narrator was lacking at the beginning of the story. It was such a powerful moment that really brought the brothers together and showed the narrator what jazz and even drugs are really about. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI thought it was really interesting how well the narrator connected with the music in that last scene for knowing next to nothing about jazz. He seemed to really get the music and understand what was happening, which is not something a lot of people can do. I also found this scene really interesting because I relate a lot to how Sonny feels "coming back" to music. When you haven't practiced in a while, you feel awkward and out of place before you can get back into it.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really great description of how important Sonny's performance is to the narrator. Because Sonny expresses himself through the instrument, the performance acts as a bridge for the narrator to understand Sonny.
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