Alvin Ransom

Professor Rachel Furey

English 102
September 18, 2014
Analysis of Sonnys Blues
The author, James Baldwin, of the short story, Sonnys Blues, details the change
throughout the narrators life using imagery and contradictions. The narrator, whom isnt
named, changes multiple times in many different situations in the story. At certain points,
it only took a few seconds for the narrator to change, and you instantly recognize it. At
other parts of the story, it took the narrator extended periods of time to change sometimes years. For example, he didnt write his brother in prison until his daughter
died. Its safe to say that the narrator is a very round character, allowing himself to adapt
his thoughts and feelings to organic situations. At times, hes stubborn, and at other times
hes open and accepting of change, like when his brother showed him his musician
lifestyle.
As the story starts, James Baldwin doesnt waste time setting up the imagery for
the reader to feel as if theyre in the subway car with the narrator. The narrator was on his
way to work as a schoolteacher. Hes reading the newspaper and discovers that his
brother has been arrested for using and selling heroin. The narrator and his brother,
Sonny, hadnt been on good terms recently and this is the first news he has heard about
Sonny in a long time. His first reaction was of disbelief. It was not to be believed and I

kept telling myself that, as I walked from the subway station to the high school, said the
narrator. But he quickly changes and throws himself in the realms of reality after that
And at the same time I couldnt doubt it. Being in the narrators shoes, it is easy to
understand his feelings of uncertainty. To learn of your brothers horrible fate in a
newspaper, you probably wouldnt believe it either. You just dont want to believe your
sibling is capable of doing something so negative because you know how innocent of a
person they truly are.
At the end of the school day, the narrator heads home but is stopped by an old
acquaintance of Sonnys. It is stated in the book that the narrator never liked the strange
character. Hed been Sonnys friend. Hed never been mine, having been too young for
me, and, anyway, Id never liked him. A few lines later, But now, abruptly, I hated
him. Not only did he state that he didnt like him, he followed up by saying he hated the
man. After their conversation in which the shady character provided insight as to how
hard Sonnys life has been, the narrator no longer hated the old acquaintance. All at once
something inside gave and threatened to come pouring out of me. I didnt hate him
anymore. I feel that the narrator changed his opinion of the man for many reasons. He
had sympethisized with the man because he had been in the same place since they were
younger, still hanging around the same block, still panhandling. Another reason is
because he offered insight into Sonnys life. The man had been able to thoroughly explain
to the narrator how hard Sonnys life has been and will be when he is released. The
narrator seemed to depict his brother as becoming a monster, but the man was able to
convince him that even though he may be wrong, he is still human and will need help to

get better. The narrator appreciates the man and his words by giving him $5 when he asks
for $1.
Even though the narrator sympethised for his brother, he hadnt contacted him at
all. He was stubborn about the situation until his own daughter died. This probably
brought a sense of life being too short to hold grudges to the narrator because this is what
made him finally write to his brother in prison. Then I kept in constant touch with him
and I sent him whatever I could and I went to meet him when he came back to New
York. The narrator did a complete 180. He went from not even trying to hear from his
brother to helping him anyway he could. When he first heard about his brother getting
arrested, he felt like the victim. But after reading Sonnys letter, he had a better
understanding that Sonny was the real victim and that he needed help. With the narrator
being the only family left that Sonny has, he had to be the bigger person and help Sonny
even though he was wrong.
The biggest change the narrator made, and the bigger change that the author may
have wanted the reader to realize, is his maturity over the years. Having a little brother is
a very big responsibility. The narrator didnt realize this until later on in his life. His
flashbacks of him and his brother are big instances in the narrators life where he should
have been in Sonnys life, but he was away in the army. An example of this would be
when Sonny had to live with Isabella. Sonny didnt want to live with Isabella but the
narrator forced him because he wasnt there to provide a place to stay for Sonny. Another
example is when the narrator alluded to Sonny and their fathers problematic relationship.
This happened while the narrator was away in the army. The commonality between these
instances is the fact that the narrator was never there for Sonny physically like a big

brother should be. Sonny never had that big brother to learn from their mistakes or to get
advice from. Instead of looking up to his big brother, it could be inferred that Sonny
looked up to his friends. If Sonnys friends are trying drugs, naturally, you would expect
Sonny to try drugs as well. I told him it felt great, is what the old acquaintance told the
narrator he told Sonny when asked about the feeling from heroin. The narrator didnt
realize how much of an impact he could have had on Sonny until later. The fact that the
narrator realizes this and takes some credit, instead of continuing to fault Sonny shows
that he has matured over the years.
In the short tale, Sonnys Blues, the narrator goes thru a series of changes within
himself to deal with the recent release of his brother from prison. The author uses
imagery and contradictory statements to highlight the changes the narrator had to endure.
Many changes were his attitude towards his brother. The most significant change had to
be how the narrator was able to stop judging his brothers decisions and to accept him. It
took all of the story and most of the narrators life for him to go through this change. The
author could advertise that the knowledge you would expect to gain from this short tale
that it is never too late to change for the better.