Sonny’s Blues

English 2342 S70
February 13, 2018
Point of View, Whose Perception?
This essay is written primarily to analyze Sonny’s Blues. It is one of the most remarkable works of the 20th Century. Much emphasis will be placed on the point of view used in the short story written by James Baldwin. A thorough analysis will follow, and a comparison of the narrator’s perspective, as well as that of the main character, shall be done in the ensuing essay. Sonny’s Blues is written in the limited omniscient point of view, most commonly referred as a first-person point of view. Consequently, the story is expressed from the narrator’s point of view.
From start to finish, one of the characters narrates the story. It opens with the narrator reading about his younger brother’s arrest for using and selling heroin in the newspaper. Through his narration, the author makes the person narrating the central focus of the tale. It also allows whoever is telling the story to do so in his or her own words and from their perspective. This is essential as the viewpoint enables the audience to understand other things like the perspective, setting, and emotions of the characters. The narrator allows readers to gain perspective from his point of view regarding the conditions he and Sonny went through as they grew up. He contrasts this to how their lives have changed now that they have grown older. Furthermore, perspective provides insight, allowing the readers to understand the struggles that Sonny endured. Through the reading of Sonny’s Blues readers begin to understand the differences that the narrator and Sonny shared.

Without comprehension of both characters’ backgrounds, the readers would not have fathomed how the relationship between Sonny and the narrator evolved.
The story is also full of realism. Realism refers to the representation of a story or a situation as accurate or the way it is in real life. It corresponds to real life experience on some levels. In his article, Sonny’s Blues: Overview, Fibbert (1502) notes that “The story examines those problems both in the context of the experience of the African-American in the United States of the mid-20th century.” The story depicts real problems that were faced by African-Americans in Harlem at the time. The issues correspond to real life and are the struggles that are faced by most people of color on a day-to-day basis. Away from that, Sonny’s Blues is about understanding and connecting with each other through listening rather than judging. Baldwin used it to describe situations in his own life. He had a mentor called Botha Delaney, an older artist, that he acknowledged and said believed in him. Some think that Creole represents Botha who believed in him and helped bring out the best of Sonny allowing him to express himself. (Dempsey 65).
The point of view allows readers to feel emotions based on the perception that the narrator gives. The impression given from one person’s point of view will change when provided by another individual. Had the story been written with Sonny as the narrator, the reader would have received a different story based on a different perspective. The conflicts that Sonny’s older brother refers to in Sonny’s Blues would have sounded different from Sonny. Thus, readers would have felt different emotions. The accuracy of the story would have been different if the author chose to go with a different point of view. For example, if told through the omniscient point of view, readers’ feelings of attachment to the characters would be limited and so would the intimacy and emotions felt. Omniscient point of view is narrated from outside, allowing the narrator to describe the thoughts, feelings, and actions of the characters involved in a story. The possibility of readers becoming lost or confused is a disadvantage of stories narrated from an omniscient point of view. Transitioning between characters will frequently confuse readers. Baldwin’s use of limited omniscient point of view in the tale was the best.
The rocky relationship between the narrator and Sonny is brought to the fore through the narrator’s dialogue. It would have been harder for an outsider to portray the perspective and reason for the battles between the brothers. Furthermore, this would have provided an opportunity for readers to feel distanced and uninvolved and therefore, not able to have a relationship with the characters as a consequence of writing the story in the omniscient point of view. The point of view used impacts the story in numerous ways. Reader’s emotions are affected. Also, readers are led to recognize the narrator and Sonny’s conflicts, which allows readers to see and understand events as the narrator remembers them. This allows most readers to side with the narrator. Furthermore, the perspective used allows the readers to feel connected to the characters in the story.
A conflict not brought about by the narrator is in the title itself. It arouses questions from the readers since the music in Sonny’s Blues is jazz, also known as “Bebop (Sherard 693).” Sonny’s brother associates jazz with specific types of people and drugs. Sonny, on the other hand, describes jazz as music that allowed him to express his soul differently. Sonny never did live life like others. Music permitted Sonny to escape from all the worries in the world. Jazz provided passion for Sonny, and this allowed him to move to an exclusive zone. If written from Sonny’s perspective, the story would have been different in many ways. For instance, Sonny could have focused on the situations in life that led to his drug use and perhaps give reasons why he chose this way of life. Sonny would have been able to give a different perception of his older brother. From Sonny’s narration, the readers would have heard the story from his perspective. The conflicts would have been told differently. Readers may have felt closer to Sonny instead and perhaps related better to him and his struggles. Sonny’s point of view would have helped shed new light on the conflicts in Sonny’s Blues.
Limited omniscient point of view, more commonly known as the first-person point of view, did create questions about the accuracy of the story as well. These questions arise because the story is told from one person’s perspective. In it, we hear the story from Sonny’s older brother, leaving readers to question what Sonny’s view would have been. The narrator portrayed his younger brother as a drug addict and poor decision maker. This is in addition to describing Sonny as someone who does not listen to reasoning. The narrator has painted himself as a successful professional who has beaten the odds stacked against him. Furthermore, his family life and the decision to distance himself from the Harlem neighborhood activities are used to strengthen his accountability. Questions as to the accuracy of Sonny’s Blues could be limited since we hear the story from Sonny’s older brother and not from Sonny. It is arguable that he would not be the best person to narrate his own story (Team n.p). Most readers will trust the narrator and feel connected to him based on the point of view. Baldwin strategically refrained from using the dramatic or objective point of view since the narrator would not have been able to express the feelings and thoughts portrayed through the first person narrative point of view. Furthermore, readers are led to believe the narrator’s side of the story. The trust in the narrator is strengthened through Sonny’s constant failures.
Use of the words “I,” “me,” and “we” is evidence that the story is written in the limited omniscient point of view, that is, from the narrator’s perspective. Throughout, the narrator often used the word “I” to identify his actions or feelings. “We” is used to describe situations that both the narrator and Sonny were going through. An outsider or someone not involved in the story, could not write in limited omniscient point of view using the words “I,” “me,” and “we,” therefore, leaving no doubt as to the point of view in Sonny’s Blues.
Sonny is the narrator’s younger brother. They both grew up in Harlem, a predominantly black neighborhood without many safe places for kids to play and enjoy themselves. It was a very dark place both literally and figuratively (Reid 443). Through Sonny’s point of view, the readers would have heard how Sonny’s love of music allowed him to distance himself from the addiction of drugs. “I mean, I’ll have a lot of studying to do, and I’ll have to study everything, but, I mean, I want to play with—jazz musicians.” (Baldwin 10) Furthermore, Sonny could have focused on the strained relationship with his father, in addition to portraying the conflicts between Sonny and his brother, as a reason to seek drugs. Finally, Sonny would have been able to let readers understand his thoughts in his own words.
Through Sonny’s perspective, readers would have heard how the conflicts between Sonny and his father that ultimately led to him making the decisions he eventually made. He might have focused on how the only people that understood him were the drug dealers, musicians, and other individuals in his neighborhood. From Sonny’s point of view, readers might have felt compassion for him and perhaps been upset with his family members. The audience and readers alike would have understood why Sonny made destructive decisions in his life. Decisions that ultimately contributed to his downfall and eventual involvement and addiction to drugs. His older brother may not have been the clean, professional family man that he portrayed himself to be. Sonny’s narration would have provided the opportunity to depict his older brother in a different light.
Emotions, perception, and accuracy can be changed depending on the point of view. In Sonny’s Blues, the story is told from Sonny’s older brother’s perspective. As with most human beings, the narrator does not give remarkable or descriptive faults of his own. Instead, he focuses on the weaknesses and failures of his brother. It is from the perception given by the narrator that the readers are led to trust his or her version of events.
Works Cited
Baldwin, James. Sonny’s Blues. Partisan Review, 1957.
Dempsey, John. “Waiting for You: Beauford Delaney as James Baldwin’s Inspiration for the Character Creole in “Sonny’s Blues.” Obsidian (2011): 60-78. EBSCOhost, library.collin.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lfh&AN=85762358&site=ehost-live.
Fibbert, Joseph. “Sonny’s Blues: Overview.” Reference Guide to Short Fiction. Ed. Noelle Watson. Detroit: St. James, 1994. Literature Resource Center. Web. 3 Aug 2016
Karen Thorsen, Douglas K. Dempsey. PBS.org. n.d. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/james-baldwin-about-the-author/59/. 8 February 2018.
Reid, Robert. “The Powers of Darkness in ‘Sonny’s Blues.’.” CLA Journal 43.4 (June 2000): 443-453. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena O. Krstovic. Vol. 98. Detroit: Gale, 2007. Literature Resource Center. Web. 3 Aug. 2016.
Sherard, Tracey. “Sonny’s Bebop: Baldwin’s ‘Blues Text’ as Intracultural Critique.” African American Review (1998): 691-705. EBSCOhost, library.collin.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mzh&AN=0000300237&site=ehost-live.
The team, Shmoop Editorial. Shmoop. 11 November 2008. https://www.shmoop.com/sonnys-blues/narrator-point-of-view.html. 2018 2 208.