Sonny's Blues Symbolism
Consciously being marginalized is an emotionally discouraging sensation that many people are faced with overcoming. Figuring out where one can achieve self-content through being socially accepted is a hardship presented in James Baldwin’s, “Sonny’s Blues” as symbolism of light and darkness reveals the saddening experience of marginalized Americans feeling that they are unfairly labeled as outsiders by the rest of society. To begin with, Baldwin portrays the anxious mentality of marginalized Americans by symbolically juxtaposing light and darkness, through the dwelling thoughts of the narrator. The story is set in poverty stricken Harlem, post-World War II. Very early in the short story, the narrator describes his internal thoughts, “I stared
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Following Sonny’s release from prison, the narrator goes to visit Sonny for the first time; he describes their first moment together, “Yet, when he smiled, when we shook hands, the baby brother I’d never known looked out from the depths of his private life, like an animal wanting to be coaxed into the light” (40). In this moment, the narrator becomes overwhelmed with guilt that he wasn’t involved in Sonny’s early years much, but now feels as if he is responsible for his younger brother’s fate. Sonny is referred to as an “animal,” because he has just been released from prison, where he was trapped behind steel bars as if he were in a cage. This reference also emphasizes the more general feeling of being marginalized, not even being referred to as human. The phrase “waiting to be coaxed into the light,” shows how determined Sonny is to escape from the darkness that follows him. Nevertheless, his journey to the light will remain a conflicted gradual transition, indicated by the word, “coaxed”. The story maintains a religious undertone throughout, here specifically representing death in religion. “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (Authorized King James Bible, 2 Corinth. 4.17-18). This verse from the bible applies directly to the phrase, “waiting to be coaxed into the light,” as “the light” often symbolizes heaven. The “momentary troubles” are represented by the hardships accompanied with marginalized Americans, but are “temporary” compared to the light only seen in the
Following Sonny’s release from prison, the narrator goes to visit Sonny for the first time; he describes their first moment together, “Yet, when he smiled, when we shook hands, the baby brother I’d never known looked out from the depths of his private life, like an animal wanting to be coaxed into the light” (40). In this moment, the narrator becomes overwhelmed with guilt that he wasn’t involved in Sonny’s early years much, but now feels as if he is responsible for his younger brother’s fate. Sonny is referred to as an “animal,” because he has just been released from prison, where he was trapped behind steel bars as if he were in a cage. This reference also emphasizes the more general feeling of being marginalized, not even being referred to as human. The phrase “waiting to be coaxed into the light,” shows how determined Sonny is to escape from the darkness that follows him. Nevertheless, his journey to the light will remain a conflicted gradual transition, indicated by the word, “coaxed”. The story maintains a religious undertone throughout, here specifically representing death in religion. “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (Authorized King James Bible, 2 Corinth. 4.17-18). This verse from the bible applies directly to the phrase, “waiting to be coaxed into the light,” as “the light” often symbolizes heaven. The “momentary troubles” are represented by the hardships accompanied with marginalized Americans, but are “temporary” compared to the light only seen in the