The Use of Symbolism Found in "sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin

The use of Symbolism Found in "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin

"Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin is an interesting story that explores the relationship between two brothers. Baldwin illustrates light and darkness to compare two brothers. This story moves in and to of time to give the reader a better grasp of the relationship between two brothers at various stages of their lives. The events of the story focus on the building of understanding between Sonny and his older brother, the unnamed school teacher as the narrator who chooses to ignore his own pain. Although the story focuses on Sonny's life, the readers hear his brother's responses to and about Sonny's actions thicken the scope of the story to include the brother's life as well. Baldwin uses this double focus to bring out one of his most important themes," the growing understanding between estranged brothers". The symbolism of the housing projects, light and darkness, and jazz music from the title of the story to the concluding scene, jazz music plays a central role throughout the story in defining the characters and culture of Harlem in "Sonny's Blues." By recognizing these symbols helps the reader to fully understand of the difficulties of the story; Baldwin's technique of using symbolism is excellent and it helps the reader comprehend the whole concept.

Baldwin uses, an imagery to give the reader's a clear vision of the type of environment the characters were raised in. The housing projects in Harlem were for Baldwin clear symbols of Harlem's decline and fall. He describes the projects as "rocks in the middle of a boiling sea." It is an apocalyptic image, one meant to convey the dreadful circumstances of life inside of the projects. There is a biblical phrase has undertone in that it raises a type of hell on earth. The projects are not typically where you would want to live and raise a family. As rocks in a boiling sea, the projects are huge, lifeless objects surrounded by sadness. The word rocks highlight the buildings' cold, brutal nature. The projects offer up a false image, a "parody of the good," in that they were initially built with the supposedly noble intention of providing affordable housing but in fact became almost immediately broken-down, drug-infested buildings. The projects symbolizes a parody of the real world, which is tough one in which good ideas are really living nightmares. The projects have playgrounds that are infested by drug dealers and the youth are exposed to this on a daily basis; they have large windows that no one wants to look out of. The people who live in them are severely conscious of what the projects are, making their life harsh and bitterly ironic. Several times throughout "Sonny's Blues" indicate that as a whole, the neighborhood of Harlem is in the turmoil of a battle between good and evil. The narrator describes Sonny's close encounters with the evil established in drugs and crime, as well as his self-confident attempts at distancing himself from the darker side. The streets and communities of Harlem are described as being a harsh environment which claims the lives of many who have struggled against the constant enticement of emotional escape through drugs, and financial escape through crime at several points in the story, Baldwin emphasizes the quickness at which Harlem residents fall to the pull of evil.

In addition, symbolism has been greatly used by