Sonny's Blues

Shandiin Ramsey

Sonny’s Blues

Religious revival is one of the most significant themes in the story “Sonny’s Blues”, because it allows two brothers to restore their fragmented relationship. Religion isn’t very apparent at once in the story, however, as the story continues, it becomes more evident that religion is one of the most important aspects of the story.

The author of “Sonny’s Blues”, James Baldwin was a black author during the civil rights movement. He wrote a lot about race issues, however he also had one novel, “Go Tell It on the Mountain”, which talked about his past as a preacher. He was born in Harlem, and grew up with his mother and his step-father, who was a Baptist preacher. When James was 14, he became a preacher in Harlem and continued preaching until he was 16. This gives background that religion was an evident part of his life growing up and that he had previous knowledge of religion prior to writing “Sonny’s Blues” and that he understands how important the renewal of someone’s faith can be.

In the story “Sonny’s Blues”, the narrator tells about the day he gets the news that his brother, Sonny, went to jail. He and his brother hadn’t been on good terms and he wasn’t sure how to handle the news. Sonny and his brother grew up in Harlem, and struggled with growing up the correct way. Sonny always blew off school to hang out with corrupt people who got into drugs. The narrator goes to school and becomes a math teacher and never dabbles in hazards that Sonny does. The author explains that him and Sonny had a falling out in their past, and haven’t been in contact for a while. For weeks, the narrator struggles with himself trying to decide whether or not he wants to contact his brother. He finally decides to and they begin to rekindle their relationship. Looking into the past, the narrator recalls how he and his brother had their falling out and how they restored their relationship with the help of religion through Sonny’s music....