The Presence of Darkness in James Baldwins Sonnys Blues Essay

The straw man of Darkness in James Baldwins fellers blue In the story Sonnys Blues the author, James Baldwin, uses the image of night quite frequently. He uses it first when the quondam(a) brother (main character) dialogues about his younger brother Sonny. He says that when Sonny was younger his face was bright and open. He said that he didnt pauperization to believe that he would ever see his brother going d experience, culmination to nothing, all that light in his face g iodine out. Meaning he had gone from good (clean and innocent) to bad ( giving into drugs homogeneous so umpteen of the other young people). The older brother then goes on to talk about his students and how they had limited possibilities stating that all they really knew were two darknesses, the darkness of their lives, which was sack out closing in on them, and the darkness of the movies, which had blinded them to that other darkness, and in which they now vindictively dreamed, at once more together th an they were at any time and more alone. He believes that there is little probability for these kids to get out of the pretty much doomed future they direct with drug addiction and crime being what it is in the city. There was one boy whistling through the harsh, bright air, while the other boys were laughing in their unforgiving way. The brightness of this boys whistling could symbolise that some of them do get out and make something of themselves ( bright futures). The author then uses darkness to describe the faces of the adults on Sunday evenings after dinner when everyone is relaxing with their own thoughts. For a moment nobodys talking but every face looks darkening, like the sky outside...The silence, the darkness coming and the darkness in the faces frighten the baby bird obscurel... ... way they are moving from the bad things all most them into the good, that is, the music. In this way they are in a way escaping from the darkness that is around them every day even if simply for a short time. Its the simply light they have. This is when the author uses the image of darkness for the last time. For, while the taradiddle of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard. There isnt any other tale to tell, its the only light weve got in all this darkness. This supports that their music is the only thing that is totally good in their lives. With all the violence and despair that is around them all of the time, music is the only way they can free themselves. Work Cited Baldwin, James. Sonnys Blues. The Norton introduction to Fiction. 6th ed. Ed. Jerome Beaty. juvenile York Norton, 1996. 47-70.