In Sonny’s Blues Use of Music (Essay Sample)

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The Use of Music in Sonny’s Blues
The blending of music and literature has is a commonplace in today's art, leading to a collaborative form of comparison contingent to their fundamental similarities. Music and literature reflect a fundamental chronology in nature, founded on the medium of time alongside meaning. A pedagogic view of music and literary mixture reveals that artistic performance arose as a single activity in the traditional storytelling. At first glance, the story appears abstruse concerning the relationship between music and drugs. Given that Jazz and drug addiction are intertwined, music plays a significant role throughout James Baldwin’s narrative.
Throughout the story, it is evident that Sonny remains devoted to music, particularly jazz. Music in the story plays a vital role in defining and describing the primary characters, emanating from the cultural attributes of Harlem. In fact, seeing the protagonist’s enthusiasm to music can make one assume that it is the single drug for Sonny; that is, his only way to express his hopes and nurse his pain. His dedication to jazz music further changes his brother’s upright mind that in the meantime, appears frightened and falls short of courage to face agony and hesitation relating to the life of Sonny. In addition, Sonny’s artistic nature, obstinacy and strong will disposition to persuades his brother not only to value blues and jazz music, but also himself alongside his brotherhood connection with Sonny. For instance, in the club, he seems to increase in value for Sonny in the manner he never did like a real musician (Abcarian et al. 107).
The significance of jazz music in the story is to convey different elements to various characters. To begin with, the narrator falls short of knowledge of jazz, as he only relates it to a particular concept. Besides, he blends jazz music with drugs and the inclusion of Sonny sees him blame the music’s lifestyle for transforming into a heroin addict given that he has understood that musicians must get high for them to perform. Certainly, jazz gets the narrator bitter and angry, yet for Sonny, it resembles a ray of light. He enjoys the art of playing and listening to jazz music and appreciates it as the real positive element of his lifestyle. Here, jazz music symbolizes passion and escape of the main protagonist, Sonny. The individuals the speaker associates with jazz are the ones who serve as a sort of alternative family for Sonny. Despite the fact that jazz is outlandish to the speaker, it remains heartening for Sonny. In the concluding chapters of the story, jazz serves as an intermediary between Sonny and his brother. The time when the narrator goes to see Sonny perform, he learns an important thing concerning his brother, which he had never comprehended. In detail, when he listens to Sonny perform, he finally brings to raise the value of the dread and marvel of being a music artist.
The importance of music in the story is further emphasized by James Baldwin when he depicts Sonny playing and loving it based on less strict formal order compared to complete countenance of the soul (Abcarian et al. 109). As it emerged, bebop was a new form of jazz for which music artists like Sonny have the platform for expressing their assertions. Bebop provided an avenue entrenched in freedom of expression among jazz musicians, and this represented an opportunity for them to live freely, defy social resolutions, norms, and establish something fallaciously inventive. The era of jazz music, at least in light of many, the art related to drugs as a persistent temptation. Sonny’s confirmed musical champion, Charlie Parker, found himself addicted to drugs and succumbed to a very early death partly as an aftermath. In the event, especially at the end of the story, the narrator witnessed the playing of Sonny at firsthand. The familiarity represents a religious restoration that narrator experienced earlier, staging a major exception, which is, there is a real redemption available through jazz music.
Furthermore, in the short story, music plays a fundamental role in Sonny’s life as it is the only thing that releases him from suffering. Sonny’s problem is grounded on the racial discrimination within the context of African American society, and it is music that provides him with the opportunity to overcome some of the challenges related to his minority status. The narrator has accustomed his status transcending to the White society, still feeling the pressure, but not willing to revolution it. As Abcarian et al. argue that Sonny’s sufferings ensue from his social position; he belonged to an African-American minority and was cut off from socializing with others, which made him feel alone