Music and Harlem,
The short story “Sonny’s Blues” written by James Baldwin showcases the relationship of two brothers affected by their ideologies, and the “Five Lectures on Psycho-Analysis” written by Sigmund Freud explains the concepts of artistic gift and sublimation. The article “Time and Place for Teaching Black Pride” by George B. Nesbitt introduces the idea that Blacks need to learn about black pride to fight against oppression in a white-dominated society. While the article “Jazz as a Black American Art Form: Definitions of the Jazz Preservation Act” by Jeff Farley shows that jazz is more than just music but a part of history that represents African American life. In “Sonny’s Blues”, Sonny and his brother are African Americans living in Harlem in the 1950s. The two brothers have a complicated relationship as Sonny struggles with drug addiction, and the narrator does not understand how important music is to Sonny. In “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin, the illustration of Freud’s concepts of artistic gift and sublimation demonstrates Baldwin’s critiques of society, that music changes lives and brings people together through Sonny and his brother’s different experiences and struggles in 1950s Harlem.
To begin with, as an African American living in Harlem in the 1950s, Sonny is surrounded by drugs and low peer ambitions that led him to become a drug addict and dealer. He wants to enlist in the army to get out of Harlem and escape the surroundings that feed his addiction, but his brother wants him to finish his last year of school. Sonny agrees and stays with his brother’s wife, Isabel, where there is a piano. During the time he spent at Isabel’s home he gained interest in music(Baldwin). In 1950s Harlem, African Americans and the music industry were considered the epitome of addiction and trouble, but “jazz is a music born of struggle but played in celebration.”(Farley 114). Sonny transforms “his phantasies into artistic creations”(Freud 2235) by being a jazz musician. He embraces his culture through his artistic gift of music, which was his expressive outlet, his way of channeling his pain, fighting addiction, and escaping his past. According to Nesbitt, “Having accepted his people and himself in his heart, he can go on to… learn of their roots and strengths, their values and virtues, his black worthiness.”(303). Sonny understood that music did not destroy his life as his brother put it out to be. Growing up in a white-dominant society creates struggles for all blacks as they are envisioned as savages and animals in the eyes of America. Music was more than just a sound played in the ghetto by violent people, it was a melody that embraced the beautiful African American culture. In the eyes of the white society, jazz is considered socially inappropriate as it embraces black pride, creating a gap in Sonny and his brother’s relationship.
Unlike Sonny, the narrator lived the other African American experience in which he distances himself from his culture and became a dedicated teacher and a family-oriented person to fit into what the white society considers socially appropriate. His actions are what Freud considers sublimation, as he is substituting his culture with the behavior that white people claim to be “comparatively remote and socially valuable”(Freud 2238). Throughout the story, Sonny’s brother tries to get Sonny to follow the path he follows, but Sonny has a passion for music that his brother is yet to understand. Jeff Farley argues that it is “important for… America to recognize and understand jazz as a significant part of… cultural and intellectual heritage”(116). The narrator goes against Sonny following his path as a musician because jazz relates to the culture he is pushing away, defeating the purpose of fitting into the white society. Black pride challenges the idea of fitting in because it empowers Black Americans. Nesbitt demonstrates that “Black children should be given a sense of the goodness of blackness sooner than they are taught to accept the larger society…”(303). Black pride is a powerful weapon against oppression and racism. Thus white people try to oppress black people by influencing the most vulnerable to follow their ideologies. As the dominant society, white people influence ideas that to be successful and respected in society black people need to live by their social standards and what they deem to be proper. Towards the end of the story, with his music, Sonny teaches his brother to embrace the culture despite living in fear of not meeting social standards of whiteness and biased thoughts of racism.
Without a doubt, Sonny and his brother represent two sides to an African American experience. Living in Harlem surrounded by drugs, segregation, poverty, racism and the duality of both brothers lead to family issues. Both brothers live in Harlem, but while the narrator, Sonny’s brother, is an Algebra school teacher and a devoted husband and father, Sonny lives in drug dens, struggles with drug abuse, and gets arrested for selling heroin(Baldwin). The narrator tries to incorporate himself into white society by distancing himself from the African American experience and culture, while Sonny embraces his culture by playing jazz. The duplex life of the brothers created tension and problems between the two until music brought them together. At the end of the tale, after seeing Sonny play, the narrator finally understood that there was more to music than just useless sound because “In the words of trumpeter Quincy Jones, jazz has the power to make men forget their differences and come together.”(Farley 127). When the narrator goes to see Sonny play jazz, he has a moment of appreciation, understanding, and admiration for jazz. The author shows, “For me, then, as they began to play again, it glowed and shook above my brother’s head like the very cup of trembling.” (Baldwin 21). The “cup of trembling” is a biblical verse in the book of Isaiah 51:22, often symbolizing forgiveness and redemption. Therefore hinting that the brothers have a greater connection during the performance due to a depth of emotions produced by Sonny’s artistic gift. The narrator was finally free from blackness stereotypes when he had a better understanding of Sonny’s take on jazz. The narrator’s black self-hate created a bigger cap in the relationship with his brother, but Sonny’s artistic gift gave him power and helped him have a better connection with his brother and his culture.
Ultimately, jazz changed Sonny’s life for the better and brought both brothers together. Black pride is a way to fight black self-hate because it provides black people with a sense of empowerment to not only embrace their culture but be at their best. Learning about black pride and jazz history gives black people a sense of self that later helps influence society to fight against inequality, segregation, and racism. Sonny and his brother’s dual experiences are the results of white people segregating the black community to gain power over them, but music, African American culture helps fight those oppressions by bringing people together and creating bonds that support each other and fight back.
Work Cited
Freud, Sigmund. FIVE LECTURES ON PSYCHO-ANALYSIS. Norton, 1910. Pdf, https://bbhosted.cuny.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-50145738-dt-content-rid-393885161_1/xid-393885161_1. Accessed 25 November 2020.
Baldwin, James. Sonny’s Blues. Penguin Books, 1957. Pdf, https://bbhosted.cuny.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-50362920-dt-content-rid-394074960_1/xid-394074960_1. Accessed 25 November 2020.
Nesbitt, George B. “Time and Place for Teaching Black Pride.” The Journal of Negro Education, vol. 41, no. 4, 1972, pp. 303–308. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2966976. Accessed 09 Dec. 2020.
FARLEY, JEFF. “Jazz as a Black American Art Form: Definitions of the Jazz Preservation Act.” Journal of American Studies, vol. 45, no. 1, 2011, pp. 113–129. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23016762. Accessed 09 Dec. 2020.
