ANALYSIS STORY OF
“SUNNY’S BLUES”BY James Baldwin
DISUSUN OLEH:
NAMA :Indriyanti Abidin
NPM :06212411003
PRODY :ENGLISH LITERATUR
CLASS :3A
UNIVERSITAS KHAIRUN TERNATE
CULTURAL SCIENCE FACULTIES
FOREWORD
Praise and thanks to God Almighty, because He never stops bestowing His Grace
and Blessings upon His people. With His permission, I was able to complete this paper to
analyze the contents of the story "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin.
The purpose of writing this paper is to fulfill the assignment as a final semester
project given by our lecturer for the Basic English Prose course. This paper was made
based on the analysis that I did starting from the characters, plot, narrator to the
relationship between the author and the narrator in this story, to deepen my
understanding of the purpose of this story because of what. I realize that this paper is far
from perfect.
The author hopes that this paper will be of benefit to us all.
Ternate, 1 December 2025
Writer
DAFTAR ISI
DAFTAR ISI
KATA PENGANTAR
BAB I PENDAHULUAN
1.1. Background...................................................................................................................3
1.2. Formulation of Problem................................................................................................3
1.3. Objective.......................................................................................................................3
BAB II PEMBAHASAN
[Link] summary & Characthers............................................................................................5
[Link] Analysis..........................................................................................................6
1.1. Mean of the characthers ......................................................................................6
1.2. Narrator & Author.................................................................................................7
1.3. Opini about narrator’s prespective.......................................................................7
1.4. Critical,message,point of view..............................................................................8
BAB III
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................9
BAB I
PENDAHULUAN
1.1. Background
James Baldwin's short story "Sonny's Blues" was first published in 1957
and is considered one of the most influential works in modern American
literature. The story emerged from a crucial social, cultural, and historical
context at the time, particularly for the African-American community. Baldwin
wrote the story based on his experiences of Black life in Harlem, the
neighborhood where he grew up.
In the 1950s, Harlem faced serious problems, such as poverty, racial
discrimination, limited education, and rampant drug abuse. This harsh
environment shaped the lives of many young people, including Sonny, who
struggled to find identity and freedom amid social and emotional pressures.
Baldwin used Harlem not only as a setting, but also as a symbol of the
structural hardships that plagued the younger [Link] besides the
social aspect, the cultural background plays a very big role. With the
existence of jazz and blues music at that time, it became a form of emotional
and spiritual expression for the black community by making music a voice
from the contents of their hearts that they expressed directly, which in
Sonny's story made music a space to fight pain and understand himself.
Therefore, "Sonny's Blues" is not just a story about two brothers, but also
a reflection on how environment, cultural trauma, and art shape one's life.
This background is crucial for a more in-depth and targeted analysis of the
characters, narrator, and themes.
1.2. Formulation of the problem
1. What’s the significance of character(s)and the narrator in the story?
2. How does the characther relate to the author
3. Opinions on narrator’s perpective,What does the narrator intend to imply in
the story?
1.3. Objective
The purpose of the analysis is to find out more about this story by analyzing the characther
Plot,narator with authors how to build and strengthen the content of the story
BAB II
PEMBAHASAN
1. Character,Author biography & plot summary
a) Narator(Sonny brother):A math teacher in Harlem.
He is rational, cautious, and tends to hold back his emotions.
At first, it's difficult to understand Sonny, but he eventually realizes the
importance of empathy and communication.
b) Sonny :The narrator's younger brother; a talented jazz pianist.
His struggle with depression is at the heart of the story.
Sensitive, introspective, using music as a tool to express pain.
A complex depiction of suffering, creativity, and the path to healing.
c) Mother :Wise, loving.
Becomes a spiritual link between two brothers.
Brings the values of family, fortitude and sacrifice.
d) Father :A tough and traumatized person.
Having lost his older brother, he became bitter.
e) Isabel :The narrator's wife; a supportive, patient, and empathetic figure.
f) Creole :Bass player and bandleader Sonny.
Mentor and guiding figure in the jazz world.
He helped Sonny rediscover his confidence while performing in clubs that
symbolizes community and the healing power of music.
g) Sonny’s friend :Appeared at the time of Sonny's arrest & explained the perspective of
people outside
h) Isabel’s family :The people who took Sonny in while the narrator was away on
[Link] don't understand Sonny's world, but they illustrate the
tensions that often arise when someone in the family struggles with
[Link] show how Sonny feels alienated from the "normal world."
James Baldwin (1924–1987) was an American novelist, essayist, playwright, and civil rights activist.
He was born and raised in Harlem, New York, a neighborhood rife with racial inequality that would
later become a significant setting for his [Link] works often address issues of race, identity, religion,
sexuality, and social [Link] short story "Sonny's Blues" (1957) is considered one of his best works,
featuring themes of suffering, music, and family relationships.
Many elements in “Sonny’s Blues”Harlem, family, trauma, music, and the search for identity are
reflected in Baldwin’s own life experiences.
The Plot summary of “Sonny’s Blues” tells the journey of two brothers from Harlem, the stable and
rational narrator (Sonny’s older brother), and Sonny, a jazz musician struggling with addiction and
pain. After being separated for a long time due to conflict and misunderstanding, a family tragedy
brings them back together. Through music, Sonny finds a way to express his pain, and the narrator
finally understands his brother with more empathy. It is when the narrator hears Sonny playing in a
jazz club that the narrator realizes that he is a man.
A. Preliminary analysis
1) Sonny: a character who symbolizes the meaning of suffering and healing that suffering
through art Sonny is very important because in the story he represents the suffering experienced
in a harsh society (Harlem), with his struggle against addiction and pain it can be interpreted that
the cause of something must be due to the environment besides factors of poverty and racism
From the pain he felt "music" became medicine / expressing the pain that he could not express
and from there sonny created a symbol of creativity born from wounds and art can be a savior /
medicine for those who feel the same thing
why sonny is important to this story because with sonny, a narrator (sonny's brother) will not
experience any changes besides that from sonny the theme of suffering, expression, & hope is
there
His relationship with the author because James Baldwin once lived in Harlem and He felt
racial oppression, he also used art (writing) as a way of healing / expressing his pain. Apart from
that, Sonny was a representation of the youth of Harlem during Baldwin's lifetime.
2) Narrator: He is important in this story because he is a figure who at the beginning of the story
is a closed figure (emotional), afraid of the world and never understands his younger brother
(Sonny), and this narrator is a person who always feels right even though they are not aware
that what they make is suffering for other people so that in the end he realizes that it shows the
moral journey of a person.
Why is he important? We can learn what Sonny is like from his brother's perspective.
Initially, his perspective makes the reader feel distant, but then it changes as he understands Sonny.
This can be interpreted as the narrator becoming a bridge between the reader and Sonny's world.
Relationship with writers: Baldwin often writes about characters searching for identity and
learning to understand others, like in this story. The narrator reflects Baldwin's conflict with his
family, especially his father, who is quite strict.
3) Mother: provides a symbol of family love and morals with the words "take care of your
sister" besides that she symbolizes the resilience of African-American women in the face of
suffering
His mother is very important because she always reminds the narrator to "take care of your
little brother."And his relationship with the author, Darlwin's mother, is very loving and
understanding.
4) Father: a person who carries the symbol of the wounds of his past.
Shows how racial trauma is passed down through generations and how his harsh attitude can
cause unhealed pain to destroy a family.
5) creole: he could be said to be the person who can make sonny know how to heal his wounds
and find himself again and that means a lot.
6) Isabel's family: they are the people who represent a sense of 'safety' and 'normalcy' and that
is something that Sonny cannot feel and depicts a very big difference not only for Sonny but for
the community that feels the wound.
In this story, there is a narrator and he is Sonny's older brother, his role is very important
because with him we can know what Sonny feels with his attitude of never understanding
people, and judging without trying to listen from there we can know what pain Sonny feels.
And his perspective is very important because initially with his character like that, it makes the
reader keep his distance and follow him again until the narrator experiences a change from his
bad attitude towards Sonny.
James Baldwin created these characters based on his own life experiences with the environment
where he was raised and the inner feelings he felt so that the characters have a strong
connection with Baldwin's life. With 2 main characters, namely Sonny and the narrator, Sonny is
a reflection of Baldwin's own soul, while the Narrator's voice is Baldwin's observer of Harlem.
this story is inspired by the author. He wrote this story according to what he felt and what
society felt because the wounds he felt could be said to be normal/hereditary, so he also felt
what his father felt.
this story is inspired by the author. He wrote this story according to what he felt and what
society felt because the wounds he felt could be said to be normal/hereditary, so he also felt
what his father [Link] the word Blue's is used because it has a very close meaning to the
author's life. Blue's is music that exists because of the suffering of black people, besides that it
symbolizes the way James Baldwin heals wounds through art (writing) and also symbolizes the
culture of the community in Harlem and finally depicts the pain and suffering which are the
themes depicted through the character of Sonny.
B. Opini About Narrator’s Perspective
The narrator sees the content of the story with a first person perspective 'I' he sees events with a very
long development initially he never cared about his sister's world in the end he realized, why at first
he could not accept or make peace because what he saw was only fear, could not understand Sonny,
guilt and was unable to have empathy.
In the end he was able to become a person who listens and understands especially about Sonny's
world in music, can accept Sonny and can carry out his mother's message 'take care of your sister' and
successfully find empathy in himself from there it can be concluded "to understand someone we have
to learn or enter his world so that we know what he has been feeling all this time not only seeing with
the eyes but must be careful.
Critical,Messages,and Points of View
This story conveys a message that in life, especially about family, it is important for us to have
empathy for anyone and must always listen when fellow human beings have problems, especially our
families. We cannot understand someone just by looking at them, but we must do it from the heart
and have empathy to always ask to ensure their condition.
And fellow siblings must feel a sense of responsibility for each other by behaving in a way that takes
care of each other, don't let them feel lonely and hurt by themselves.
Through this story, especially for the narrator, he further emphasizes his criticism of the harsh and
unfair environment of Harlem, characterized by poverty and the decisions made, which have resulted
in racial trauma being passed down through generations. Furthermore, he observes the cycle of
suffering in his father's [Link] sees Sonny's damage not because of himself but because of the
social system in Harlem.
His perspective on life, family, suffering, and hope, along with the flow of the story, makes the
message profound.
The social perspective in this story is about the cruel life in Harlem, which makes people unable to
understand themselves and feel very afraid of the world, which makes it difficult for them to get up
and find their own identity again, so that their lives are surrounded by trauma, fear and perhaps a loss
of empathy because of the harsh environment.
The psychologist of the characters in this story, suffering is part of life, he said that everyone must
carry their own wounds and the feeling of the wound or suffering is better to let go, don't keep it to
yourself because it will only make you more tortured and you must be able to find out for yourself
how the wound is healed and from there it can also help you to rise from suffering, for example,
music brings Sonny slowly out of the zone, the narrator learns that suffering cannot be avoided but
endured.
The cultural perspective in this story is that the narrator's lack of understanding of art makes him
think that with music there will be no future and the things he likes pose a threat to the stability of his
life, but over time he realizes that music is a very deep form of communication with music he can
understand Sonny because music is a medicine for Sonny and society always misunderstands people
who develop creativity in music they always underestimate them because they don't understand
them
The narrator's perspective, from initially just judging to listening, can make the readers change
their way of understanding. Initially, the narrator's attitude and nature were very harsh towards
Sonny, where the readers gave a little distance, but as the story progressed, the readers could
understand that the narrator would eventually change from his initially harsh attitude, without
any empathy at all, to someone who could understand his little brother's world and slowly have
empathy.
BAB III
PENUTUP
C. Conclusion Of This Analysis
The main meaning is about someone who is experiencing suffering who needs to be understood and
heard. The narrator and Sonny reinforce the theme by having very different personalities, especially
the narrator who was initially harsh until he became "judgmental and understanding" because that is
what Sonny needs.
Through this story, the author conveys that suffering is part of life and having empathy is very
meaningful for others and being an artist can be a medicine for yourself and others.