Sonny's Blues

#1 1 - Research the setting of “Sonny’s Blues” – Harlem, NYC.

The setting takes place in the early 1950s in New York City. The story is narrated by an unnamed man who relates his attempts to come to terms with his long estranged brother, Sonny, a jazz musician. John M. Reilly, noting that an "outstanding quality of the Black literary tradition in America is its attention to the interdependence of personal and social experience," has concluded that "Sonny's Blues" both depicts and manifests the belief that the "artful expression of personal yet typical experience is one way to freedom." http://www.enotes.com/contemporary-literary-criticism/sonny-s-blues-baldwin-james

2 – How does the setting affect/shape Sonny’s character and create conflict/complications in the story?

The setting affects Sonny’s character by growing up in Harlem, New York in a traditional white society where he feels the pain of institutional racism and the limits placed upon his opportunity. Sonny experiences that being a man of color during this time is not so great and that he feels that it is better to die then to be a drug addict. The problem that lies in the shape of Sonny’s character is the prejudging from society. It seems as thou when he tries to do something we wants, he can’t do it because he is stereotyped as a person that shouldn’t be dealing with that task at hand; it would be meant for another person.

#2 1 – Research the history of African-American men in the military – Pre-Civil

Rights movement.

The history of African-American men in the military during the Pre-Civil Rights movement were people joined together to fight for their constitutional right after 200 years of legalized exclusion. There were also U.S. racial order maintained largely by the domination through segregation, exclusion, physical violence, and deportations that the men were fighting for. The blacks in the military were also promised freedom if they had served the in war.www.imperial.edu/~maryjo.wainwrigh/History%20121/Hist%20121%20Lecture%20Outlines/Chapter%2028.doc

2 – Why is it ironic that Sonny wants to enlist?

It was so ironic that Sonny wanted to enlist because he wanted to fight for the cause to end the racism in the States and for the white society to look at the blacks/ people of color as equals. With him figuring to join the military, it will give him that chance to prove himself worthy of withstanding any outcomes that will come in his way to make his own decisions and not be judged by his color or what the white society seems he should be.

#3 1 – Research song lyrics by Billie Holiday. Find a song or verse that you feel best

represents the suffering of Sonny – his blues. Include song title and lyrics here.

The song I chose was “Ain’t Nobody’s Business if I Do”:

There ain't nothing I can do

Or nothing I can say

That folks don't criticize me

But I'm going to do

Just as I want to anyway

And don't care just what people say

If I should take a notion

To jump into the ocean

Ain't nobody's business if I do

If I go to church on sunday

Then cabaret all day monday

Ain't nobody's business if I do

If my man ain't got no money

And I say "take all mine, honey"

Ain't nobody's business if I do

If I give him my last nickel

And it leaves me in a pickle

Ain't nobody's business if I do

But I'd rather my man would hit me

Than follow him to jump up and quit me

Ain't nobody's business if I do

I swear I won't call no copper

If I'm beat up by my papa

Ain't nobody's business if I do

Nobody's business

Ain't nobody's business

Nobody's business if I do

http://www.metrolyrics.com/aint-nobodys-business-if-i-do-lyrics-billie-holiday.html

2 - Explain why.

I chose this Billie Holiday verse because as I read through, many of the lines referred to some of the feelings that Sonny was feeling in Sonny’s Blues. For example, “ There ain't nothing I can do/ Or nothing I can say /That folks don't criticize me/But I'm going to do/Just as I want to anyway/And don't care just what people say”. This states that Sonny was done taking crap from everyone and is going to doing him.

#4 1 – Research Bebop.

Bebop or simply "bop" was a post-swing era musical revolution in several of its aspects: its harmonic elaborations of altered chord voicing and use of the flatted-fifth chord; its highly syncopated, polyrhythmic and often extremely rapid tempos; its bold exploration of the technical limits of each instrument; its movement away from the danceable rhythms; its use of wordless scat singing and the invention of "vocalize" by Eddie Jefferson and others. Bebop established a pinnacle on the African-American cultural music tree. Its predecessors, swing, traditional, gospel, spirituals and work songs grew from roots in the blues (directly from Africa) and ragtime (with the post-emancipation access to European instruments).http://www.fyicomminc.com/jazzmen/nelsonharrison.htm

2 – Bebop is the music that Sonny favors. What does the music represent

politically and socially to Sonny? What does the music represent to Sonny’s

brother?

The music represents socially the struggle he’s had growing up in the white society where everything he’s done didn’t mean anything to other but just a figment of their imagination and to him it meant that whatever he doesn’t was already set for him to fail. Politically, how all odds were against him he carried on and did what he wanted to do, something that he had passioned for.

The music represents the passing of his father and the uncle he never knew about. From the stories his mother told him before her passing, that “your father’s brother was killed by a car accident when they were young, and we did not mention it because of the how horrific the accident was.” She explained to him that while they were kids, his brother am him were coming home from a gig and they were running home and he was crossing the street and a couple of drunken white kids came around thinking to only toy with them and not really run into them but did and kept going. Still to that day, he carried it to his death.