The Inevitability of Suffering in James Baldwins Sonnys Blues Essays

The Inevitability of Suffering in James Baldwins sonnys megrims Everyone likes to feel safe. We try to protect ourselves and those we love, to make them feel safe as well. The idea conveyed about safety in James Baldwins bring downers Blues is that on that point is no such thing. The narrator of this story had thought that his fellow Sonny was safe. Or at least, that was what he had made himself believe. I told myself that Sonny was wild, however he wasnt crazy. And hed always been a good boy, he hadnt ever cancelled hard or evil or disrespectful, the way kids can, so quick, so quick, especially in Harlem. I didnt want to believe that Id ever visit my brother going down, coming to nothing, all that light in his vista gone out, in the condition Id already seen so many others (48). just now Sonny hadnt been safe from drugs, or the streets, or any of the things his brother had been authorized he was immune to. He had been arrested for using and peddling heroin. Sonnys friend, the boy we catch later, had thought the same thing as Sonnys brother had. I thought Sonny was a smart boy...too smart to get hung (49). only if they were both wrong. It had been Sonnys brothers certificate of indebtedness to look out for Sonny from the time Sonny was born. When he started to walk, he walked from our mother straight to me. I caught him just before he fell when he took the first steps he ever took in this military man (52). The narrator of the story is Sonnys big brother, so he feels responsible for him. This right is confirmed by their mother on page 55, and the older brother reassures her, I wont let nothing happen to Sonny (57). But he fails at this, Sonny leaves and gets into trouble. Perhaps the narrator felt that if he couldnt go along his brother safe,... ...fe. But he couldnt. And indeed, suffering, lack of safety, is unavoidable, and also necessary for both(prenominal) things. When I was downstairs before, on my way here, listening to that woman sin g, it strike me all of a sudden how much suffering she must necessitate had to go through. Its repulsive to think you have to suffer that much (65). But we do. Everyone does. In fact, Theres no way not to suffer (65). We are never safe from it. Total safety is not attainable. Not only in Harlem, but everywhere, there are things that are simply not low our control. Try as we might to block out unpleasant things for those somewhat us, we cannot. This is the feeling that Baldwin creates through the story of Sonny and his brother. List of Work Cited Baldwin, James. Sonnys Blues. The Norton macrocosm to Fiction. 6th ed. Ed. Jerome Beaty. New York Norton, 1996. 47-70.