Thesis: In “Sonny’s Blues”, Baldwin chooses to use music and the idea of being enclosed and trapped as motifs to reinforce the theme that life is filled with constant suffering. Being enclosed and trapped is a major motif in “Sonny’s Blues”. It is repeatedly used to show people are constantly suffering because they are trapped. The narrator is trapped inside of the housing project that he hates: “It hasn't been up long. A few days after it was up it seemed uninhabitable new, now, of course, it's already rundown. It looks like a parody of the good, clean, faceless life-God knows the people who live in it do their best to make it a parody” (16). This describes the main thing the narrator is suffering with, feeling trapped in Harlem. And the housing project is the best physical thing the narrator can use to describe the anguish of Harlem. When Sonny is a child, he realizes that he will eventually be trapped in Harlem, and tells his brother he wants to join the army. The narrator asks why, and Sonny replies with: “I just told you. To get out of Harlem" (28). This shows that Sonny is determined to end his suffering even as a kid, as he knows he must get out of …show more content…
Throughout the story, Baldwin points out times where the narrator has difficulty understanding why Sonny wants to become a musician: “ I just looked at him and I was probably frowning a real frown by this time. I simply couldn't see why on earth he'd want to spend his time hanging around nightclubs, clowning around on bandstands, while people pushed each other around a dance floor. It seemed-beneath him, somehow” (25). The narrator simply can not comprehend why Sonny would want to be a musician. However, that the narrator finally learns to understand why Sonny became a musician at the end of the story. After playing at the club, Sonny takes a sip of scotch and milk and says, “just before they started playing again,