A well-worn saying states that if a door is closed, there will always be another window for you to climb through. What if there are bars at the window? What if the window is too high to reach? What if others are nearby, but they all have to rush to reach the door? This analogy recalls the struggles of blacks in 1957, the year James Baldwin published “Sonny’s Blues”. Windows are featured in almost every scene. Windows provide both a glimpse into the impossible and a window onto reality. Sonny is the exception to this rule. He creates his hope and his own light in spite of all odds. “Sonny’s Blues”, through its windows, lets in light which illuminates many realities for the characters. This illumination starts with darkness, which is interesting. One of the narration’s points is about Sunday evenings when church guests would gather in the living-room with his parents. Mays 82 describes the “darkness” growing against the windowspanes as a reminder for the children and young narrator that the world they live in is one of impending darkness. They feel the blackness of night as it envelopes them. However, the narrator has grown up and is very used to the darkness of their lives. The tenebrous windows are given a new meaning: denial.
The story begins in a subway. There are no windows in the tunnels so the narrator is forced to read the newspaper. He learns that his brother was arrested for heroin possession. In the underground, there is a comforting possibility for the narrator to deny the truth. Before the story began, the narrator was avoiding the truth and pushing it into the darkness so he wouldn’t have to see it. He had “kept the truth outside…for a while.” (Mays 75) If you live in Harlem, it might be an enjoyable experience to look through a window. But Harlem residents will see the window as a reminder to their poor, violent neighborhoods. The story’s characters escape their poverty and turn to entertainment to distract them. Baldwin said that the “darkness of the movies…blinded them to another darkness” (Mays 75). The houses that Baldwin lives in are equipped with large windows. No one seems to be bothered by them. They prefer to watch the TV (Mays 80). The movies and television show something other than reality. It is a welcome respite from the dark outside. In “Sonny’s Blues,” the narrator recalls speaking to his mother the last time he spoke. This scene is a perfect example of the window’s illuminating power. It is in this scene that he learns shocking details: his father had lost a brother, his father would cry to his mother behind closed door doors often, and more. He learns this all from his mother sitting at the window. A spotlight shines on her black gown, making it appear as if she is in darkness. “This was the first occasion,” he stated, “I’ve ever seen my mother look older” (Mays83). His father is being enlightened by the narration, and his mother gazes in awe at his mother, dreamily humming a song from church. The mother is not alone in looking through windows for something that is impossible to achieve. Sonny takes a taxi from his New York home to meet the narrator when he returns. Sonny wants to drive through the park because he is unable to see the city that has been missing for a while. The narrator sees them both staring through the windows and realizes that Harlem is a trap. He had been able to get a good job as an algebra teacher, so he must let go of something. Nobody comes out complete and whole. Sonny and he realize that they are looking for the “part of [them] which had been forgotten” (Mays 80). Another powerful scene is when the Narrator sees a revival. They begin to sing “‘Tis Zion… it has saved many thousands” (Mays 1992). The narrator emphasizes that not one person who listened to the hymn was saved. However, it can have an impact on people. Sonny likens the woman’s singing voice (Mays. 93) Certain windows can sometimes look like drugs. Even though they know that impossible things are possible, the characters cannot help but feel these thoughts. This is where it becomes clear that windows are not all that can be achieved in interior design. Baldwin begins the story by describing rooms as barriers. Harlem’s young men are limited by their “low ceiling of actual possibilities”. (Mays 74). Their situation is so bad that they’re stuck in small, low-ceiling rooms. They don’t have a window to open to let them see the world outside. Except for the scene where Sonny plays the piano, windows are mentioned almost everywhere. Sonny isn’t a random name. It’s a homophone for sunnies. His name is indicative of his sunny personality. Sonny is his own sun, creating music and not needing any outside light.
Sonny seems as desperate as anyone to get through the metaphorical doors. In his letter, he says that he feels “like a man trying to climb from some deep, really deep and funky pit and just seeing the sun up there.” Mays (78) pointed out the need to spend time outdoors. He was not allowed to be part of jazz again until his rehabilitation. He is only able to dream of a piano in a open window if he has no access to it. Sonny opens the window once in the story. He closes the door again and lets in the garbage can stench (Mays 88). Sonny was content to find happiness in the dark world of jazz, nightclubs, and drugs. Sonny is more like his brother. He’s aphotic and prefers to live in the dark than seek out light. Sonny’s nightclub performance gives the narrator a glimpse of the beauty and darkness he has discovered. For a moment, he wonders if he can “cease complaining,” but then he remembers that “the outside world waits” (Mays100). Sonny’s passion was rare. Others don’t have the same passion that can bring them joy. Although the modern world may seem different than it was in 1957, not all things have changed. Even today, people who are less fortunate might struggle to find light in a world that doesn’t exist, but they will eventually give up and settle for darkness.
According to Kelly J. Mays, _____. The Norton Introduction to Literature is a comprehensive overview of the world of literature. It provides an introduction to various literary elements and genres, and covers the essential works of classic and contemporary authors. The 2006 edition of W.W. Norton & Co., Inc. Print.
