9 December 2021

The Raw Power of Artistic Expression in James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues”

To state that society is unflawed and holds no imperfections is a completely obtuse statement. Authors throughout history have constantly made it a point to leave their own critiques and opinions on society’s flaws in their works. James Baldwin, a well-respected author, had done so through his piece of writing. His critique of society can be supported through Sigmund Freud’s lectures of psychoanalysis. James Baldwin’s critique of society, when viewed through Sigmund Freud’s concepts of sublimation and artistic gift, is that young black men can create beauty from their anguish; this is seen in his short story “Sonny’s Blues” through his character, Sonny, as he learns to express his pain through his passion of playing the piano.

In the 1940’s, Harlem became the heart of the black community in New York City as many people of color migrated north to escape the dangers of southern living (Simons 545). Baldwin, who grew up in Harlem during this time (“The Black Scholar Interviews” 33), had experienced first-hand the emotional scarring caused by racism in the city. In his own words, Baldwin states:

It was an insult to be called black in those years when I was growing up, and part of my father’s disaster and part of the danger which menaced the entire family was our relationship toward our own blackness, which was very painful. It was a matter of humiliation and self-humiliation… (“The Black Scholar Interviews” 33)

Baldwin intricately describes how the discrimination he had faced had infected and manipulated his identity as a black man. It had manipulated his identity in such a way that he could not completely accept himself, as he viewed his own selfhood as an embarrassment. Baldwin himself had acknowledged that to combat such brutality, one must develop different techniques to cope with such an unfortunate reality (“The Black Scholar Interviews” 34). A multitude of methods that were born from the sorrows of black individuals had been created, however, there would be certain techniques that would greatly define the community.

A main contributor to the techniques that would assist black citizens in withstanding the injustices of their environment was music, most specifically jazz music (Smith 22). In a journal article written by Virginia Whatley Smith that discusses this very topic, she remarks just how this musical influence has assisted people of color for generations. For instance, in her writings, Smith states:

He identifies field hollers, shouts, work songs, and religious hymns of the African slave as early lyrical expressions of the ‘blues’ that became uniquely African American, and asserts that ‘jazz’ is its instrumental version… It was at the moment when the Negro directed his anger towards American oppression … (Smith 23-24)

Smith elucidates how the practice of relieving agony through jazz music is deeply imbedded in black culture. The black citizens of Harlem utilized the expressive quality of jazz to tolerate their environments dispiriting influence, the influence which Baldwin had described. Baldwin incorporates this powerful connection between black pain and black artistic expression in his own writings.

In “Sonny’s Blues”, Baldwin mimics the Harlem of his youth as he writes how young black men rammed their heads “abruptly against the low ceiling of their actual possibilities” (“Sonny’s Blues” 1) and had their potential constricted but the grip of their conditions. He portrays just how these young men must endure the experiences of a limiting environment through his character, Sonny, as his technique to alleviate his mind from his surrounding influences is to abuse heroin. As the narrator, Sonny’s brother, is having a discussion with Sonny, Sonny states, “‘When she was singing before,’ said Sonny, abruptly, ‘her voice reminded me for a minute of what heroin feels like sometimes – when it’s in your veins. It makes you feel sort of warm and cool at the same time … It makes you feel – in control’” (“Sonny’s Blues” 15-16). Here, Sonny expresses how his addiction had allowed him to release his misery and reclaim his personhood, which he had lost when attempting to survive his hindering circumstances. Such a release, however, causes nothing but self-destruction and can never be viewed as acceptable.

For Sonny to properly relieve himself of his suffering, he must demolish the negative coping mechanism of heroin use and substitute it with a justifiable method. Such a statement can be supported through Freuds fifth lecture as he discusses sublimation:

We know of a far more expedient process of development, called ‘sublimation’, in which the energy of the infantile wishful impulses is not cut off but remains ready for use – the unserviceable aim of the various impulses being replaced by one that is higher, and perhaps no longer sexual (2238).

Freud emphasizes how through sublimation an individual can redirect the influence of an unfavorable wishful impulse into one that is sustainable. Sonny does so by redirecting the anguish he puts into heroin abuse and sublimates it into his long-desired passion of playing the piano. As Sonny attempts to convince the narrator to attend his performance, he states:

‘I’m going to sit in with some fellows in a joint in the Village.’ ‘You mean, you’re going to play, tonight?’ ‘That’s right …  there’s no way of getting it out – that storm inside. You can’t talk it and you can’t make love with it, and when you finally try to get with it and play it, you realize nobody’s listening. So you’ve got to listen’ (“Sonny’s Blues” 15,17).

Sonny describes in depth how for him to adequately soothe the despair that persistently rages in his mind, he must bring it to life through the universal language of music. This causes his passion of playing the piano to become more than a remedy, but a gift.

As music is considered a form of the arts, Sonny’s passion for piano can be described as an artistic gift (Freud 2235). This can be supported through Freud’s fifth lecture as he describes the details of this concept:

If a person who is at loggerheads with reality possesses an artistic gift (a thing that is still a psychological mystery to us), he can transform his phantasies into artistic creations instead of into symptoms … he can escape the doom of neurosis and by this roundabout path regain his contact with reality. (Cf. Rank, 1907.) (2235)

Freud explains how if an individual possesses an artistic gift, they can represent their illness in a physical form; this allows the artistic expression to overpower the impairing mental conflict. Sonny’s piano playing provides him with this exact result. This can be seen as Sonny begins to play for his brother:

And, as though he commanded, Sonny began to play. Something began to happen … they all gathered around Sonny and Sonny played. Every now and again one of them seemed to say, amen. Sonny’s fingers filled the air with life, his life … It was very beautiful because it wasn’t hurried and it was no longer a lament … Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at last, that he could help us to be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we did (“Sonny’s Blues” 20).

Here, Sonny’s pain, which he projected into his music, resulted in a beautiful creation that could universally be understood with ease and appreciated. The vigor Sonny placed into his music overpowered his long-endured misery.

James Baldwin’s critique of society, when viewed through Sigmund Freud’s concepts of sublimation and artistic gift, is that young black men can create beauty from their anguish. Supported by Baldwins upbringing, young black boys will develop different methods, or techniques, to cope with their environment. However, should this method be detrimental or unhealthy in any way, they must sublimate it into an acceptable and beneficial outlet. This outlet has the opportunity of becoming an artistic gift, as seen by how deeply enwoven music is in black culture, and therefore can become a beautiful byproduct of a sorrowful experience. Because of this, it must be acknowledged that creative expression is a key factor in unlocking an individual’s raw and true emotions.