Sonny’s Blues
Introduction + Context
Plot Summary
Detailed Summary & Analysis
Themes
All Themes Cycles of Suffering Family Bonds Passion, Restraint, and Control Salvation and Relief
Quotes
Characters
All Characters The Narrator Sonny The Narrator’s Mother The Narrator’s Father The Narrator’s Father’s Brother Isabel The Narrator’s Sons Creole Isabel’s Parents Sonny’s Friend
Symbols
All Symbols The Cup of Trembling Darkness
Literary Devices
All Literary Devices Allusions Flashbacks Foil Genre Imagery Metaphors Mood Setting Similes Style Tone
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Sonny’s Blues
by James Baldwin
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Introduction Intro
Plot Summary Plot
Summary & Analysis Summary
Themes
  • All Themes
  • Cycles of Suffering Theme Icon
    Cycles of Suffering
  • Family Bonds Theme Icon
    Family Bonds
  • Passion, Restraint, and Control Theme Icon
    Passion, Restraint, and Control
  • Salvation and Relief Theme Icon
    Salvation and Relief
Quotes
Characters
  • All Characters
  • The Narrator
  • Sonny
  • The Narrator’s Mother
  • The Narrator’s Father
  • The Narrator’s Father’s Brother
  • Isabel
  • The Narrator’s Sons
  • Creole
  • Isabel’s Parents
  • Sonny’s Friend
Symbols
  • All Symbols
  • The Cup of Trembling Symbol Icon
    The Cup of Trembling
  • Darkness Symbol Icon
    Darkness
Lit Devices
  • All Literary Devices
  • Allusions
  • Flashbacks
  • Foil
  • Genre
  • Imagery
  • Metaphors
  • Mood
  • Setting
  • Similes
  • Style
  • Tone
Theme Wheel Theme Viz
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Previous
Sonny’s Friend

Sonny’s Blues Symbols

Next
The Cup of Trembling

The Cup of Trembling

At the end of the story the narrator has had an epiphany due to Sonny’s music, and Baldwin introduces a symbol—“the cup of trembling”—to encapsulate the moment. This image is about salvation, and it…

read analysis of The Cup of Trembling

The Cup of Trembling Symbol Icon

Darkness

Throughout the story, Baldwin uses imagery of darkness to signal the dangers and traumas of growing up black in Harlem. This begins early on; in the first paragraph, when the narrator is reeling from the…

read analysis of Darkness

Darkness Symbol Icon
Previous
Sonny’s Friend
Previous
Sonny’s Friend
Next
The Cup of Trembling
Next
The Cup of Trembling
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