Everything had been burned out of it, and, at the same time, things usually hidden were being burned in, by the fire and fury of the battle that was occurring in him,ö (Baldwin, p.

As his brother notes, ôthe face I saw on Sonny IÆd never seen before. For when Sonny plays the blues, he is offered an outlet for expression he never experiences in a mainstream, racist society. SonnyÆs brother eventually goes to watch Sonny play the blues. SonnyÆs brother, in contrast, never seems to understand why Sonny didnÆt try to make a life for himself, like he has done by becoming a teacher and a family man. This religious allusion highlights the pain and suffering the brothers have endured due to racism. We are told the Scotch and milk brought to him as he plays music, ôglowed and shook above my brotherÆs head like the cup of trembling,ö (Baldwin, p.

He refuses to assimilate into mainstream, primarily white, culture and, therefore, is unable to escape the pain and anguish of his isolation and oppression due to racism. His uncle has been run over by a car driven by drunken whites. Sonny has turned to alcohol, drugs, and music to escape the impact of racism in American society. We see that the two brothersÆ lives have taken dramatic turns. In ôSonnyÆs Blues,ö Baldwin provides us with the story of Sonny, a hard-drinking, drug-addicted blues musician and his brother, a teacher who serves as the storyÆs narrator. In two in particular, ôSonnyÆs Bluesö and ôThe Rockpile,ö we see that oppression and violence toward African Americans by a racist and dominant white majority often leads to internalized self-destruction and abuse of blacks by blacks in African American culture. James BaldwinÆs stories are often filled with examples of the impact of racism and prejudice on African Americans.

The rockpile james baldwin mla citation