Sonny Blue

While the two brothers are riding in this cab together the narrator comes to a revelation about their differences which is eloquently written by Baldwin, "Yet as the cab moved uptown through streets which seemed, with a rush, to darken with dark people, and as I covertly studied Sonny’s face it came to me that what we were both seeking through our separate cab windows was that part of us which had been left behind"(53). Sonny had tried to escape from Harlem through drug use and eventually finds his true "escape" through music. If Baldwin had written this any other way, the true emotional response of returning home under negative circumstances would not have been achieved.

Near the end of the story Baldwin gives us some insight into Sonnys passion for his music. The two brothers ride silently in the cab as they were reflecting upon Harlem where they had both grown up. He learns to improvise along with the radio and practices furiously, "but it was as though he were all wrapped up in a some cloud, some fire, some vision all his own; and there wasn’t any way to reach him. Through Baldwin’s superior writing skill the reader can relate to the problem of two brothers trying to find a common ground. This is another example of the critical use of the metaphor in order for the reader to feel the same emotions that the characters are feeling. The narrator feels that he has escaped by becoming a school teacher. Once again the excellent use of symbolism and imagery leave nothing to the imagination. One example other than the "ice metaphor" is when Sonny and his brother are riding in a cab and they head uptown in New York City, towards Harlem. If the reader actually had a brother who was caught doing Heroin in a raid, Baldwin could achieve this emotional response by saying, "I felt just like I did the day I found out my brother was doing Heroin. Both Sonny and the Narrator are looking for an "escape" from Harlem.