Does reminiscing on one's past transform a person? Can a person look at the past of others and discover new things about themselves? James Baldwin's short story, "Sonny's Blues,"" is more than a tale of a younger brother's struggle, but one of self-discovery. Self-reflecting on previous encounters with his mom, and younger brother, Baldwin's eyes are opened to the past hurts, struggles, and anger he experienced. Sonny's Blues is not merely the story of the narrator's experience; it is the tale of his inner transformation and spiritual growth which his earlier experiences of death and loss have motivated.
Can ignorance be bliss, "I couldn't believe it: but what I mean by that is that I couldn't find any room for it anywhere inside me. I had kept it outside me for a long time. I hadn't wanted to know. I had had suspicions, but I didn't name them; I kept putting them away. "(Kennedy and Gioia 58). Having just read about his brother's arrest for Heroin use, Baldwin confronts his suspicion's and has to take a look and confront his inner turmoil. What he denied so long came to surface to make him think. As he was leaving his job; as a teacher, he runs into Sonny's junky friend, to be told Sonny would eventually gain release after he detoxed and all alone. Discovering brings further memories not thought on before.
To lose a parent or a loved one is hard enough. While Baldwin being the eldest by seven years, taking care of Sunny would eventually fall to him. "You got to hold onto your brother, " she said, " and don't let him fall, no matter how evil you gets with him. You going to be evil with him many times. You may not be able to stop nothing from happening. But you got to let him know you's there. " (Kennedy and Gioia 66). As Baldwin thinks back on this, he cannot help but to feel remorse. As he prepares to leave for service and being married two days prior. Baldwin does not take his mother's words to heart.