The Title Sonny's Blues referring to the short story written by James Baldwin has many significances and double meanings within the story. The title relates mostly to the narrator's brother Sonny's struggle between heroine and the jazz music he loves but, also touches on the dysfunctional lifestyle forced upon black families growing up in Harlem. .
"Sonny's Blues" originated not from the heroine or the jazz music that played the major roles in the story. Sonny's Blues started when he was a small child growing up in Harlem, everyday being told that he, like all others there, would not accomplish anything in his life but a criminal record. Like thousands of others who came from Harlem, his earliest memories were of drive-by shootings and a fear of the night. Hatching from that background, depression and hopelessness sets in quickly, thriving off the dysfunctional atmosphere like a pack of wolves on a wounded fawn. Sonny wanted more than to be pulled down into the gloomy grasp of drugs and gang life. He had dreams, goals, ambition; spending countless hours practicing the piano as a child, hoping for a better life. But every time he began to rise above the contours of what was expected of him, he was once again dragged down into the blue-black darkness.
Heroine. It was the only barricade between Sonny and his dreams. It was a leg-hold trap that always seemed to snap when he had reached a mountain summit. It was what kept him trapped in the stereotype of black society, what dulled his shine, what made him like all the others. It was his blues, his suppresser. Once hooked, Sonny lost his confidence in his talents and came to believe that he could not perform without it. He believed he was a product of heroine, a nothing, an illusion without it. .
Only one thing could save Sonny from his addiction; his music. This is where the significance of "Sonny's Blues" really takes shape. Sonny's blues saved Sonny form his blues.