A third biblical foundation of James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues”

Abstract

James Tackach, after noting the surprisingly few critical discussions of religious themes in James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues,” argues that there are “two main biblical texts that form the foundation of Baldwin’s story: the Cain and Abel story from the Book of Genesis and the parable of the Prodigal Son from Luke’s gospel” (109). This brief essay offers a third biblical foundation to Baldwin’s story—the story of Joseph in Egypt—which illuminates the salvific and redemptive role that Sonny plays in the life of his brother and the lives of those who listen to his music. Joseph is Israel’s youngest son, and “Israel loved Joseph more than all his children” (Genesis 37:3). This favoritism has an adverse effect on Joseph’s eleven brothers, for “when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him” (Genesis 37:4). Joseph’s dreams and visions about his superiority over the brothers only increases their dislike for him. Out of anger, “they took him, and cast him into a pit” and then sold him as a slave (Genesis 37:24). In slavery, Joseph journeys from the depths of prison to being the second most powerful man in all of Egypt, saving not only Egypt but also his own household, finally uniting with his brothers and family. Sonny has striking similarities to Joseph of Egypt. Like Joseph was favored by his father, “Sonny was the apple of his father’s eye” (114). Sonny also has a callous relationship with his older brother, who admits, “we fought almost every time we met” (126). The brother is explicit about his dislike for Sonny when he says, “I didn’t like the way he carried himself, loose and dreamlike all the time” (126). Baldwin’s chosen adjective here—dreamlike—is a compelling piece of evidence for Sonny’s connection with Joseph, and it is a trope throughout the story. Sonny is described as one of the schoolboys who amidst “the darkness of their lives ... vindictively, dreamed” (104). When he plays the piano “it was as though he were all wrapped up in some cloud some fire, some vision all his own” (125, emphasis added). Like Joseph, Sonny is a dreamer. His dreamlike attitude and vision make him different, “weird and https://doi.org/10.1080/00144940.2023.2214674