While reading “Sonny's Blues” by James Baldwin, the theme, symbolism, and motifs were discovered throughout the short story. Sonny, one of the two main characters, struggles with drug addiction and is now pursuing his dream of becoming a jazz musician. The narrator, whose name is never given, does his best to keep the promise he made to his mother years ago, to be his brother's keeper. James Baldwin, an African-American author, grew up in Harlem, New York. Baldwin had no one with whom to share his love of literature. Baldwin's father was opposed to his following a literary career. James Baldwin, however, received the support of the mayor and his English teacher. Baldwin abandoned his parents' home at the age of 17 and moved to Green Village, New York. Green Village was a town famous for its artistic environment and free thinkers, and it was here that his career began. James Baldwin's stories were often set during the Civil War, as was one of his most famous stories, Sonny's Blues. Near the beginning of the SONYS BLUES story, the narrator gets a feeling of ice in his stomach. The narrator felt this feeling when he read the newspaper which informed him that his brother was in prison for drug possession. The feeling of ice symbolizes fear and discomfort for the narrator. “A large block of ice settled in my stomach and continued to slowly melt there all day. . .. It was a special kind of ice cream. It continued to melt, sending streams of icy water through my veins, but it never diminished. ("Ice." Shmoop. Np, nd Web. December 2, 2013.) The narrator felt in a sense responsible and guilty for the life his little brother currently leads and if he was there to guide him, then maybe that things could be different.Sy jazz music...... middle of paper ......aldwin shows that light, at least in his perspective, represented more good. Baldwin described Sonny's face as "extremely bright" ("Motif of Light and Dark in "Sonny's Blues"" Yahoo Contributor Network. Np, nd Web. December 2, 2013.) or light to show that Sonny looked and felt innocent when he grew up as a teenager. James Baldwin did a great job of including many themes, symbols, and motifs throughout the story. The symbols and thematic motifs are what interest you as a reader and make you think even further because there is always a little more to what James Baldwin said. There are many hidden messages throughout the story that require you to pay attention all the time. Works Cited Baldwin, James. “Sonny’s Blues.” The Jazz Fiction Anthology. Ed. Sascha Feinstein and David Rife. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 2009. 17-48.