Thank you for this sobering & illuminating post. I teach “Sonny’s Blues” by Baldwin, and it meets with a deeply impactful response from my students. The closing scene of reconciliation between the brothers through the redemptive medium of cathartic artistic expression is very moving. Although Baldwin’s faith perspective has clear limitations, his emphasis on the transmutation of pain into empathy-inducing beauty has much to teach his readers today.
Thank you for this sobering & illuminating post. I teach “Sonny’s Blues” by Baldwin, and it meets with a deeply impactful response from my students. The closing scene of reconciliation between the brothers through the redemptive medium of cathartic artistic expression is very moving. Although Baldwin’s faith perspective has clear limitations, his emphasis on the transmutation of pain into empathy-inducing beauty has much to teach his readers today.
AliProf, thanks for this comment. I will have to put "Sonny's Blues" on my "to read" list!