Archetypal Approach in James Baldwin‘s Sonny's Blues

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Archetypal approach in James Baldwin‘s Sonny's Blues
The archetypal approach focuses on form and function elements to understand the meaning of a literary work grounded in cultural or psychological myths. Sonny is the archetypal jazz musician alienated from the mainstream society because of their penchant for drugs. The focus on Black music including jazz and blues in downtown Harlem showing that music is like a medium achievement for the African Americans. Despite Sonny visiting bars frequented by the working class blacks, it is the narrator’s snobbish behavior that makes it hard for him to understand Sonny’s penchant for music. This paper highlights the archetypal approach with the character of Sonny’s the archetypal image of a creative musician who is misunderstood, but also representing the expectations of the working class blacks.
To highlight the alienation of Sonny the aspiring musician is the narrator’s uninspiring perspective on music as a career. However, Sonny’s romantic pursuit of music seems irrational at first, but the narrator gets to acknowledge the power of music towards the end as Sonny performs. There are clear class divisions between the two brothers with the narrator keen to maintain conservative ideals, while supporting the status quo. However, Sonny has a different perspective, and is more radical and in a hurry to participate in social changes. The alienation of Sonny is also because of his choices to protest and act against the norm, but Baldwin also sees this as a way for redemption when the narrator alludes to being free after listening to Sonny’s performance. Sonny finds acceptance in the jazz club away from the isolation and judgment of other people (McParland 132).
Sonny is misunderstood by his older brother and his wife for his non-conformity to their perception of the middle-class values. The narrator acts as a father figure to his younger brother who is seven years younger the narrator is visibly ashamed that his brother, who was a prison for having been arrested in a swoop...