If we want to discuss about being safe and taking risks in the story of Sonnys Blues by James Baldwin, we should know what is the meaning of being safe and taking risks by itself.
I think all people agree that if we are driving on a road, and we can see that there is a big hole not far away in the front of the road, we must rotate the steering wheel to escape from the big hole. Otherwise, our cars may get hurt from it. You may say that your car is cheap and you dont care about your car. Then you will just drive across the hole. Although your car may not be hurt, you will still feel uncomfortable while the car is passing through the hole. This gives the point that if we know there is a risk beyond us, then we will find a way to become safe.
As we can see, being safe is something that good for people. We dont have any loss when we are in safe environment. People always try to find a way to get safety instead of taking risk. Obviously, we must lose something if we take risks. Therefore, people prefer safety to risk. If we know that there are risks coming to us, we usually try our best to escape from them. The idea of being safe is not to take risk, while the idea of taking risk, is to sacrifice your safety. They are contradiction to each other.
In the story “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin, we can also see that there are some examples of being safe and taking risks. The narrator tells the story from the first person’s point of view. This story is about the past and present lives of two brother’s, the narrator and Sonny. It begins with the event of Sonny getting caught in raid for using heroin. This event triggers many emotions and old memories for both brothers, and once Sonny is released from jail, the two brothers try to repair the void that has been left in their lives.
For the residents of Harlem during these times family was very important. The narrator tells many stories about the place where they grew up, the death of their parents, and how they parted and lost touch with each other. At the end of the story, sonny’s brother agrees to listen to his music, which he never before has shown interest in. Sonny also dropped out of school to pursue a career in music and did not complete his education.
In Sonnys view, staying in Harlem is taking risk. It is because he thinks that he cannot stop using drugs if he continues to live in Harlem. It is a place without hope and future. As he wants to escape from the risk, he chooses to leave Harlem and pursue a career in music. It is being safe. However, In the narrators view, it is taking risk for Sonny to leave Harlem and play the Blues. He thinks that sonny’s interest in music because he uses it as an escape, similarly to how he uses drugs, to the rough life in Harlem. It is unsafe to pursue a career in music. For him, it is being safe to be a teacher and a good father, especially staying in Harlem.
As we can see, the meaning of being safe and taking risks is so easy to understand by themselves. However, in different people and different cases, there are different meaning for them.
