One thing I noticed about the stories was the prevalence of music in many of them. In these stories, it is a powerful force, capable of inducing a wide range of emotion in the characters. From "The Outing" to "Previous Condition" and "Sonny's Blues," music plays a direct role in many of the scenes. First, let us start with "The Outing."
In "The Outing," we see a Pentecostal revival. The saints, after a few testimonies, begin to dance and sing. The experience is summed up in the following quote: "and someone cried aloud, a timeless sound of wailing; fire splashed the open deck and filled the doors and bathed the sinners standing there" (49). Roy joins in, and Johnnie is profoundly alienated, "summoning all his forces, to save him from this frenzy" (50). Though Baldwin never says it, music must have a role in this "frenzy," as it is not described until after the saints start singing and dancing. This is the only story in which the music itself is not described. It is also the only story in which music plays a negative role; the frenzy it produced was a bad experience for Johnnie.
In "Previous Condition," music has a very different effect. Peter reminisces on his experience with music: "When I first heard the Messiah I was alone; my blood bubbled like fire and wine; I cried; like an infant crying for its mother’s milk; or a sinner running to meet Jesus" (90). Baldwin describes the music very beautifully before this. This shows the power the music can have on the character. Later, in the bar, he mentions that he does not like the "brassy and commercial" music, and mentions that Ella Fitzgerald is playing after that. (100). Other than this, the music is treated very positively in this story.
"Sonny's Blues" has a long section on music, including how Sonny learns to play. The narrator seems to look down on jazz at first, and seems to blame Sonny's addiction on it in part, or at least link the two. However, once he hears Sonny play, he is finally able to understand what Sonny has been suffering. "I heard what he had gone through, and would continue to go through until he came to rest in earth" (140). The music allow the narrator to come to terms with the losses he has faced in his life. I saw my mother's face again, and felt, for the first time, how the stones of the road she had walked on must have bruised her feet. I saw the moonlit road where my father's brother died. And it brought something else back to me, and carried me past it, I saw my little girl again and felt Isabel's tears again, and I felt my own tears begin to rise. (140).
Though the narrator realizes his problems will remain, he has an escape, and had a profound experience from hearing his brother play. This experience is what starts the relationship between the brothers again.
In Baldwin's stories so far, music had often had a large part in the experiences of the characters. Baldwin writes about the music with great precision and accuracy, something not many writers can do. This is one thing that makes his stories very enjoyable: the catalyst-like effect music has on the characters.
