James Baldwin expresses the role society plays in poor people’s lives. In this case, in “Sonny’s Blues”, Sonny represents how society does not offer you a way to success. In other words, society failed Sonny in the sense that it did not allow him to find a path to get out of a poor and street environment. Society just want its members to study and become things to keep the cycle running. This cycle of teachers, cops, and all this jobs required to add to society.Connecting this to Freud, we can analyze the decision the characters made. Based on the society they live in, we can notice how Sonny was influenced by his ego. This is because in the eyes of a society which wants its members to study and follow its rules Sonny is like the black sheep of the family. Sonny decided not to study but become a musician. On the other hand, we have Sonny’s brother, who decided to become an algebra teacher. We can say how he was influenced by his superego. He decided to follow society’s rules. To society he is an educated and respected man.