Ice in Sonny's Blues

In the beginning of the story Sonny’s Blues, the narrator says that he feels like he has an ice block in his stomach. “A great block of ice got settled in my belly and kept melting slowly all day long…it was a special kind of ice. It kept melting, sending trickles of ice water all up and down my veins, but it never got less.” (Baldwin) Ice is symbolic for coldness, rigidity, and the absence of love among other. In the story, the narrator had not talked to his brother for a while and he was a very rigid character. I do not think that there was an absence of love between him and Sonny but he was definitely hurt and disappointed in and by his brother. I think the “ice” in his stomach is a result of that. He is cold towards his brother and does not seem to show any signs of remorse for what is happening to his brother. He tries to remain indifferent and uncaring. It is as if the ice or the coldness is running through his veins. It reminds me of the expression “you are so cold you have ice water running through your veins.”
I think the narrator is so cold because he chooses not to show emotion. Even in the story when his daughter dies, he shows no emotion. It is not until the very end that he shows any emotion other then anger. It seems as though he learned to hide emotion, possibly from his father, so that is how he has dealt with everything, but Sonny needed him to show emotion-most likely compassion or love. That probably contributes to the gap between the two brothers and Sonny’s drug habits make it worse. It appears that the narrator wants everyone to cope with suffering as he does and Sonny can not do that. I think the ice is also a representative of his holding his emotions in and unexpressed.