Sonny's Blues

While initially reading Edith Wharton's Sonny's Blues, one cannot help but think that at some point in her past, someone close to her went through a nasty spot in their lives involving drugs, and she tries to 'relive' it, as it were, through the story. After reading 90-95% of the story, the moral seems to point very clearly in one direction--that if someone close to you is involved in drugs and are at any point in the addiction and recovery process, that you need to help them, one way or another. Through the story, Sonny's brother recounts the story as if Sonny's problems are his fault, because he was not there when Sonny needed him, or because he failed to deliver on his promise to his mother until after Sonny had returned from jail/rehab. But once reading the conclusion, the moral seems to point in a different direction--that ultimately, the path to recovering from addiction lies within the addict and the addict alone. While it certainly helps to have outside support, being that friends, family, or even music, the decision to relapse or begin anew rests completely with the user. Wharton expresses this with intimate knowledge of what addicts and people close to the addicts go through, and what the thought process of all those involved are through every phase of the process.
-Nick