As i’ve read through the work of James Baldwin in “Sonny’s Blues” I came to the conclusion that we can all be set in the same body of water but its actually up to us to teach ourselves how to swim. I also came under the impression that you could be the best swimmer of the lot but still fall prey to the dangers of the sea. This idea came into my head after reading something that the protagonists mother says when talking to him about his brother, where she states.” It ain’t a question of his being a good boy”…. “nor of his having good sense.” What this says to me is that his mother already has a good idea of the fact that in life things can happen to even the best of us. Branching off of that idea, I had come to make the connection that the best of us can fall prey to what is known as the “darkness”. This darkness clouds one’s judgement and leads them on a decline. This can be seen where the protagonist is speaking with a friend of his brothers, where he states, “they’ll let him out. And then he’ll just start working his way back again. You mean he’ll never kick the habit. Is that what you mean?” This idea is one even seen in shows demographically aimed for children. This idea of one being lead or leading themselves on a constant decline. The tragedy of this however is the fact that when compared to reality it can seem all the much better since in the show there can be an element of saving the person on the decline where in real life or reality, that’s not always the case for some.
