Only Goodness

My main question about this chapter is whether or not Sudha's guilt surrounding the beginning of Rahul's drinking problems is justified or not. Although she blames herself for giving Rahul his very first beer while he visited her at school, I don't believe that she is truly the cause for his drinking problems. She may have been a gateway into him using alcohol to deal with his emotional issues, she cannot blame herself for all of the emotional struggles that cause his absue of alcohol. In a way, this story reminds me a bit of my own family problems. When I was a bit younger my brother had an issue with abusing drugs, which I knew about and did not take any measures to put a stop to it. Although I did not blame myself for the onset, I couldn't help but blame myself for the continuation of the substance abuse as an outlet for other outstanding issues. In this manner, I see many similarities between Sudha and myself - we both unjustly blamed ourselves for things outside of our control, because after all it was our brothers' own choices that were harming them, not ours.