The abuse of substances such as alcohol and other harmful drugs (perhaps even a vicious combination composed of a number of the many possible constituents) is an aspect of life that arises simply from the manifestation of human nature itself—an incredibly profound and complex calamity which stems from this vague, yet familiar, source. It is a sword with many edges and a lust for its victims, and if taken to the extents of excess, will function as an inescapable common denominator for the division of an addict’s life and priorities. There is a certain notion, often espoused by former drug abusers, “that you can get a lot higher without drugs than you can with them.” However, throughout history there has existed a countess number of people, groups, and cultures who have employed drugs and alcohol as a means of “fuel”/self-propulsion, in similar magnitudes to what it takes an average American family to run a car for a year, and without which would have left nothing near as great of a scar on the facet of history’s withered skin. Hunter Thompson once noted, when attempting to get a handle on the meaning of the infamous Hell’s Angels mystique, that it is a fine line between survival and disaster—a fair definition of luck as well:
The Edge…There is no honest way to explain it, because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over. The others—the living—are those who pushed their control as far as they thought they could handle it, and then pulled back, slowed down, or did whatever they had to when it came to chose between Now and Later. But the edge is still out there. Or maybe it’s in. The association of motorcycles with LSD is no act of publicity. They are both a means to an end, to the place of defi...
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... entertainment, revenue, and so on. Any theme that is prevalent in the real world universally is undoubtedly an appropriate theme in literature.
Works Cited
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“Drugs and Alcohol Theme in The Glass Menagerie.” Online. Accessed: 5 June 2010<
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“Drug and Alcohol Quotes in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” Online. Accessed: 5
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Thompson, Hunter S. Hell’s Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga. New York, NY:
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Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2003.
From the inception of the Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914, the social concept of drug addicts or those recovering from abuse as “criminal deviants” is still stigmatized today even though we have gained ground and won the war on dru...
Throughout “Chasing the Scream” many intriguing stories are told from individuals involved in the drug war, those on the outside of the drug war, and stories about those who got abused by the drug war. Addiction has many social causes that address drug use and the different effects that it has on different people. In our previous history we would see a tremendous amount of individuals able to work and live satisfying lives after consuming a drug. After the Harrison Act, drugs were abolished all at once, but it lead to human desperation so instead of improving our society, we are often the reason to the problem. We constantly look at addicts as the bad guys when other individuals are often the reasons and influences to someone’s decision in
Williams, Tennessee. Anthology of American Literature: From Realism to the Present. Ed. McMichael, George et al. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2000.
Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. In Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing, 4th ed. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1995. 1519-1568.
Throughout The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway paints a tragic picture of young adults being haunted by the lasting effects of post traumatic stress disorder onset by their participation in World War I and the restrictions it placed on their ability to construct relationships.
Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. In Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing, 4th ed. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1995. 1519-1568.
Myer, Michael. The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. 7th ed. : Bedford - St. Martin's, 2006.
Meyer, Michael. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1989.
The reason with the old ways do not work, Alexander say, is because “self-destructive drug users are responding in a tragic, but understandable way” (226). It is not their drug- problem that caused the dislocation, but the dislocation that cause the drug problem. He uses the term dislocation to describe the lack of integration with “family, community, society and spiritual values” (226). Alexander goes on to explain that history proves that inability to achieve health opportunities can take on the form of violence, and damaging drug use. Therefore, the “drug problem” (226) is not the problem. The problem is more the “pattern of response to prolong dislocation” (226). Alexander supports this by explaining the reason for the dislocation as being globalized by a society that is market driven which can only be established by the displacement of tradition, economy, and relationships. This has been seen in history before in England during the 19TH century, when “a brutal, export-oriented manufacturing system” was accompanied by work...
Belasco, Susan, and Linck Johnson, eds. The Bedford Anthology of American Literature. Vol. 1, 2nd Ed., Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. 1190-1203. Print.
People sometimes say that drugs and alcohol make for the best stories. While the saying often refers to a fun night out, drugs and alcohol can just as easily tell stories about desperation, despair, and, tragically, death. What starts out as a good time, can turn into a disaster in a blink of an eye and without a warning. Sadly, the user is too stoned to notice and the downward spiral begins.
Jake Barnes drinks a significant amount over the course of the novel. At points he drinks to simply feel drunk and not to enhance his experience. The modernist uses alcohol to leave the pain behind, to dull the body in attempts to free themselves mentally. Jake is literally a man who drinks to get drunk, “I was a little drunk. Not drunk in any positive sense but just enough to be careless” (Hemingway, 29). Jake is mirroring his sense of lethargic emotions with his torpid body. He wallows within his suffering with little to no attempt to leave his emotional pit. Jake drinks to lose his body and his senses, even if he claims otherwise: “I’m not getting drunk,’ I said. ‘I am just drinking wine. I like to drink wine’” (Hemingway, 250).
“For every family that is impacted by drugs, there are another 10 to 15 families impacted by alcohol abuse. It's a pretty big deal. We have a tendency to only look at part of the puzzle.” (Kevin Lewis). As a society we tend to categorize the severity of addiction in a way that drugs are the most dangerous and alcohol being just a problem. Because alcohol addiction can be a slow progressive disease many people don’t see it in the same light as drug addiction. An addiction to drugs is seen as being a more deadly and dangerous issue then that of alcohol because a drug addiction can happen more quickly and can kill more quickly. Alcohol is something that is easy to obtain, something that is found at almost every restaurant. People with an alcohol addiction can not hide from alcohol as easy as a drug addict. Approximately 7 million Americans suffer from alcohol abuse and another 7 million suffer from alcoholism. (Haisong 6) The dangers of alcohol affect everyone from children with alcoholic parents, to teenagers who abuse alcohol, then to citizens who are terrorized by drunk drivers.
Williams, Tennessee. "The Glass Menagerie." The Bedford Introduction to Literature. Ed. Michael Meyer. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's. 1999. pp.1865-1908.
Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. In Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing, 4th ed. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1995. 1519-1568.