Denis Johnson’s “Emergency” and Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” present a paradoxical exploration on substance abuse and its impact on life. The protagonists in both stories rely on substances to cope with, and escape, their dismal lives. Despite this similarity presented in the texts, there lies an important contrast between the manifestations of their realities, and the intent and outcome of substance abuse on the characters’ lives. On the one hand, in “Emergency”, the protagonist Georgie brings forth the idea that substance abuse functions to powerfully alter an overtly dismal life in order to augment personal meaning and purpose. But, on the other hand, in “Cathedral”, the protagonist reveals the idea that in unveiling the obscurities of an …show more content…
At the onset, when Terrence Weber arrives, the doctor, in assessing the patient’s needed treatment, orders for Terrence to be prepped, and yells: “Orderly!” (386). Georgie’s confusion is addressed as he asks for clarification, to which the doctor retorts: “Is this a hospital? [...] Is this the emergency room? Is this a patient? Are you the orderly?” (386). As Georgie is described sanitizing himself, the doctor ridicules him to the nurse: “That person is not right, not at all, not one bit,” to which the nurse defensively asserts: “As long as my instructions are audible to him it doesn’t concern me…I’ve got my own life and the protection of my family to think of” (386). Toward the end, as Georgie returns to work from his excursion, the narrator describes, “we got back to work in time to resume everything as if it had never stopped happening and we’d never been anywhere else” (393). Through situational irony, the politics that anchor the professional hierarchy go against the preconceptions about how the emergency wing of a hospital is supposed to operate collectively in saving lives, and has Georgie planted at the bottom akin to a nameless servant. Instead of being granted his identity (his name), Georgie is identified merely by what he does, which is to tend to superiors as “the orderly”. The tone depicted by the doctor connotes a belittling reminder of Georgie’s perceived
“Hospitals today are growing into mighty edifices in brick, stone, glass and marble. Many of them maintain large staffs, they use the best equipment that science can devise, they utilize the most modern methods in devoting themselves to the noblest purpose of man, that of helping’s one’s stricken brother. But they do all this on a business basis, submitting invoices for services rendered.”
One in every twelve adults suffer from alcoholism in the United States, and it is the most commonly used addictive substance in the world. The World Health Organization has defined alcoholism as “an addiction to the consumption of alcoholic liquor or the mental illness and compulsive behavior resulting from alcohol dependency.” Reiterated themes encompassing Jeannette Walls’ father’s addiction to alcohol are found in her novel, The Glass Castle: a memoir, which displays instances of financial instability and abuse that hurt the Walls children for the rest of their lives. The Walls’, altogether, are emotionally, physically, and mentally affected by Rex’s alcoholism, which leads to consequences on the Walls children.
Throughout David Sheff’s book, he incorporates detailed diction in describing his environment, past, and the people around him as to allow the reader to be able to imagine what he had seen during this course of his life. As the father of a drug addict, Sheff had also had his own experience with drugs, in which he describes this experience with words and phrases such as “I heard cacophonous music like a calliope”, “[The brain’s neurotransmitters flood with dopamine], which spray like bullets from a gangster’s gun” and “I felt
It is a fact of life that Alcoholism will distort the victim’s view of reality. With authors, they put parts of their personality and symptoms of their condition into their characters sometimes, flawed distortions included, with varying degrees
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey presents a situation which is a small scale and exaggerated model of modern society and its suppressive qualities. The story deals with the inmates of a psychiatric ward who are all under the control of Nurse Ratched, ‘Big Nurse’, whose name itself signifies the oppressive nature of her authority. She rules with an iron fist so that the ward can function smoothly in order to achieve the rehabilitation of patients with a variety of mental illnesses. Big Nurse is presented to the reader through the eyes of the Chief, the story’s narrator, and much of her control is represented through the Chief’s hallucinations. One of these most recurring elements is the fog, a metaphorical haze keeping the patients befuddled and controlled “The fog: then time doesn’t mean anything. It’s lost in the fog, like everyone else” (Kesey 69). Another element of her control is the wires, though the Chief only brings this u...
The book “A Million Little Pieces” by James Frey is a heart wrenching story of James’ time in drug rehab. In this book Frey is trying to inform the reader about what it is like to go through rehab. He describes his entire time, from the day before he arrives until the day he leaves. He describes all his feelings and the routine life they give him at the clinic. The main themes of this book are holding on and love. He has trouble making any progress with the program until another patient, named Leonard, gives James a talk about holding on. He also falls in love with a girl named Lilly and finds a new love for his family. This book really illustrates a look at the drug culture and entails a history of James Frey’s stay at the clinic. He begins reading a Taoist book and learns to control his temper better. He sometimes has dreams about a bottle in one hand and a crack pipe in the other. He describes one girl blabbering on about nothing after smoking the rock. It focuses on his progression in his mind and his outlook toward life. In the beginning he hates himself and wants to die, but by the end of the book he is strong enough to smell alcohol and still choose not to drink it.
Drugs is one of the themes in this story that shows the impact of both the user and their loved ones. There is no doubt that heroin destroys lives and families, but it offers a momentary escape from the characters ' oppressive environment and serves as a coping mechanism to help deal with the human suffering that is all around him. Suffering is seen as a contributing factor of his drug addiction and the suffering is linked to the narrator’s daughter loss of Grace. The story opens with the narrator feeling ice in his veins when he read about Sonny’s arrest for possession of heroin. The two brothers are able to patch things up and knowing that his younger brother has an addiction.
While McMurphy tries to bring about equality between the patients and head nurse, she holds onto her self-proclaimed right to exact power over her charges because of her money, education, and, ultimately, sanity. The patients represent the working-class by providing Ratched, the manufacturer, with the “products” from which she profits—their deranged minds. The patients can even be viewed as products themselves after shock therapy treatments and lobotomies leave them without personality. The negative effects of the hospital’s organizational structure are numerous. The men feel worthless, abused, and manipulated, much like the proletariat who endured horrendous working conditions and rarely saw the fruits of their labor during the Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom and United States in the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century (“Industrial Revolution” 630).
It was the late 19th century when a lot of conflict for families from the Industrial Revolution and illegal drugs had easy access to anyone in the United Sates. These illegal drugs like morphine, cocaine, and alcohol were available through manufacture, delivery, and selling. It was proved that the over use of alcohol and violence in families’ homes were linked together around the 1850’s and that women and children were being abused by the father and husband from the letters and journals that were wrote. These were times when women were stay at home mothers and it was the man’s responsibility to be the provider for the wife and children. Because of the abuse in the household it led up to the temperance movement. The purpose
The hospital release forms illustrate the white man’s way of making the narrator less than human by depriving him of his work at the company; the doctor will not let him work:
[9] The hospital ward is likened to that of a democratic community by those in power. [10] Both terms of castration are used in description of the Nurse's desire to emasculate and thus gain power over the men. [11] He has a stutter as a result of his persecution from society. [12] A metaphorical representation of society as a machine, from the narrative voice Bromden.
...gonist will eventually destroy himself for drug and alcohol. Also, on page 54, narrator says “…but you were my mother.” just because she poured more drink than he paid for. Protagonist’s mental destruction is so severe that even a little more drink can make a stranger his mother. “Work” is more implicit in terms of showing the fall of drug addicts compared to “Car Crash While Hitchhiking.”
At first glance, one might assume Raymond Carver’s "Cathedral" illustrates the awakening of an insensitive and insulated husband to the world of a blind man. However, this literal awakening does not account for the fact that the husband awakens also to a world of religious insight, of which he has also been blind. The title and story structure are the first indicators of the importance of the religious thesis. It is also revealed when one examines the language and actions of the characters in the story. Finally, Carver’s previous and subsequent writings give an overall background for the argument that "Cathedral" has a significant religious import.
Furthermore, alcoholism, which is looked at critically by Joyce, is still a large social problem today. Ultimately, Joyce challenges the reader not to settle for the ordinary life. In conclusion, one of the great short stories of the 20th century is James Joyce’s “Eveline.” The story breaks away from traditional thinking by making the case for hazard or taking chances over order and the routine of everyday life. Like his other stories in “Dubliners” Joyce uses “Eveline” as an avenue to share his frustrations with early 20th century Dublin.
Drug addiction is a very big problem in today’s society. Many people have had their lives ruined due to drug addiction. The people that use the drugs don’t even realize that they have an addiction. They continue to use the drug not even realizing that their whole world is crashing down around them. Drug addicts normally lose their family and friends due to drug addiction.