Analysis of Article I'd Rather Kiss Than Smoke

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In the 1990 article "I’d Rather Kiss than Smoke" in the National Review, Florence King tries to persuade her readers to look through a smoker’s eyes in a smokist world. King has been around people smoking even before she was born. Her mother started smoking when she was twelve and she started this habit when she was twenty-six. Since she started smoking, she has been analyzing how non-smokers discriminate against them. Florence King expects everyone to be okay with smoking because it is what she was brought up in and it was okay in her family.

When King talked about how her mom smoked during her pregnancy and how she turned out a healthy baby, she implies that smoking does not cause any health defects. She claims that since she was not born with any birth defects or a "low-birth-weight baby" that no one else will. Just because one person was fortunate enough to survive, does not mean that everyone else will. King also says that smoking is more pleasurable than sex. This says that if you want pleasure in your life, smoke. This is not the case for all; however, she does have a promising argument, different people find pleasure in different things. Not everyone needs sex or cigarettes to find the pleasures in life.

Florence King states in her article that she believes that life should be savored rather than lengthened. The majority of people would disagree with her because they feel as if they should live a healthy life and take life one day at a time hoping to be on Earth as long as they can. Others would agree with her saying that life should be lived with no regrets. King does not care if cigarettes cut her life; all she wants to do is live life the way she wants to without people telling her how to.

By saying smokers have the “right to die,” but non-smokers have the right to “not die” puts non-smokers in the dangers of smoking as well. This says that non-smokers can also be harmed by smoke and can cause death either way. A letter to Jeremiah O’Leary said, “Smoke yourself to death, but please not me.” By the writer adding this in her article, she inserts brutality from the non-smokers. It makes the readers believe that non-smokers will use violence and harsh words to stop smokers from smoking.

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