Self Reliance In A Million Little Pieces By James Frey

Self reliance means to rely on one’s own powers and resources rather than those of others. Having self reliance is the key to controlling one 's own future. James Frey demonstrated this in the memoir, A Million Little Pieces, when he was forced to overcome addiction by relying solely on himself rather than by listening to the professionals in the rehab clinic. During his time in the rehab clinic, James did not overcome his substance abuse by following the notorious twelve step program: he overcame the abuse by taking control of the addiction on his own. Instead of blaming his family or his genetics for the cause of the addiction, he blamed himself for his decision to drink alcohol and use drugs. Because of his stubborn personality, he refused to let anyone take

These genetic factors could have been the reason James developed into an alcoholic. She told him that he “most probably [did] have a genetic predisposition toward addiction” (Frey 302). His grandpa’s addiction to alcohol was the cause of James addiction to drugs and alcohol because the addictive personality was passed down to his genes. However, James refused to believe his grandpa’s genes were the cause of his disease. When Joanne told him he was predisposed toward addiction, he immediately replied “I didn’t drink and do drugs because of some genetic flaw” (Frey 302). Instead of blaming his genetics for choosing to drink, he blamed himself because he did not want to blame his grandpa for his problems. The genetic flaw was not going to be the source of his obsession. James told his parents that he “took them willingly not because of some genetic link or some disease, but because [he] wanted to kill the ... furry” (Frey 303). The fury was another name for his anger. Although he did not know why, his parents exacerbated his anger. Drinking alcohol and using drugs were the only