Sucker And Pete's Addiction

In the short story “Sonny’s Blues” Sonny the little brother of the narrator is a troubled blues musician with a nasty heroin addiction that lands him in jail. In the 50’s and 60’s drug abuse was a consistent problem among jazz musicians (Verity). Although Sonny ended up in jail his outlet was blues, he gave himself up to his music but that did not come at price with his family.

One example from the text is that Joe-Boy was calling Vinny a cry-baby. This is his way to say Vinny is afraid of the ravine. Hes also brave to jump off the 50 ft. ledge. On page eight it says Joe-boy says “Watch Vinny i'm gonna jump man style”.

In Carson McCullers's story Sucker, Sucker is a naive, friend dependent follower. Sucker in Sucker is a naive 12 year old boy who lost his parents as a young child. Sucker is described as a kid who is in need a of a role model and a couple of friends. Throughout Sucker, Sucker and Pete start to become very close as they share a room and often talk at night. However, one night when Sucker asks Pete what’s wrong Pete snaps and says “Shut your damn trap!”(7) to Sucker and their relationship changes forever. Pete obviously displays his anger through harsh words rather than truly addressing his problem with Sucker. Then Pete follows up by saying “Why aren’t we buddies? Because you’re the dumbest slob I ever saw! Nobody cares anything about you!

The novel Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden revolves around the issues of Canadian soldiers at battle during the first World War. This story demonstrates addiction in all different forms, which is a recurring result of the trauma the war has on the characters. These cravings lead to struggling, and result in major consequences for themselves and those around them. The most prominent form of addiction mentioned is to morphine, affecting not only those taking the drugs, but also those around them. A side of Elijah his friend Xavier has never seen before comes out during the war, as a result of his intense desire for recognition.

In Sucker, the idea of gender roles and stereotypes having an effect of platonic love and relationships inside the family is easy to notice. This very malign pressure affects every member of the household, from pressuring a young boy to become a father figure to a kid, to a mother not being able to help raise said kid because the other children need help as well.

Even thought Pete does not show caring emotions, his actions say all the words. For example: Donald said, "Pete do you ever dream about me?" Pete replied with, "What kind of question is that? Of course I don't dream about you." He said untruthfully. (pg.367). This is one of the only parts in this short story that shows the reader a very small part of Pete's soft side. Another example compares in a similar way that Pete does in fact have a connection with his only brother Donald. "There was something wrong with me, and you were helping me out. Taking care of me. Just the two of us. I don't know where everyone else was supposed to be." Pete said. (pg. 369) If someone were to analyze only this part of the story it would portray that in his dream he depended on Donald. When he says it was just the two of them, it gives the reader an idea that was the way it was supposed to be, that Pete didn't need anyone else in the world to help him but only needed the person he could truly rely upon. Dependency is one of the main concealed habits between siblings, not only growing up, but continuously throughout one others life. Another common inconspicuous idiosyncrasy is rivalry.

In this short story, the narrator is the other brother. I have never read a story that has this aspect. The narrator also had a younger brother that is named Sonny. The narrator is trying to take the best care and look out for his brother despite this addiction. Sonny is a troubled man who is addicted to heroin. For Sonny to stay out of trouble, he likes to listen and play music. Music is his escape of not doing drugs and getting into trouble. The narrator does not trust Sonny and does not believe anything he says because of the drugs. I found it nice of the narrator to want to take in Sonny and take care of him but cannot. He decides to his fiancée’s family if they will take in Sonny and take care of him. The family decides to take in Sonny

The use of what are now considered illegal drugs date back as far as 300 BC in many different places of the world. Historically, it has not only been criminals that used illegal drugs. Drugs were used for many things including medicinal purposes, spiritual enlightenment, rituals, as well as for recreation. They were also used by many different cultures, age groups, and social classes. There was a time when the only thing around to alleviate physical pain either from illness, injury, or even during the process of dying were some of these drugs. There were no illegal drugs in the United States until the mid-nineteenth century. This is an essay on 12 of these illegal drugs individually as reported on in the History Channels documentary “Hooked, Illegal Drugs and How They Got That Way”.

Gambling addiction also know as compulsive gambling is a type of impulse control disorder. (Healthyplace.com, 2008) It is a progressive disease that can wreck havoc on relationships, work, and finances.

Requiem for a Dream depicts four individuals and their addictions to cocaine, heroin, and diet pills. Set in Brooklyn, New York, the characters each have their own dreams and addictions and their drugs are easily attainable trapping them in a cycle of dependence. The central character, Harry Goldfarb, is a young man who lives in virtual poverty because every cent he earns or steals goes toward his next high. He dreams of making a big enough score selling dope that will lead him to becoming financially stable and "on Easy Street" as he makes a home with his girlfriend. Tyrone, his best friend and business partner shares many of Harry's aspirations and addictions. Marion Jones, Harry's girlfriend, is an addict like her boyfriend and dreams

Thus far, throughout the semester, I have gained so much awareness and understanding for those whom are struggling with substance misuse. Addiction has played a major role in my immediate family life. Over the years, I have realized that addiction does not discriminate on a basis of race, gender, or social status. Based on my personal experiences, the perspective I have of addiction is that it is like a disease. It does not just affect the individual; it also affects everyone the individual comes into contact with. Addiction overall, is not just associated with drugs and alcohol, it is present with gambling, Internet use, sex, or even food (Van Wormer, 2013). In order to understand an individual who suffers from substance misuse, a therapist must first know the definition of addiction, be able to asses and diagnose a client with an addiction, explore the bio-psychosocial-spiritual aspects of their addiction, laws and ethics related to their addiction, and provide the proper treatment that will help them to recover. Throughout this paper, from a bio-psychosocial-spiritual perspective, I plan to explore the causes of Gia’s addiction to Heroin. In addition, I will examine my personal perspective on addiction and what treatment interventions and laws and ethics might come into play in therapy with Gia. Overall, I hope to provide Gia with an understanding of her addiction and provide the proper treatment on her road to recovery.

Whip let these issues get the best of him and realized when things had to come to an end. Whip tried to control his addictions 7 days before his testimony and he failed himself. When things like this happens that’s when drug addiction camp comes a long and rehab. He was sentenced to jail time and over the year he had become sober. He had to face the truth in order for him to actually help himself.

“Yet it had happened and here I was, talking about algebra to a lot of boys who might, every one of them for all I knew, be popping off needles every time they went to the head. Maybe it did more for them than algebra could.” (Page 125, Paragraph 4) This quote takes place at the beginning of the story when the narrator teaches his first algebra class after reading in the newspaper that his brother, Sonny has been arrested for heroin use. He is so unsettled that he begins to look at his life in a whole new way. The author uses this passage to describe how the narrator contemplates the possibility that maybe even his own students experience more pleasure from the use of heroin than learning algebra.

In my opinion, I 've really enjoyed doing this experiment. Not only did it put me in an addicts shoes but it also gave me the authentic feel on what its like to have a secret addiction. During the long journey of being a three day addict of "Eyscubes", I found it rather difficult. Not only do I feel some compassionate for addicts, but I 've also got an idea what addicts go through on a daily basis. In addition, I also figured out an addicts experience when he or she is trying to figure out who and where to find the next supply from, in this case it was me finding out where to find "Eyscubes", whether it 'll be the fridge,restaurant,cafeteria,store, or someone else. I knew that I had to be very discreet about it and in a timely manner so that I won 't get caught.

Over the summer, I read Robert Castaneda’s novel, S Street Rising. The book tells the story of Castaneda working as a reporter for The Washington Post covering the crime epidemic of DC in the 1990’s while battling a crippling crack addiction. Much of the events take place on S Street Northwest, a place where at the time, was an open-air drug market. Although the book is mostly focused on Castaneda, he also includes other people who he encountered while living in DC, including former DC Police captain Lou Hennessy and local pastor Jim Dickerson. The book starts off with action right from the start, with Castaneda recalling a case where five children were struck by bullets in a shootout. Even though he was supposed to be there doing his job as a journalist, he couldn’t help feeling on edge because the shooting occurred in an area where he would purchase drugs and involve himself with ‘strawberries’ who were defined as “women who trade sex for drugs.” (Castaneda 2014). Castaneda describes feeling of his double life “tawdry” and worries that if those details were exposed, not only would he be stripped from his job as the Post, but “become an embarrassing footnote in the national crack epidemic.” (Castaneda 2014)