Drugs for Everybody

My Addicted Son by David Sheff is a story about a boy whose life has been ruined by drugs. The story starts off in a happy family home in 2002. Everything seemed normal until the narrator makes a note that Nick, the son of the author, “was a playful and affectionate big brother to Jasper and Daisy – when he wasn’t robbing them.” It was then that the mood of the story changed. The scene switches to a melancholy mood and the narrator reveals that Nick was supposedly off methamphetamines for 150 days. This didn’t turn out to be the case. His drug habit overwhelmed him and he kept it a secret from his family, even when confronted about it. Nick’s father showed no preference for a lighter drug like methamphetamine than harder drugs like heroin or cocaine. The story continues along this path. Nick’s father trusts him several times, only for Nick to betray his father’s trust. It was not until the end of the story when Nick relapsed and regretted it. He then doubled his efforts to quit, started writing, biked and swam, and became committed to his sobriety.

There was one main conflict and many smaller ones. The main conflict was between Nick and his father. Nick’s father tried to keep him clean and give him a good life whereas Nick kept relapsing and taking more and harder drugs. This conflict eventually got resolved when Nick kicked the habit at the end. There were several smaller conflicts. For one, Nick was in a conflict with himself and his addiction to drugs. His perseverance to drop drugs showed up whenever he attempts rehab or when he tried to go back to college. The allure of drugs was too strong. He eventually won in the conflict against his drug-addicted self in the end. Another conflict was between Nick’s father and his mother. Nick’s father and mother divorced at an while he was still young. This resulted in the coownership of Nick. This conflict was never resolved but it creates a new conflict: Nick’s father is in a conflict with himself. His father blames Nick’s drug addiction on the divorce. He believes that Nick’s drug problem is based on the fact that Nick’s parents were separated, in coownership of him, and distant. The audience is unaware whether or not this conflict is resolved, but more than likely it is when Nick kicks the habit. Lastly, there is a conflict between Nick and his sibling, Jasper. Nick stole eight dollars from Jasper. For a youth, this is a significant amount of money. Jasper, being too young to understand Nick’s drug addiction, was hurt and confused by Nick’s acts. This conflict was most likely solved by Nick’s letter to Jasper with eight dollars and a promise to always be there.

The point of the story was to show how easily an innocent person can get addicted to hard drugs and how, more times than not, drug addicts are victims of the drugs more than themselves. Nick was never a bad guy. He was an interesting youth. He was counter-culture. He had friends and family who loved him. He was simply a curious youth who wanted to try some drugs. This innocent act became Nick’s downfall when he became addicted to them, and took harder drugs like meth, heroin, and cocaine. Nick always cared about his father and family. At one point, he couldn’t even look his father in the eye because he had fallen so low. Nick is not a bad person but he was a victim of drugs, which was one of the points that the narrator was trying to make. This story is relevant to my age group because we are students in college. Many people are experimenting with drugs. These drugs are most likely limited to alcohol, marijuana and nicotine, but the story shows how a seemingly innocent curiosity can be transformed into a debilitating addiction. Due to this, the intended audience of the story is the curious youths who are considering experimenting with drugs, and parents whose children are susceptible to the influence drugs. The author chose to sequence his writing chronologically with occasional flashbacks. He does not sequence it chronologically including the flashbacks because the flashbacks are only relevant at certain points. I plan to use this technique in my writing. The author also chooses to only include pertinent detail that will either move the story along or create rapport with the main character. This came off as effective and I will also utilize it in my writing. Lastly the author chose to use dialogue occasionally. His dialogue was neither excessive nor rare. I will also use this technique in my writing. The author transitions by using dates and times. For example, he would either write the date, or the time of day, such as morning or night.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/06/magazine/06ADDICT.html