Addiction In Trainspotting And Requiem For A Dream
This essay examines Irvine Welsh’s portrayal of addiction in Trainspotting versus Hubert Selby’s portrayal in Requiem for a Dream. I began my research by defining the word “addiction” and according to the Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine, addiction is a “dependence on a behavior or substance that a person is powerless to stop.” The concept of “power” really intrigued me and influenced my rhetorical analysis of both novels. Through my research and analysis, I have concluded that Selby portrays addiction in a very whimsical, dream-like manner by making his characters appear naive and ultimately in denial. On the other hand, Welsh’s novel is both raw and straightforward as he attempts to prove that addicts have free will and power over their addiction.
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We are a culture that thrives off of the idea that we all have free will to do whatever we please, whenever we please. We have branded the term “American Dream.” Yet, when drugs are involved, where does free will go? Can we have power over our own addictions? According to the Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine, addiction is a “dependence on a behavior or substance that a person is powerless to stop.” It’s difficult to understand the experience of addiction and the powerlessness of an addiction without personal experience, but both Trainspotting and Requiem for a Dream serve as an alternative means of understanding. However, although both books follow the lives of drug addicts, the author’s depiction of the character’s experiences is very different. The American Dream fuels the character’s drug-use in Requiem for a Dream as they convince themselves that they cannot achieve success sober. Since they are unsatisfied with their present, unsuccessful lives, they regain a feeling of control, as if they are accomplishing the American Dream, through drugs. However, this delusion proves the power drugs have over their lives, rather than the power the characters have. Therefore, they never succeed simply because they cannot accept their uncomfortable realities. Trainspotting, on the other hand, depicts the horrific, grueling and pleasurable parts of drug-use with little censorship. It contradicts Gale’s definition and serves to demonstrate that an addict can regain will power as long as they remain honest with themselves about the purpose and extent of their addiction. From both novels, one one character exercises his free will and conquers his heroin addiction to move on and live a successful, fulfilling life. The rest of the characters spiral into destruction. It is of value to analyze, compare and contrast both portrayals of addiction in order to gather a
We are a culture that thrives off of the idea that we all have free will to do whatever we please, whenever we please. We have branded the term “American Dream.” Yet, when drugs are involved, where does free will go? Can we have power over our own addictions? According to the Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine, addiction is a “dependence on a behavior or substance that a person is powerless to stop.” It’s difficult to understand the experience of addiction and the powerlessness of an addiction without personal experience, but both Trainspotting and Requiem for a Dream serve as an alternative means of understanding. However, although both books follow the lives of drug addicts, the author’s depiction of the character’s experiences is very different. The American Dream fuels the character’s drug-use in Requiem for a Dream as they convince themselves that they cannot achieve success sober. Since they are unsatisfied with their present, unsuccessful lives, they regain a feeling of control, as if they are accomplishing the American Dream, through drugs. However, this delusion proves the power drugs have over their lives, rather than the power the characters have. Therefore, they never succeed simply because they cannot accept their uncomfortable realities. Trainspotting, on the other hand, depicts the horrific, grueling and pleasurable parts of drug-use with little censorship. It contradicts Gale’s definition and serves to demonstrate that an addict can regain will power as long as they remain honest with themselves about the purpose and extent of their addiction. From both novels, one one character exercises his free will and conquers his heroin addiction to move on and live a successful, fulfilling life. The rest of the characters spiral into destruction. It is of value to analyze, compare and contrast both portrayals of addiction in order to gather a