A Million Little Pieces Theme Essay
Monique Paquette
Mrs. Ambos
ENG4UI
January 6th 2013
A Million Little Pieces Put Back Together The world is full of people striving to be the best they can be. When one finds themselves far from the social idea of “perfect” there is a strong need to improve. While self-improvement is hard, it is also a necessary part of life, setting goals for how one wants their life to turn out. Addiction is a huge obstacle in the way of perfection it can destroy lives when the person with the addiction does not want to change. In the memoir A Million Little Pieces the writer and main character, James Frey, leads a drug addicted life that he turns around in a Minnesota rehab center, demonstrating that self-improvement is the way to salvation. This proves to be a main theme in this work, all throughout showing how he goes from barely functioning to a person full of life and hope for a better future. Frey’s improvement as a person springs from his self-reliant attitude, acceptance of pain, and support from family and family, leaving his rehabilitation experience successful. James’s recovery is admirable because he takes full responsibility for how his life has turned out and he plans on fixing it himself, just as he has ruined it himself. His first decision going into rehab is that he will not follow the AA program that is recommended by his counselors. 15% of people are successful for a year after using AA, which is the highest rate of success in any rehabilitation program. In James’s mind AA does not solve a problem but just masks it. After giving it a fair chance, he explains, “I have been to AA Meetings and they have left me cold. I find the philosophy to be one of replacement. Replacement of one addiction with another addiction…Though the people in [AA] are no longer drinking and doing drugs, they’re still living with the obsession…Take away their meetings and their Dogma and their God…Take them away and they have an addiction” (Frey 76-78). The glossed over looks he
Mrs. Ambos
ENG4UI
January 6th 2013
A Million Little Pieces Put Back Together The world is full of people striving to be the best they can be. When one finds themselves far from the social idea of “perfect” there is a strong need to improve. While self-improvement is hard, it is also a necessary part of life, setting goals for how one wants their life to turn out. Addiction is a huge obstacle in the way of perfection it can destroy lives when the person with the addiction does not want to change. In the memoir A Million Little Pieces the writer and main character, James Frey, leads a drug addicted life that he turns around in a Minnesota rehab center, demonstrating that self-improvement is the way to salvation. This proves to be a main theme in this work, all throughout showing how he goes from barely functioning to a person full of life and hope for a better future. Frey’s improvement as a person springs from his self-reliant attitude, acceptance of pain, and support from family and family, leaving his rehabilitation experience successful. James’s recovery is admirable because he takes full responsibility for how his life has turned out and he plans on fixing it himself, just as he has ruined it himself. His first decision going into rehab is that he will not follow the AA program that is recommended by his counselors. 15% of people are successful for a year after using AA, which is the highest rate of success in any rehabilitation program. In James’s mind AA does not solve a problem but just masks it. After giving it a fair chance, he explains, “I have been to AA Meetings and they have left me cold. I find the philosophy to be one of replacement. Replacement of one addiction with another addiction…Though the people in [AA] are no longer drinking and doing drugs, they’re still living with the obsession…Take away their meetings and their Dogma and their God…Take them away and they have an addiction” (Frey 76-78). The glossed over looks he