The details of addicted life show the weight of heroin. For the characters in the book, the reality of heroin addiction is an unquestioned aspect of their lives. Their emotions about it are so overwhelmingly positive that they are not willing to admit that it ultimately detracts from them by removing their physical health and by detouring their bodies from their natural behaviors and activities. By the end of the addiction, the characters are often in horrifying situations, to show that we are like frogs—if the heat is turned up slowly, we often forget to take notice.
Look for a moment at the unpleasantness of the characters digestive systems. Is that embarrassing? Yes, but it is also somewhat private, and although it is painful, and although their bodies are malnourished in many of these short stories, they almost never notice that their bodies are breaking down, until it is severe. Then the novel suggests from there, there is a cycle of failure. They relapse in Section 2, and for many alcohol is the worst of their abuse, even though heroin seems more pressing, simply because of the legal status of those chemicals. The legal troubles also indicate the true nature of these substances—that they are powerful substances with unfortunate consequences.
In order to understand the novel, the reader must know that the genre is not hippie fiction, it is horror. The novelist is not painting drugs as interesting or intriguing, although to some people, some drugs are useful, like coffee in the morning, or antihistimines in the Spring. Rather, the novel is clearly showing that actually, the problem isn't the drugs alone, it is the combination of mental health issues and drug usage, because when people feel broken, they are often too terrified to stop their indulgences, because they don't want to feel the full weight of their hopelessness. Ultimately, the question of hope remains for each reader to figure out, but don't forget that in this novel, drug abuse leads every character to hopelessness and despair.
