A Million Little Pieces Essay Question

“We read to know we’re not alone.” (C.S. Lewis)
This quote defines A Million Little Pieces by James Frey.
Frey battles with his drug addiction and gets help by going to rehab. The rehab effectively supports Frey's road to recovery due to the staff working with him that were previous drug-addicts.
Throughout Frey's stay in the rehab center, he develops relationships with people just like him. He's able to express what he did/went through in life without judgment from the patients in his ward. Everyone in rehab has their own story; and this aides Frey to continue with his recovery.
Along the way, Frey gets encouragement from the staff that motivates him to stay strong and not go back to old habits in times of stress.
One member on the staff, Lincoln, says "For whatever it's worth...I'm proud of you" (363). This simple phrase has Frey respond with gratitude and makes Frey realize that he has accomplished a lot and can live a drug-free life.
Knowing that Frey isn't alone is important to him. Frey falls in love with a woman in rehab who is a crack-addict; Lily. Frey tries to spend as much time as he can with Lily. Frey wants to get better not only for him, but also for Lily. Frey develops a relationship with someone who won’t look down on him, which is a huge deal since Frey has never felt that kind of love in his life. In a way, Frey’s thought process is a lot clearer with Lily by his side. Frey replaces his drug-addict urges to use. Instead of thinking about drugs, Frey has nice thoughts about Lily.
Frey even develops another relationship with an older man, which is more like a father-son relationship. This man’s name is Leonard. Leonard treats Frey like his own son and drags Frey back to rehab when Frey tries to escape. Towards the end of Leonard’s recovery time at rehab, he states, “If you ever need anything, doesn’t matter where you are or what you need, you find me and I’ll take care of you” (388). Frey is taken aback by this act of kindness and believes in himself again. Frey sees that others care for him, so Frey should take better care of himself.
As Frey shows, it’s better to be with someone or in Frey’s case; with a lot of supportive people, through life. And when you realize you’re not alone, you’re more likely to succeed and be happier in life.

A Million Little Pieces~OR#8

For my first blog about this novel, I talked about the author's use of vulgar language and how it related to James Frey's drug-addicky mind. I predicted that towards the end of the novel that the language would get better due to Frey being drug-free.
Well, my prediction was half-right. My bet on explicits becoming less frequent was true, but my thoughts on why that would happen were false. In this last section of the novel, it is clear that Frey uses less of his atrocious language during times of frustration and rage. Frey expresses his feelings and thoughts by describing his pain(without all the extra explicits).
But when Frey is in an altercation with another individual, his "devilish side" comes out (which was not a part of my prediction). Frey uses his strong words to taunt and bully the person that is hurting him.
Frey says, "I said f*** you, you f****** A**hole. She's not a f****** lesson"(345). Frey says this as he is engaged in a heated argument with a staff member in rehab. Frey gets defensive and livid; which makes him go back to his old mechanisms of defense: tearing the other person down with threatening language. Frey's personality of rebellion by using swear words comes out when he is talking to this staff member. Frey wants to use the banned taboo words in an effort to outshine the power that the staff member has over Frey.

A Million Little Pieces~OR# 7

James Frey's character is beginning to mature. Since Frey has been off drugs and alcohol for some time now, he obviously, has a clearer mind. Frey is starting to see life in a fresh and somewhat adult-like perspective.

Frey is maturing as a character by expressing his thoughts on his addiction and what he knows he is capable of doing/not doing. Frey realizes that he has to make the most out of his situation in rehab; because, like the doctors warned him, Frey will die if he takes another hit of a drug. For now, Frey decides that it's best that he stays in rehab. As it is, I'm glad that Frey is still in rehab due to him being more of a risk-taker (it's almost as if he's now a rebellious adult).

As a reader, I'm a little skeptical as to if Frey's maturing is for better or for the worse. I believe that Frey's newly aquired independence is going to end up hurting him. It would be much better if Frey lets professionals take care of him, as opposed to Frey taking care of himself. Frey's stance on where he plans to be after rehab, quite frankly; scares the bejesus out of me!

Frey says, "I don't believe in Higher Powers and the Twelve Steps or anything related to them, and that is all they teach in Halfway Houses. It'll be a waste of my time"(326).

In other words, Frey opts to NOT go into any kind of halfway house because he thinks that it would be a waste of his time! All that was running through my mind when I read that passage was, "What a ludicrous idea, good luck with that one, Frey!" It's bad enough that 85% of people that come out of intense in-patient rehab relapse within the first year of getting out; so Frey deciding to NOT have further life-long treatment for his disease is absoulutely positively absurd!

As frustrating as it is, I hope that my predictions on Frey do not come true, and, he instead, matures into a drug-free professional and dignified man. From Frey's actions in this part of the novel, I would be very surprised if he were to be successful in life after rehab.