Fiction Blog Post #2

Compare and contrast Lucy and the hitchhiker. How are they affected by Thompson and the attorney?

Lucy and the hitchhiker are similar in many ways, yet different as well. Lucy and the hitchhiker are similar in the fact that they are both innocent individuals who experience a loss of innocence, resulting from their experience with the attorney and Thompson. In the end, both of their encounters lead to them being stranded. The attorney tells Thompson about his experience with Lucy. "'Jesus, she's a religious freak. She's running away from home for something like the fifth time in six months. It's terrible. I gave her the cap before I realized... she's never even had a drink!"'(114). Lucy is a virtuous Christian girl, who runs away from her home in Montana to Las Vegas. While on the airplane there, Lucy meets the attorney who gives her LSD. Lucy becomes extremely high and out of it from the drug. She experiences new feelings, such as aggresion and confusion. The attorney takes her back to his hotel and sexually abuses her. After realizing that the attorney could be imprisoned for this, they dump Lucy at a different hotel. She is still in a drug induced state when she is left stranded in a place she doesn't know.
The hitchhiker is looking for a ride, and is at first excited when he sees Thompson and the attorney pull up to him in their red convertible. Once the hitchhiker starts driving with them, his emotions quickly change. He is offered numerous drugs by Thompson and the attorney but refuses them. He witnesses Thompson and the attorney take numerous drugs, along with hearing their vivid hallucinations. He is scared for his life, as they speed down the highway at over 100 miles per hour. The hitchhiker observes first hand the very serious side effects of drugs he never knew existed or were even possible. To escape, he jumps out of the car and runs off, in the middle of the desert. Although it is similar that the hitchhiker and Lucy are both stranded, the hitchhiker consciously decides to flee, whereas Lucy is unable to think for herself. The main difference between the two individuals is that Lucy actually takes a dangerous drug, while the hitchhiker just witnesses others taking drugs. Both have experienced a dangerous life altering encounter with Thompson and the attorney.

Lucy from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Essential Question: Should drug addiction be classified as a mental illness?

Claim: Drug addiction should be classified as a mental illness.

Jenny Reason: The mental side effects of drug addiction are similar to those of a mental disorder. Numerous drugs have lasting precussions parallel to those of a mental disorder. For example, Schizophrenia is a very serious mental disease that causes the individual to feel like someone is out to get them much like the parranoia that some drug users experience. Also, drug addiction can intensify the symptoms that the user already possesses from a mental illness.

Bridget Reason: The addict chooses whether or not they seek and obey treatment. Just as most medical diseases are treated, drug addiction can be treated with varying degrees of success. At a certain point in  addiction the addict can no longer control their desires for substances, and they need treatment. This is similar to classified medical illnesses, in that, the victim has no control of the situation and must turn to treatment. Both the addict and the medical patient cannot get better unless they follow the orders of an expert and even then, the treatment may not always work. The fact of the matter is that though the addict may have fallen into addiction on their own accord, at a certain point they are helpless and need to turn to treatment to heal. Both situations and be terminal and life-ending if treatment is not sought.

Various drugs that lead to addiction