Beautiful Boy and Tweak Essay

Reading deuce different accounts of the story of a drug addict allows much room for comparison mingled with the two. In the case of David and Nic Sheffs rule books, I was surprised at how much similarity at that place was between the two they agreed on most points and there was no striking discontinuity in their stories. There is, however, a significant difference in the perspectives from which the two are told. Naturally, Nic, as the addict son, takes on a more self- common snapping turtleed view. In Davids book it is clear that Nics addiction is the one central driving force in their family life, especially in Davids daily life. In Nics book, however, his relationship with his father and the rest of his family is only one of the several focal points of the book Nic is also preoccupied with girlfriends, friends, and his sponsor.David Sheffs book is a very self-reflecting account. He is constantly analyzing the past, the decisions hes made with Nic, and putting it all together i n a desperate attempt to come across answers to his sons downfall. He struggles with a constant mental conflict What did I do wrong? His preoccupation with Nic became an addiction in itself, and the obsessive care and stress took a tremendous toll, to the point where he suffered from a massive hemorrhage. Davids view of the progression of Nics addiction reflects the Social Learning Theories and psychoanalytical explanations of American drug use. At first, David views the onset of Nics addiction as a cause of some childhood lifestyle factors he lived through (such as the divorce).Later on, however, David realizes that there are thousands of teenagers who are reeled into the dark world of drugs and do not necessarily come from traumatic backgrounds that these two things are not eer directly linked. They are simply reinforced by others, usually drug-using friends, regardless of how they were raised. Ronald Akers built on this idea of operant conditioning by pointing out that drug-u sing mien is reinforced socially more than physiologically. This is exactly what happened to Nic as he surrounded himself more and more with friends and girlfriends who induced his addiction. As evident as it may lease seemed, it took David a plot of land to shift his focus from reflecting on the past to what was quickly making Nics situation worse.Nic, on the other hand, is not very psychoanalytic about his addiction.David has hope for his son, while Nic has very little hope for himself. While telling his story, David is trying to discover and unveil what led to all of this misery in his family. He longs to find answers and causations for all of it. Nic, on the other hand, doesnt focus on the why. Although he has moments where he confesses he never thought he would sprain out this way, he doesnt spend much time dwelling on what led him to his addiction. Instead, Nic just tells his story and focuses on the very near future. This is veritable(prenominal) of an addicts mentality. Each day is so unsure and unstable that they cant manage to plan more than one or two days ahead. The deeper he sinks into his addiction, the more surprised he is to find that he wakes up alive each day.Rather than fight it, Nic accepts the fact that he is a hardcore addict and that his life will never be the same. It took his father a much longer time to realize this and fully accept it. I was genuinely shocked at how honest Nic is throughout the whole book while telling his story. He admits that his parents are forcing him to go into a treatment center and that he has fucked everything up beyond repair. Most addicts make themselves seem like the victim and leave out a lot of information about their spoiled habits. Nic openly shares everything, even his darkest moments of intoxication and suicidal depression. He looks for ways to support the high demands of his druggie lifestyle and makes the necessary amends, even if it means stealing from his own family while they are desperate ly trying to help him.Nics selfishness, however, turns into feelings of deep guilt toward the end on the book when he is on the road to recovery and with his two parents. When his mind clears up, he realizes how badly he has torn everyone apart, especially his mom and dad. These emotional realizations are part of his recovery. David, however, experiences the exact opposite. At the early stages of his sons addiction, he dedicated all his time and energy to the matter, to the point where he forgot about his own health and happiness. As Nics addiction progressed, David shifted focus to himself and stop obsessing over everything that had to do with his sons addiction. Davids road to recovery meant almost the exact opposite of Nics dedicating more time and energy to himself preferably than taking others into primaryconsideration.David Sheff tells his familys story from the very early happy days and takes his readers all the way through Nics descent into his darkest moments, while manag e begins with Nic already deep into his addiction. Nic Sheffs Tweak is the dark counterpoint to Beautiful Boy. The elder writers grief-filled memoir glows dimly like a distant planet of despair, while the sons account of the same events burns like an angry Mars.