Nick
Reding's book "Methland" is the true story of the rise and use of Methamphetamine
in America. The author begins with telling the tale of small town America. A
place where everyone knows everyone and nothing bad could every happen, that
notion of course is wholly inaccurate. The author focuses specifically on his home
town Oelwein, Iowa. Today, the word methamphetamine is almost always synonymous
with the word criminal. However, that wasn’t always the case. Initially, Japanese
chemist, Nagayoshi Nagai, first synthesized Meth and marketed it as a “miracle
drug”. Meth was prescribed to housewives and soldiers alike, the depressed and
overweight. This new drug could make you productive, successful, thin and wealthy.
On the contrary, no one was prepared for the devastating and lasting effects
that meth would have on them and society as a whole. Eventually, meth addicts
cannot function anymore, they loose their emotions and they are unable to feel
happy of fulfilled without the help of meth. Meth becomes their only need, and they
are prepared to do anything to get it.
I
was very pleasantly surprised with this excerpt from “Methland”. This book is
very informative. Having no previous knowledge of Meth except for the fact that
it is bad for you, it was interesting to see meth use and production from this
point of you. From this portion of “Methland”, I learned that Meth is a
horrible drug, but it can also be the answer to a person’s prayers for a while.
In essence, this drug promises the American dream. After finishing the book “Winter’s
Bone” by Daniel Woodrell, I still had some lingering questions as to why the
characters would embark on making meth when they know all too well the negative
effects of the life of a meth cooker. “Methland” showed me that the characters
of Daniel Woodrell’s novel depended on the manufacturing of meth to keep their
economy going. With all the benefits that are promised from meth, it is understandable
why some people feel making meth is their only option to survival. It is ironic
however, in these small towns, that the very thing keeping their tiny town
going is also the thing that is tearing it apart.
Works Cited:
1.
Reding, Nick. Methland, the death and
life of an American small town.. 1-57. Web.
<https://lbblackboard.yc.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-832578-dt-content-rid-4042479_1/courses/201210ENG102PRE132/methland.pdf>.
2.
Woodrell, Daniel. Winter's Bone. New
York: Back Bay Books; Little, Brown and Company, 1-193.
3.
Henning Wagenbreth . 2009. Photograph.
The New York Times, New York.
I think that "Methland" shows the real world reality of what meth actually can do to people's lives, both the positives and negatives. In "Winter's Bone" the meth factor I think is shown very negatively. Everyone who is doing meth within "Winter's Bone" are abusive, dysfunctional, or have other issues. I like how "Methland" described more of the reasons "why" people might actually start doing meth. It is still a highly addictive and dangerous drug, but I think Nick Reding's piece shows a more balance view of the drug.
ReplyDeleteI thought the same thing too about why people would continue to be apart of such a negative drug when all it was doing was destroying their lives. And even in "Methland", at the end of the excerpt Ronald Jarvis was smiling when thinking about his past. He melted himself and destroyed his body but continued to do meth! I guess that is why they call it an addiction right?
ReplyDeleteHi, that's totally funny we used the same picture. I just thought it showed you everything important about drugs. This story about meth is sad and I just think of how many lives can get hurt because of it.
ReplyDeleteYour post was pretty much my thoughts exactly and I really liked how you ended your post with "It is ironic however, in these small towns, that the very thing keeping their tiny town going is also the thing that is tearing it apart." I also felt the same way about the article when you talked about how you didn't have much experience with meth so you hadn't really thought of why people would use it when they know how harmful it is. I think Methland is a great piece of writing in the fact that it showed that it wasn't always seen as harmful and that many people did see it as almost necessary for their economy.
ReplyDeleteI also found it interesting how methamphetamine's were developed as a motivation for soldiers all the way down to the common housewife as beneficial. I do not necessarily agree that the drug users and distributors were only trying to boost there economy in their small town of Oelwein, Iowa. Drug addicts and dealers are only interested in themselves, and I cannot see how a drug dealer was out to save his town from an economic crises.
ReplyDelete