Critical Response
11 June 2013
A Critical Response to “Delicate Friend” The essay “Delicate Friend” written by Lauren Jackson is about her social addiction to cigarettes. Lauren’s mother would smoke cigarettes with her friends in the kitchen of their home while gossiping and keeping the children out. Lauren was jealous of this secret group and saw smoking as the bond that brought it all together. Lauren sought to be part of something and she saw cigarettes as the answer to this problem. While perfecting the art of stealing an occasional cigarette she become part of a group, the smokers. Lauren found acceptance and courage and used cigarettes as a social crutch throughout her life. Lauren believes cigarettes taught her life lessons and that is why she continues to smoke them despite known health effects. Although people may view alcohol, drugs, and other habits as addictions, they can also bring people together and make them feel socially acceptable. Over a lifetime and especially at a young age people are desperate to fit in. Quite frankly no one enjoys to be alone unless being alone makes them part of a special association of lonesome people. Lauren states this almost exactly by saying “No one likes to be a social outcast, unless of course you can be involved in a separate society of them” (Jackson 71). When people are new to an environment or just lost as an individual they search for anything to help them become part of something bigger than themselves. Sometimes the answer to this problem may be drugs, alcohol, or other habits. When someone is considered a loner or forlorn they tend to feel as though they are looked down upon or that they are lacking something. Material goods can be the key to this reception even if they are not something that is physically intriguing to the individual. Not only do the feelings of being lonesome start at an early age, but the idea of seeking drugs (alcohol included) and material goods to fill that gap also start early. Many things
A Critical Response to “Delicate Friend” The essay “Delicate Friend” written by Lauren Jackson is about her social addiction to cigarettes. Lauren’s mother would smoke cigarettes with her friends in the kitchen of their home while gossiping and keeping the children out. Lauren was jealous of this secret group and saw smoking as the bond that brought it all together. Lauren sought to be part of something and she saw cigarettes as the answer to this problem. While perfecting the art of stealing an occasional cigarette she become part of a group, the smokers. Lauren found acceptance and courage and used cigarettes as a social crutch throughout her life. Lauren believes cigarettes taught her life lessons and that is why she continues to smoke them despite known health effects. Although people may view alcohol, drugs, and other habits as addictions, they can also bring people together and make them feel socially acceptable. Over a lifetime and especially at a young age people are desperate to fit in. Quite frankly no one enjoys to be alone unless being alone makes them part of a special association of lonesome people. Lauren states this almost exactly by saying “No one likes to be a social outcast, unless of course you can be involved in a separate society of them” (Jackson 71). When people are new to an environment or just lost as an individual they search for anything to help them become part of something bigger than themselves. Sometimes the answer to this problem may be drugs, alcohol, or other habits. When someone is considered a loner or forlorn they tend to feel as though they are looked down upon or that they are lacking something. Material goods can be the key to this reception even if they are not something that is physically intriguing to the individual. Not only do the feelings of being lonesome start at an early age, but the idea of seeking drugs (alcohol included) and material goods to fill that gap also start early. Many things