Many people don’t understand why and how other people become addicted to drugs. Drugs change the brain in ways that makes quitting hard, even for those who want to. Would you choose drugs over your family? How many blackouts would it take for you to recognize that you need help? In James Frey’s memoir A Million Little Pieces, Frey deals with a strong addiction to drugs and alcohol and is trying to get his life back on track with the help from his family and friends. One of his biggest issues in this memoir is his mangled face. His family checks him into a Residential Drug and Alcohol Treatment Facility in hopes he’ll get better. Frey struggles in the beginning with the changes he has to make to get better, but soon finds love and friendship …show more content…
For instance, Frey refuses to look at himself in the mirror because he afraid to look at the damage he has done to his body, Frey states, “My face has gotten worse and it is hideously swollen. I have trouble speaking, eating, drinking, and smoking. I have yet to look in the mirror”(6). Clearly, Frey has a hard time excepting reality and instead of facing it he surrounds himself with distraction like drugs and alcohol. Plastic surgery done by a professional could easily help Frey gain the confidence to keep pushing forward with the treatment to get better. Having surgery to fix the damage he has done to his body would allow Frey to be comfortable in his own body. In addition, Frey’s metaphor reveals just how much Frey relies on alcohol as an antidote to make him feel better “laughing and love. They are both drugs”(201). Certainly, the addiction that Frey has with drugs and alcohol prevents him from having a relationship with his family and makes it harder to make something of himself in the world. Plastic surgery would be able to improve Frey’s attitude towards the world and his family. Instead of being so insecure around people he can actually have a decent conversation without getting mean discussing look from others. Also he can feel more confortable communicating with his family without feeling like he’s being