Drugs And Addiction In Junky, By William S. Burroughs

The novel Junky by William S. Burroughs tells the tale of a man named William Lee and his addiction to "Junk". He goes from a middle-class existence in the Midwest to selling and using drugs in New York City, from morphine to marijuana to cocaine to heroin. The book discusses almost every aspect of a junkie's life, from obtaining their drugs, to using them, to avoiding the police, to "Junk Sickness" also known as withdrawal, to prison time for drug possession, to other actions a heroin junkie will engage in to get drugs, such as thievery, prostitution, sodomy, or pawning heirlooms. Throughout the book Lee "tries" to get rid of his addiction to junk. In the end I do not think he is serious at all about giving up his addiction. You can see this from the beginning; the fact that he wanted to try junk in the first place already shows he plans to use it more often. This is a perfect example of how an addiction begins. I have a few reasons for believing this. You can see a fine one in the beginning, when Lee is asked by the psychiatrist "Why do you need narcotics Mr. Lee?" Lee answers "I need junk to get out of bed in the morning, to shave and eat breakfast. I need it to stay alive" (Burroughs, p.19). From here you can see that he will never be serious about getting rid of his addiction. By saying he needs junk to …show more content…
During the part of the novel when he is pushing junk, Lee begins to notice the narcotics agents closing in on him; it is at this point that he decides to run to Texas to live. On the way down to Texas he uses a self administered cure, even though he knows they never work. "I have never known one of these self-administered reduction cures to work" (Burroughs, p.50). This quote shows that Lee is not serious about giving up his addiction. He uses a cure that he knows will not alleviate