In a previous blog post, we suggested that your local library is a wonderful place to find a whole range of resources that can support your recovery. In this post, we are going to do something a little different. We are going to take three classics of American literature—books you could certainly find on a trip to the library—and see what they might have to tell us about the recovery journey.
Now, none of the books we are going to consider are about recovery—and the interpretations we are about to share would likely make your high school English instructor scratch their head. Nevertheless, we think there are lessons to be gleaned from these novels that can be applied to your ongoing efforts to leave drugs or alcohol in the past.
Oh, one more thing. Don’t worry if you have not read the books we discuss unless you are worried about spoilers. We will be revealing some plot details in order to make our points.
We will get started by considering one whale of a novel.
Moby-Dick: The Importance of Staying Away from Substances that Have Harmed You
Some people think of Moby-Dick, Herman Melville’s 1851 novel, as a candidate for the “Great American Novel”—a subject that literature lovers enjoy debating. In any event, it is certainly a novel that has thrilled (and sometimes bored; it is very long) readers and scholars for a long, long time.
At its heart, Moby-Dick; or The Whale is the story of a man obsessed with a moment in his past. That obsession causes Captain Ahab to put himself and his entire crew at grave risk so that he can pursue and take revenge on the giant white sperm whale that bit off his leg during a previous voyage.
At first glance, it might not seem like a tale of a madman obsessed with a whale has much to do with the recovery journey. But the story is about a man who is gravely injured and—instead of leaving that moment firmly in the past and moving forward—decides to tangle with the creature who caused the injury again. In the novel, that choice leads to even more disastrous results.
The same sort of thing can happen to a person who is in recovery from a substance use disorder who decides—for whatever reason—to take up drugs or alcohol again. A relapse can lead to truly tragic results. At the very least, it will require you to do the hard work of restarting your recovery. It is better in every way to leave your past misadventures with substances firmly in the past.
The Scarlet Letter: Standing Up to Undeserved Stigmas
Hester Prynne, the protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1850 novel, is a young woman whose community forces her to wear a scarlet A as a reminder of her sin of adultery. That sin led to the birth of her daughter, whose father Hester refuses to identify. Secrets, anger, and guilt abound in the story.
Hester’s story is akin to what some people who suffer from a substance use disorder discover even after they are in recovery. The scarlet A is intended to ensure Hester never forgets her supposed wrongdoing. In the same way, many people who are in recovery find it hard to escape the stigma that society continues to attach to substance use disorders. That stigma is unfair and not based on the reality of substance use disorders as a chronic brain disorder rather than a moral failing.
Hester Prynne never lets the stigma she faces crush her spirit. She might be thought of as a role model for a person in recovery who faces unfair judgment as they try to remake their lives and build a brighter future for themselves. Unfortunately, misinformed (and sometimes just plain mean) people might be unkind to you in recovery. You can withstand that judgment, especially if you surround yourself with people who support you and your recovery efforts.
Catch-22: The Challenges of a Seemingly Impossible Conundrum
Joseph Heller’s 1961 anti-war novel is a classic—and also notoriously thorny from a plot and structure point of view. We do not need to delve into the details of the novel here, however, because we just want to focus on the notion of a “Catch-22,” which you might think of as a problem for which there seems to be no viable solution.
A person in the grip of a substance use disorder will eventually realize that continuing to use drugs or alcohol is unsustainable as their mental and physical health start to fall apart. They may well decide to quit using substances—only to discover that the extreme symptoms of withdrawal send them scurrying back to drugs or alcohol to find relief. It is a terrible trap in which to find oneself.
Happily, there is a way to get free: get yourself into treatment so you can reclaim and rebuild your life.
Help Is Available at The Aviary Recovery Center
The Aviary Recovery Center, located near St. Louis, Missouri, is regularly recognized as one of the best substance use disorder treatment centers in the nation. You can count on us to provide personalized treatment so that you are able to start your recovery journey with confidence.
