This is due tomorrow and it's nearly 20% of my final grade, so I was just looking for some feedback. What works, what doesn't work, maybe some advice, etc. Thanks in advance! :)
Merriam-Webster defines "degeneration" as "having sunk to a condition below that which is normal to a type or having sunk to a lower and usually corrupt and vicious state." Most would read this statement, consider it for a moment or two, and then quickly disregard it as they realize it doesn't apply to them. However, unbeknownst to them, it does indeed relate to them, and through something that is present in their daily lives: sugar and alcohol. Sugar and alcohol have created a process through which the inner immorality of humans is brought to the surface, and a medium through which people ignore their physical needs in an attempt to pacify their emotions.
One of the principal sources of sugar and alcohol related issues are human being's desire to appease their emotions. They want to live and feel a certain way, and through the limits or freedom that sugar and alcohol provide, they possess the ability to do so. In Sugar Blues, Dufty narrates the story of a young boy, George, and his battle with sugar. At one point in the story, Dufty tells, "One day after a game, his buddies stopped off to have ice cream - a no-no for him. He knew he needed something else to eat but didn't want to call attention to his affliction, so he braved it out." (100) Even though George knew fully well that he should not eat ice cream, he chose to have it anyway in order to not feel left out or bring attention to himself within his group of friends. Regardless of any consequences he could face for eating the ice cream, all that mattered to him at the moment was the way he felt and his emotional stability. The same general situation is shown in John Barleycorn when London states, "the buying of drinks for other men, and the accepting of drinks from other men, devolved upon me as a social duty and a manhood rite." (58) London, who is not fond of alcohol in the first place, takes it upon himself to buy and accept drinks due to the fact that he, similar to George in Sugar Blues, does not want to feel left out amongst other men. He allows his emotions to get the better of him and subjects himself to something he doesn't care for, simply due to the fact that he believes it to be a small price to pay for a more successful result. In both cases, the character's need to satisfy their emotions overpowers all, and they find their way through either sugar or alcohol.
As a dire effect caused by this craving for emotional satisfaction, alcohol and sugar have become tools that allow people to overlook their physical health in an effort to achieve said satisfaction. For example, in John Barleycorn, London says, "Men do not knowingly drink for the effect alcohol produces on the body. What they drink for is the brain-effect; and if it must come through the body, so much the worse for the body." (21) From this it is shown how when drinking, the body's health is completely disregarded and the deterioration of the body is almost treated as just a mild side-effect. Since people drink only for the "brain-effect", it reaffirms the fact that physical health is neglected and emotional needs are indulged in. In Sugar Blues, a similar case is brought up when it says, "I was a nymphomaniac for fudge," George recalls. "Rewarding myself with suicide." After the binges, he had to crank up his insulin dose to a new high of 60 units a day." (105) George's excessive appetite for sugar leads him to the point where he is slowly but surely ruining his health and ultimately killing himself. So hell-bent on consuming sugar, he takes no notice of his body's wellbeing and focuses only on his longing for emotional relief. In general, alcohol and sugar provide means through which people can escape into their minds and refuse to pay heed to their physical warnings.
The hunger for emotional satisfaction through sugar and alcohol has not only caused the neglect of physical health, but has also become a way to bring out deep-seeded immoral behaviors that live in mankind. Dufty says in Sugar Blues, "They sailed off with a cargo of rum to the slave coast of Africa to exchange it for blacks, whom they hauled back to the West Indies for sale to the eager British plantation owners. / Sugar had become a source of public wealth and national importance." (34) The sugar industry and all its worth was being provided by the labor of the slaves. Not only were slaves being traded like goods, they were responsible for the plantation owner's success and fortunes as the world began begging for more sugar. A less extreme, but still immoral scenario is presented in John Barleycorn when London states, "My memory of it is of an age-long suffering of fear in the midst of a murderous crew, and of an infinite number of glasses of red wine passing across the bare boards of a wine-drenched table and going down my burning throat." (16) In this scene, young London is afraid that if he does not accept the Italian men's wine offers that they'll kill him. Although the Italian men did not know that London was afraid for his life if he did not accept the drink, they shouldn't have been offering such a young boy red wine in the first place. Furthermore, the fact that they continued to force him to drink for entertainment proves just how immoral someone can become when in the presence of alcohol. Although one example is more extreme than the other, it can still be concluded that one has the potential to become immoral when in association with sugar and alcohol.
In an attempt to satisfy their emotions, people have used sugar and alcohol as a way to turn their back on their physical health, and have developed their hidden immorality to a point of no return. Sugar and alcohol have become primary solutions to solving emotional conflicts. Due to this, it has caused people to forget about their health and its needs in hopes that they can be emotionally in order. Not only that, but it has also has the potential to bring out, or already has brought out, some of the worst personalities that are hidden deep within every single living person. Unfortunately there are horrible downsides to sugar and alcohol, but that does not mean there is no hope for the future of mankind. Humans have the potential to wean themselves from their emotional dependency of sugar and alcohol, and ultimately create a better tomorrow.
Well, looks like no one responded in time but It was a nicely presented essay, short and to the point and you sumned it up nicely. Maybe it would have been nice to have brought up a little science from an outside source to back up your claims and strengthen your argument. For instance that Alcohol is a depressant, and changes the brain chemically. Imunderstand this must have been a book report like essay, but sometimes professors/ teachers like it when you do a little of your own studying and thinking on your own to further press your issue. I enjoyed your essay and now I'm going to have a slice of Pumpkin Pie and a glass of wine, lol.
