Junky

       Junky is the story of William S. Burroughs´s struggle with drug dependency. It all began in his "dirty apartment that opened onto a companionway and never got any sunlight. The wallpaper was flaking off because the radiator leaked steam when there was any steam to leak. I had the windows sealed shut against the cold with a caulking of newspapers. This place was full of roaches and occasionally I killed a bedbug" (pg. 1). Just by the description oh his fifteen dollar per week apartment, we can infer that he does not lead a good life. We can already deduct that he is probably a drug addict, however to my surprise, he was not.

       Norton, a thief and friend, arrived at his apartment with a stolen Tommy gun and some morphine. He wanted William to "get rid of it" (pg. 2) so he could earn some money. So Bill went to another thief and friend of his (Jack) who planned "set-ups that would make a stickup sound easy and sure of success" (pg. 3). From their, they go meet Roy and Herman to sell the morphine syrettes.  Jack knew that these two men were not good company and such a bad influence that he said: "You are going to want to forget this address" (pg. 3). However, William did not listen.

       We can see that Bill is surrounded by people who are always up to trouble. Due to this foreshadowing it is obvious that sooner or later he will be stuck in an unfavorable situation. A few nights after meeting Roy and Herman he made the huge mistake of shooting "junk" for the first time. His experience went as follows: "Morphine hits the backs of the legs first, then the back of the neck, a spreading wave of relaxation slackening the muscles away from the bones so that you seem to float without outlines, like lying in warm salt water. As this relaxing wave spread through my tissues, I experienced a strong feeling of fear "(pg. 6).

       Soon enough, Bill began to sell more and more. He even kept a few boxes with syrettes for himself instead of selling them. After using those up, he bought back what he had sold to Roy for almost twice the price (for personal usage). William is staring to become an addict and we see the habit growing. He and Herman begin to sell large amount of weed but stop after some complications.

      It got to a point where Will was "using stuff everyday, or often several times a day" (pg.18). By now we are certain that he had become an addict. He began going to doctors feigning diseases and asking for morphine prescriptions, those who wrote them were called "croakers". Each time it became harder to find these willing croakers because the police kept investigating them. Now that the police is involved we can deduce that things will get nasty.

Vocabulary:

1) affable - (adj.) friendly and easy to talk to

2) sullen - (adj.) used to describe an angry or unhappy person who does not want to talk, smile, etc.

3) caulking - (noun) a waterproof filler and sealant that is used in building and repair to make
watertight



4) garish - (adj.) Obtrusively bright and showy; lurid, colorful