Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Reader Response: Fear and Loathing
I feel that the book fear and loathing was just that a lot about the paranoia of the effects of the drugs on Hunter and his attorney and a lot of hatred for political and law enforcement authority figures. Somebody has to be responsible. If everyone took their attitude about life our country would be even more morally corrupt then it allready is! I do recognize the underlying message is to escape the responsibilities of being a man and facing your individual fears, accepting them, admitting them and changing to become a a better person. After reading the article about Hunter Thompson in Playboy about his interview, I was also shocked to notice that he was actually telling us about the characteristics of his own belief system(although to me it is a bit unrealistic ) and his way of viewing others that didn't share his personal thoughts and actions the same way. I would describe the book as a true story with a lot of areas that also seem very fictional because of the connotations about his drug use and the explosive behaviors resulting from the effects and misguided belief systems again resulting from the side -effects.He did suffer mental anguish because not everyone could adapt to the way he viewed things and the drug use. There are problems in our country but there are also responsible ways to go about making the proper and necessary changes for improvement. I learned alot about Hunter S. Thompson and am very happy that the book was assigned. I hope his sacrifice pays off some day! He's certainly not helping anyone from his grave. Freedom? At what price?
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You end on a good point, one that I actually think Thompson would agree with. Many Americans are asking that very question. Freedom? At what price? Thompson freed himself from the restrictions of all governing forces: political, social, and economic. In a post 9/11 world, people are questioning the invasion of governing forces o a greater degree. Are the privacies and rights we have given away worth protection from terrorism? Is the "freedom" of the Iraqi people worth the innocent loves lost? While most of us probably agree that Thompson's behavior is not the "appropriate" route to affect change, I have to wonder...would conventional methods have worked? How much change do we see when we follow the "rules?"
ReplyDeleteEven if his belief system is a little off, he does live his live to the fullest according to that set of "Rules". His life was difinately a journey, an expierence all the way to the end.
ReplyDeletethis country isnt exactly the perfect place we want it to be, we can only make the best of it but we try and make laws to put a leash on people in someway but some of the times you will get those people who do not want to abide by the laws set before them..
ReplyDeleteI agree that the amount of drugs he was on took the book on a journey that weaved back and forth between fiction and nonfiction and blurred the lines between the two. I also agree that this country could not be run in such a drug laden state.
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