Addiction

Addiction is one of the main themes in the book. Two of the characters, Avery Broussard and J.P. Winfield are both die hard addicts. Broussard is an alcoholic and Winfield is a junkie.

Addiction is a disease that grabs ahold of its victim and does not let go. On Broussard's case, he was drinking heavily before he returned home to Martinique Parish. Broussard's father did not approve of the drinking, so Avery tried unsuccessfully to hide it. The drinking became worse after Rafael died and there was no one to try to stop Avery from destroying himself. It is addiction that led Broussard to make bad decisions, ones that would cause him to go to prison for a crime he had little to no part in but just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Unlike Broussard, Winfield's addiction kills not only his...