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Love And Obsession In Ernest Hemingway's Break It Down

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Love can be beautiful, but it can also be unhealthy. Sometimes, it may be hard to differentiate between love and obsession. The story “Break It Down” is on the surface describing a relationship with a prostitute. However, it may be argued that there is a second meaning to this story. The relationship displayed in this story can be compared to a drug addiction. Love and addiction go hand in hand. Love can easily lead into obsession. The addiction is taking over every aspect of his mind by it being all he thinks about. He always feels her in him, and dreads the feeling of losing her sensation. Eventually, he comes to his senses and admits that his addiction has negatives and that it is costly.
A drug addict typically is always under the influence day after day. The narrator states that they are “together almost all day long”. He also explains that no matter how much he gets it’s never enough by stating “no matter how much you crawl all over each other it won’t be enough.” Addicts are never satisfied, and are constantly yearning for the next high hoping that it is better than the last. The constant hunger for the next high is portrayed in the following lines, “When your hunger dies down a little then you think how much you love her and that starts you off again.” The addiction is confused for love because he knows no other way to describe what he is feeling. They are together for “a good sixteen or …show more content…

In this story it is nearly impossible to determine whether or not this story is about love or addiction because there are so many similarities. Love can be beautiful, but it could also lead to a person becoming obsessed with the other. The constant analyzing the man does in this story is concerning, and is certainly unhealthy. It is important to let love remain beautiful and not let it take over one’s life. Love and drugs can do the same thing in the aspect that they can both take over your life and mind, and leave you

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