Essay #3 Winter’s Bone In Context

Children of Addicts

            Drug addicts lead messy, chaotic, selfish and greedy lives. The addiction knows no boundaries, keeps no promises and paves no ways. Children born to parents who are addicted to drugs are caught in a spider web of their parent’s bad choices, broken promises and weakness to a never ending chase for a high. The book Winter’s Bone is a powerful story about a young girl, caught in that vicious web her father spun out of a meth addiction, when she is abandoned and left to care for her 2 younger brothers and unresponsive mother. Although there are many strong messages in Daniel Woodrell’s book, the most powerful message was the impact drug abuse has on the children who are forced to live in such a world. Many people do not understand the bleak outlook for these children, the limited resources, choices and money they have, and the grown up world they see on a daily basis. Perhaps the setting of the Ozarks was appropriate for such a topic, considering that is an area plagued by addiction unlike most, but the true honesty in the story was the harsh and sad reality for the children born to drug addicted parents.

            Children that come from homes with drug addicts become untrusting of adults. In a world where every adult in your life that is supposed to take care of you, love you and care for you, does nothing but lie and deceive you, trusting anyone is difficult. In an article by Emily Baucum, called The Horrors of Growing up in a Meth Home, she discusses what helping these children is like with foster parent Allen Bangs, "These kids don't trust you because you're just another adult who's lied to them." (Baucum 2010). Bangs goes on to say that these children usually come to him with just the clothes on their backs, and they’re scared. (Baucum 2010) When you live in a survival type world, where you are constantly guarded, on edge and ready for letdown, it would be hard to trust, have compassion, or even love. These children are forced to make adult decisions, take care of themselves and they learn that even their own parents are against them. When even your own family isn’t looking after your wellbeing, will anyone? That is the mind frame of most of the children who grow up in a world filled with drugs.

            In the book Winter’s Bone, the main character Ree, is clearly isolated, socially awkward and guarded, like most children of addicts. She is defensive, hard and in survival mode. This is typical for a child that grows up in her circumstance. According to an article on Recovery Magazine.com, children of addicts often grow up socially isolated and tend to develop emotional difficulties and behavioral problems (Recovery Magazine-admin 2010). Although it would be an assumption, if we were to have read about Ree being placed in a loving foster home, it is likely she would have had trouble adjusting, behaving and fitting in. Children that live in constant chaos do not have a chance to develop properly, grow normally as children should, or to enjoy the simplicity of being a child. Children of addicts must focus on where they will get their next meal, how they will keep warm, or who will be in their company at any given time. Ree faced these struggles on a daily basis. Because drug addicts are known to keep company of other drug addicts, the children are often surrounded by many addicts, each with very unpredictable behaviors.  

            Violence goes hand in hand with drug addiction. High doses of crystal meth promote agitation, paranoia, and bizarre behavior (drug-effects.com 2012). Children that are around addicts, also experience seeing the addicts experiencing these symptoms. The slightest things can set off a violent reaction from an addict, leaving the child in the cross fires. Children of addicts often live with violence, poverty and unsanitary living conditions. Children of drug addicted parents are at a higher risk for placement outside the home (nacoa.net 2012). A lot of children who are raised in violent homes go on to have violence as a constant in their lives because it is what they know and what they have grown up seeing. It becomes a vicious cycle of abuse that is hard for families to break.

           

            Many of us cannot even fathom the environment that children of addicts must live in. In  an article by Jennifer Michael, called Growing up with Meth, she describes the realistic horror these children face, “Parents abusing meth can stay high and wired for an entire week, then crash into comatose sleep for several more days. Meanwhile, the house grows filthy, and the refrigerator goes empty.” (Michael 2006) Most children do not have to worry about the everyday chores or worries of keeping a household running and happy. Children of addicts must worry about it all. They may not eat for a couple of days, have running water, clean clothes or eve a tube of toothpaste. Children of addicts are left to fend for themselves because they are so neglected. Drug addicted parents are not able to worry about their children because they are too busy worrying about getting their next high. Not only do these children have to worry about food, water and shelter, they often worry about violence, sexual abuse and exposure to chemicals when drugs are being cooked. It is a sad reality for children of addicts, and a scary world for a child to grow up in.

            Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell is a message and a wakeup call to those who do not know the harsh existence for children of addicts. Woodrell’s thought provoking story really touches a nerve about the drug problems, abject poverty and bleak life of a child who is born to parents of drug addicts. Although Ree’s character is strong, skilled at hunting and surviving, that is not the case for many of the children in her circumstance. Many children of addicts starve to death, are beaten daily, are forced to live in extremely unsanitary homes that may not have utilities, clean beds or food in the cupboards. Many people do not give thought to the children forced into this life, nor do they empathize with them. Woodrell’s book gives us a firsthand look into the life and honesty of a child who must endure a broken and tragic life, and gives us some insight as to the conditions and choices forced upon these kids. Both chilling and honest, Woodrell really paints a picture that is captivating and raw. Perhaps only a story that may be forgotten in time, it should also serve as a truth that we all must hear, acknowledge and be made aware of. Children of addicts do not ask for the life they’ve been given, nor do they want to go hungry, live with violence or be stripped of their childhoods. They do  not ask to make grown up choices, see adults making bad choices, or be forced to parent siblings when they are just children themselves, but their circumstance in inevitable. Children of addicts need advocates to stand up for them, to give them a voice in a battle they did not choose. Daniel Woodrell’s book Winter’s Bone is a plea and a cry for help to children lost in such a broken world.  

Works Cited

Woodrell, Daniel. Winter's Bone. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2006. Print.

Michael, Jennifer. "Growing up with meth." Children's Voice. (2006): n. page. Web 21 March 2012.. <http://www.cwla.org/voice/0602meth.htm>.

Baucum, Emily. "The Horrors of Growing Up in a Meth Home." OzarksFirst.com. (2010): n. page. Web. 21 Mar. 2012. <http://ozarksfirst.com/fulltext?nxd_id=266385>.

"Children of addicted parents." Nacoa.net. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar 2012. <http://www.nacoa.net/pdfs/addicted.pdf>.

Crystal Meth Effects." Drug-Effects.com. (2012): n. page. Web. 21 Mar. 2012. <http://www.drug-effects.com/crystalmeth-effects.htm>.

Image link

More info on children of addicts