"Times and Places"

From “Times and Places” by Emily Hahn

I chose to write about 2 quotes from the excerpt which describes Emily’s addiction to opium. 

“Though I had always wanted to be an opium addict, I can’t claim that as the reason I went to China. The opium ambition dates back to that obscure period of childhood when I wanted to be a lot of other things, too, the greatest expert on ghosts, the world's best ice skater, the champion lion tamer, you know the kind of thing.” (Hahn, 344)

“Of course I could do without it. I liked it, of course, I liked it. I had learned what was so pleasant about opium. Gone were the old romantic notions of wild drug orgies and heavily flavored dreams, but I didn't regret them, because the truth was so much better. To lie in a quiet room talking and smoking, or, to put things in their proper order, smoking and taking, was delightfully restful and pleasant. I wasn't addicted, I told myself, but you had to have a bit of a habit to appreciate the thing.” (Hahn, 349)

The first quote was a really interesting way to open the excerpt. When most people are younger they dream of growing up and becoming something like the “world's best ice skater” but Emily describes how she wanted to be an opium addict. I was surprised to read this because I have never heard of anybody who wants to become addicted to anything.

The second quote describes how Emily thought that she was not addicted to opium, but just viewed it as a habit. She explains how she used to think of opium as “romantic and wild” but she found out that it was more “restful and pleasant”. She kept telling herself that she wasn't addicted to opium, just that she enjoyed how it made her feel. 

Word Count: 314