Pierre Drieu la Rochelle response- Bryan R

The Power of Writing

Writing is a form of artistic expression that has the ability to illustrate and bring a story to life. Whether it is fictional or science fictional, a writer can utilize a certain writing style to paint a picture for his/her audience in order to convey his/her message. Pierre Drieu La Rochelle magnificently develops sort of a monologue or story line that seems so real and truthful that it can be presented in a documentary film. It is fair to attribute this aspect of “reality” to Rochelle’s explicit and sophisticated writing style used throughout the story. Rochelle struck a chord with me each time he described Alain’s emotions, thoughts and his general background in such detail. The detailed descriptions filled with metaphors and similes made it seem as if I was watching an on screen performance based on this story.

Rochelle presents us with a severely troubled character, Alain, who finds himself to be hopeless due to his wife’s abandonment, his faith in others and his incessant drug use. Alain’s journey resembles so many stories/lives that I have witnessed from friends growing up in High School and my freshman year in college. From the beginning of the story till the end as drugs seemed to completely encapsulate Alain’s life, I noticed the vicious cycle that hampered my former close friends and destroyed everything. Over time, many of their lives like Alain’s dragged on and on with little promise to change from their arduously slow and depressing lifestyle.

Another aspect of Rochelle’s story that I enjoyed was his underlying message to his audience. While reading the story I could not help but think of how much control drugs have over the human body and mind. Of course, I have seen it decay and take its negative effect on friends, but I have never read its effects so explicitly. Having the opportunity to read and create images of each situation in the storyline allowed me to vividly realize what I did not know in depth. If Pierre intended to send a message to the rest of the world, I would interpret it to express how precious and fragile the human mind is against drugs. Drugs sway a person’s mind to think on opposite spectrums. For instance, one may think they can beat the addiction without a problem as in my friend’s case freshman year of High School or one may lose hope and think their life is submerging under water unable to breathe in an air of hope for coming clean, as in Alain’s case. I apologize for my attempt to make a figurative example in relation to the story and human lives in reality, but Alain’s story is the story of many young and some older men and women in this world. Not only was the plot effective to illustrate the story but Pierre’s elaborate writing style developed a documentarian aspect that seemed so real.