Free Write: My response to Hashish in Marsailles

Hashish
Hashish in Marsailles had a weird effect on me. After reading the essay I was a bit confused. The fact that it was translated really threw me off. Some of the text was hard for me to grasp. The essay did a lot of contrasting. It compared things and showed you how opposites were related.
Throughout the whole essay the writer was observing things while experimenting with hash. He called his observations an experiment and reported on his experience. The writer spent most of his time walking through the city and describing to us what he saw. He described to us men’s faces in which he took a particular interest in. He compared the beauty of some of the men to the ugliness of others. This was one of the comparisons that he made early on in the story. It sort of stunned me that he would take such an interest in the appearance of these men’s faces.
The story also contrasted his experiences inside the hotel and the time he spent on the streets. Inside the hotel room he seemed to be lonely. He was awaiting the company of a friend. When his friend did not show up he felt it necessary to move to the streets where other people were. One other contrast that was made was between real and imaginary. I wondered if all of his accounts were accurate considering the circumstances. I questioned if he remembered everything just like it had happened. Some of the things he noticed and observed would not seem important if he were in a normal state of mind.
This story seemed to have no theme and was more like a documentary. The whole time I was waiting for something bad to happen or a problem to occur. The story makes you wonder what the author’s reason for writing this was. This is not something that I would normally read on my own, but if this is the kind of writing you like then this would be a good choice for you.