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Chrystian Sears

Professor Batty

English 101

14 May 2019

Addiction due to Association

Shawn, in ​Still Water Saints,​ is an example of how associations with the wrong people

can sway our decision making and have an effect on our lives in a negative way. In the novel, at

a young age, Shawn’s relationship with Beady led to him meeting Beady’s brother. After their

first interaction with one another, Beady’s brother suggested they try speed for the first time and

they eventually get hooked on it and, ultimately, this leads Shawn to begin stealing from his own

store and also drinking and driving. We can argue that because Shawn is an independent person

and his decisions were made at his own free will, essentially, there is no one to blame but

himself. Although this may be true, I argue that due to Shawn’s and Beady’s friendship being so

strong and important to each other, Shawn blindly follows in Beady’s actions and is driven to do

such things. Even though we all have free will and independence, almost all people are

susceptible to being heavily influenced by people we think highly of since it is in our nature to

want to fit in. This allows others to affect, and often manipulate, our decisions just like Shawn.

Shawn is an example of someone who let bad people impact what he was doing for the

worse. Influence is a very dangerous thing because it can be done intentionally or unintentionally

which is why who we surround ourselves with is so important. According to an article called

Psychology Today, it states, “​Rather, what we all have in abundance is influence, the power of
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which seems to function linearly: the closer personally and physically others are to us, the greater

our influence over them, and vice versa,” (​Psychology Today). This best sums up how easy it is

to be influenced or influence others by simply having a good relationship with another person. In

Shawn’s case, Beady’s influence on him is one of the strongest we see in this story.

Beady encourages Shawn to do bad things such as drugs and drinking and driving. They

even have a scheme which allows them to steal merchandise and money from Shawn’s

workplace on a regular basis. Eventually, Shawn gets caught because Beady insisted that they

steal something much bigger and of more value but rather it being Beady, it was his girlfriend,

Daisy, who was in the store and it was obvious she knew close to nothing when it came to this

and Shawn knew that she was going to get him in trouble. Shawn denied Beady the first few

times when he suggested Daisy come in that day but Beady kept begging and Shawn finally gave

in even though he wanted nothing to do with it. Shawn says, “Fine. Send her ass in at eleven.

That’s when Bill’s going to the bank,” (Espinoza 150). Up to this point, it is evident that Shawn

wants nothing to do with their plan because he feels and knows nothing good could come of it

but, once again, Beady influences Shawn and insists that he goes through with it anyways.

Ultimately, he does get fired but isn’t even upset about Daisy getting him fired. He is upset that

he let it all happen and he didn’t do anything to stop it. Shawn says, “I almost saw it coming, and

that’s the thing that gets me about all this. When she was standing there hugging that big box, I

said to myself, This ain’t good. I think I’m fucking pissed at myself for letting it go on without

doing anything to stop or change it,” (Espinoza 157). After admitting that he blames himself, he

deals with getting laid off his job by doing more drugs and drinking, a practice that Shawn has
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been doing since his teenage years which developed into an addiction, then he relies on Beady to

get him through this moment in time that he is struggling with.

We can see how much influence Beaty has over Shawn in this small passage of the story.

and that seems to be the case for most people in a real-world context which is why this character

is so relatable. In every case, our encompassing surroundings affect our decisions according to an

article called Quora. They also state, “​Surrounding is something which influences mental state,

physical state, perception etc and then bring about change in our behavior,” (Quora). Basically,

the the overall message is how strong of an impact our environment can have on all of us as

people since it is natural for us to adapt to any and almost every kind of situation. We naturally

want to fit in with people so, often, we find ourselves “going with the flow” and doing things that

seem out of character for us. Following the crowd can lead someone down a road they are

unfamiliar with and can have a long-term result on another person.

This would be described as a negative influence. For example Beady is a bad influence

on Shawn. ​When they are together, nothing good comes out of their relationship. An example of

a good influence would be the encouragement to do something good for another person or being

around someone who practices good behavior and tries their best to better themselves and others

around by setting good examples. Though nobody is perfect in this sense but we should expect to

have people around us to motivate and put positive energy into us rather than encourage us to

exercise our demons.

Also our character deals with a drug addiction. Starting at a young age, Shawn started

doing drugs around the age of 12 or 13. This is the age most addicts develop their drug problem

which eventually leads them to drug abuse. In an article written by the National Institute on Drug
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Abuse, they claim that addiction and abuse can stems from family, from one generation to the

next. They also say, “​If drug abuse persists into later adolescence, abusers typically become

more heavily involved with marijuana and then advance to other drugs, while continuing their

abuse of tobacco and alcohol. Studies have also shown that abuse of drugs in late childhood and

early adolescence is associated with greater drug involvement,” (National Institute on Drug

Abuse). A survey was conducted by the same company and around 21 million Americans over

the age of 12 had a drug abuse problem in 2015, according to according to the National Institute

on Drug Abuse

The overall message we can take away from our character Shawn is that we should be

careful with who and what we surround ourselves with. We as humans naturally become

attached to those we see more often than not and we try our best to fit in rather than be who we

truly are. Influence can be a very dangerous thing since it is so easy to affect people’s choices.

Shawn living with Beady and doing drugs and other illegal stuff regularly is an example of what

influence can do to someone. Of course, we can not identify a bad influence by just looking at

someone, but we can study our own behavior. Recognize when our routines that were constant

begin to change for the better or for worse, a positive or negative impact on our lives.

With that being said, it is important we try to find the signs of the negative or positive

influences around us daily. The people we meet that are always up to no good, constantly

damaging themselves internally and affecting those around them are the ones we grew up

learning to stay away from. Those that push us to be great and always uplift our spirits when we

are down are the people we should strive to keep in our circle. Never let negativity cloud our
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judgements and always do the right thing because you never know who is watching and who

could be taking after you.


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Works Cited Page

Espinoza, Alex. ​Still Water Saints​. Pan Macmillan, 2013.

Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Health and Behavior: Research, et al.

“Individuals and Families: Models and Interventions.” ​Health and Behavior: The Interplay of

Biological, Behavioral, and Societal Influences.,​ U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Jan. 1970,

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK43749/.

Lickerman, Alex. “The Power of Influence.” ​Psychology Today,​ Sussex Publishers, 3

May 2015, ​www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/happiness-in-world/201505/the-power-influence​.

National Institute on Drug Abuse. “When and How Does Drug Abuse Start and

Progress?” ​NIDA​, 2015,

www.drugabuse.gov/publications/preventing-drug-abuse-among-children-adolescents-in-brief/ch

apter-1-risk-factors-protective-factors/when-how-does-drug-abuse-start-progress.

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