The Impetuous Love of Addiction
Faculty Sponsor
Carlos Miguel-Pueyo
Streaming Media
College
Arts and Sciences
Discipline(s)
Spanish Literature
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Symposium Date
Winter 2021
Abstract
Rafael Reig lives a life that many might glamorize- he travels the world, engages in whirlwind love affairs, and drinks whiskey neat yearning for experiences to collect in order to write his magnum opus. However, in his novel Amor intempestivo (Impetuous Love), he writes a self-proclaimed “confessional” where he dives deep into his experiences with self-doubt and addiction. He began drinking at the age of sixteen and described it as “love at first sight,” foreshadowing his unhealthy understanding of human value and personal relationships. He knew from a young age that he was born to write but conceptualized and ingrained an idealized definition of what it means to be a successful writer and confesses the depth of his imposter syndrome. He reveals his insecurities throughout the novel and impulsively engages in sexual relationships and manipulates them as a control tactic to establish a feeling of power in his personal life. When the women he meets start to become attached, he rejects them with little to no remorse. He rejects his parents' displays of affection with the same fervor. Research on addiction reveals that those struggling with substance abuse often carry feelings of low inhibitions and undergo a rejection of their surrounding support system. This struggle for control and a sense of value leads to the constant devaluing of his relationships and in turn continues to fuel the search for something that will make him feel whole.
Recommended Citation
Oyer, Ashley, "The Impetuous Love of Addiction" (2021). Symposium on Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 1115.
https://scholar.valpo.edu/cus/1115
Biographical Information about Author(s)
Ashley Oyer is a graduating Bachelor of Social Work student attending Loyola University of Chicago this Fall. She has a long-founded interest in educating others about healthy relationships and has completed various projects on the topic. She is currently researching how communication technology is impacting adolescent interactions and dating violence. She is a double major in Spanish and has also studied femicide rates in Latin American countries as a part of her Comparative Politics class.