Addiction and Recovery Theme Analysis

At various points in David Nicholls’s One Day, the character Dexter suffers from addictions to alcohol and cigarettes. Although Emma doesn’t struggle with addiction in quite the same way, she too finds herself dependent on things like cigarettes to cope with acute anxiety, like when she learns Dexter is engaged and going to be a father. Emma and Dexter are also caught in other self-destructive cycles that they struggle to break free from. Dexter, for example, is always on the hunt for pleasure when he’s younger, usually in the form of sex, but also in food and parties. The cigarette girls at the restaurant that Dexter takes Emma make the connection clear between the addiction of the cigarettes and the irresistible sex and glamor that Dexter seeks from nightlife. Meanwhile, Emma is caught in cycles of low self-esteem. She constantly second-guesses the things she says and often gets stuck settling for things that don’t bring her happiness and fulfillment, like her loveless relationship with Ian, because she believes that she doesn’t deserve anything better.

Emma and Dexter’s cycles of addiction parallel the more benevolent cycle of having important events in their relationship happen in different years on July 15, the anniversary of the first night they spend together in 1988 and a date that continues to coincide with important milestones in their relationship. This, in turn, represents how recovery from addiction often involves relying on others for support. Dexter, for example, manages to quit alcohol and cigarettes due to support he receives from people like Emma, Maddy, and even his father and ex-wife Sylvia, who try to help him without judgment when he relapses. Meanwhile, a chance encounter with her former student, Sonya, causes Emma to reconsider her life and begin the process of quitting cigarettes and breaking off her affair with her boss, Mr. Godalming. On one level, One Day is a novel about how addictions, compulsions, and self-destructive cycles and take over a person’s life and have years-long effects. However, by establishing a parallel between the self-destructive cycle of addiction and the cyclical nature of Emma and Dexter’s ultimately positive and restorative relationship, the book also shows how with resilience, strong relationships, and the support of one’s family and friends can help a person to overcome addiction and self-destructive behavior and to start a new phase of life.