What is Junk by Melvin Burgess.

Ryan Taylor 9R, JUNK Essay 2003, English, Mr. Andrew

Junk is a hard hitting novel by Melvin Burgess. Tar Loves Gemma, but Gemma doesn’t want to be tied down – not to anyone or anything. Gemma wants to fly but no one can fly forever. The life of Tar Is not good, but Gemma thinks her life is so bad as well but it is not. Gemma’s Life is ordinary. Gemma just needs to work with her Father for a bit and do things together because they never get on. Gemma most of the time causes the arguments in the house by always wanting to stay out late and not go to school but most of the time she gets her own way, but not all the time.

Junk is set in Bristol in the 1980`s and follows the lives of Tar and Gemma, two runaways who seek solace and adventure in squatting, partying and drug-taking. Heroin destroys personality, friendship, family and life. In this essay I am going to show how many ways of the adventures that Gemma and Tar start out on quickly turn to the Nightmare reality of junk. There are many examples of ADVENTURES & NIGHTMARES

Now Tar’s life is really Looking Bad. Both of Tar’s Parents are alcoholics and when they’re angry who suffers (tar). Tars Real name is DAVID but gemma gave him the name tar because he is always smoking. Tar’s Father is a teacher at his school and always keeps his eye on him. Tars Mother never stops Drinking. Tar’s Father is the one who always lashes out on him and states it’s always his fault.

The novel Junk, Melvin Burgess leaves a note at the beginning of the book to let the reader know JUNK is true. At the Beginning of the novel Gemma is excited to run away.

“Why not leave home? Its east, its cheap and it gets your point across beautifully” P15

The novel Junk was set in the 1980`s. In Junk the adult based on Richard died on a motorway some years ago. In Junk there are ADVENTURES & NIGHTMARES.

Tars Father always shouts at him but that isn’t all he gives him. The reason that tar runs away is because of his Parents. Tar wants to get away form The Beats, Moaning and the DRUNKEN Parents. “He was hurt, he’d been beaten up by his dad for the nth time” P6

Eventually Tar runs away to Bristol. Gemma than decides to leave and meets Tar in Bristol. Gemma took her Fathers Credit Cards and some clothes. Gemma only took 100 Pounds from the bank before getting on the coach.

When Gemma meets Tar in Bristol she ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

When Gemma meets Tar in Bristol she finds out he met two grown ups called Richard and Vonny. Richard and Vonny set up Squats for teenagers to live in if they have run away from home. When Gemma meets Vonny She isn’t sure about her, she’s always asking Gemma to call home and let her parents know she’s safe. The whole point of running away is to annoy your parents and to never to speak to them again because they have annoyed you so much you can’t stand it.

When Gemma ran away her feelings were gone but they come to her conscience.

“I was going and it didn’t matter who I hurt … In my mind I was already gone”

When Gemma and Tar met Richard and Vonny They glued up all the banks Incl Barclays

“We got to Barclays and I went up to the door and wielded the superglue” P 84

Then came the two addicts Lily and Rob. Lily and Rob went through Richard to get a Squat. When Vonny and Richard had a home coming party Vonny invited Lily and Rob but Richard wasn’t that sure with them.

Lily was going around taking everyone’s booze out of their hand and grabbing a spliff of everyone’s hand they turned to. “she reached over and picked a joint out of someone’s fingers. She came over to sit next to me” Gemma wanted to be just like Lily but she didn’t know what was Lily. Then came the Junk (HEROIN) “Me, Gemma and JUNK. I thought it was going to last forever; it was the biggest adventure of my life” P232

Before Tar got a squat he met a fat racist newsagent called skolly. Skolly had connections which got him a squat. The life in the first squat supplied by the racist newsagent, Skolly is depicted as exciting and liberating to Tar and Gemma.

Gemma was a sneaky and a bit guilty in the house. Richard and Vonny were paying for her food when she had 100 pounds. When Richard and Vonny Found out they weren’t happy, she went and spent it on looking like a PUNK and then ended up going to some rock concert.

Richard is a nice and mellow person who can help when needed, well him and Vonny they were like Husband and Wife but the thing was they weren’t, they were only good friends.

Vonny was someone who was always feeling insecure and paranoid all the time. Vonny always asked Gemma to call home to let her parents know she was o.k. but even the phone call wasn’t good enough. Vonny kept pushing it until Gemma blew and couldn’t take it and was very rude. Vonny then decided that it was time for Gemma to go because she did nothing to help the flat or them. Tar even stood by their side which really annoyed Gemma but Tar couldn’t speak he was so shy and jealous. Gemma then met Lily and Rob and Gemma was asked to move in their by Lily.

Gemma and Lily got a job. PROSTITUTION. Gemma and Lily thought and considered it was a job, which Tar was very upset about and Rob wasn’t bothered. Lily would drive near a tip and pull over in their car and have sex in the back and lily would get 50 pounds. Rob was always standing outside with a bat. One time Rob got some heroin and went. While Rob Left something was happening to Lily. Lily was attacked the guy left. Lily was strangled and hurt badly she could have died.

“ He came up and he got her to undress and then he asked her to undress and then he asked her to do something she didn’t want to do, he shoved over the bed and grabbed a pair of her old tights, her floor was always littered with clothes and he put them round her neck and pulled” P282

Robs Grandmother is the only one really happy for them. When they were in the country side she would bring them food, money and everything. All Robs Grandmother said to him was don’t get caught with the heroin because she doesn’t want them banged up in prison. Tar, Lily, Rob and Gemma are always on JUNK. It makes you free they all say but it keeps you on it forever till someday you will never wake up or just collapse. Gemma took it for the first time.

“Gemma sighed and leaned back in the chair. I looked into her face to see if I could see anything different”

Lily, Rob, Tar and Gemma’s house was raided and was flooded with drugs. Tar got back when the police was there and the ambulance and everything. Tar Ran in and he asked where Gemma was and the police didn’t tell him and Gemma shouted and tar shouted up and said all the drugs were all his. They weren’t all his though. He was protecting Gemma.

Tar was arrested during the raid of his house by the police because of holding Class A DRUGS>

“I arrest you under suspicion of being in possession of Class A DRUGS, and holding Class A DRUGS for the purpose of sale to persons / unknown” P245

Tar went to a Detox Centre where he met some one who could help him get off junk. Tar was allowed to have Methadone to stop the addiction but Methadone is more addictive. Tar wanted Methadone and he was allowed it on one condition that he had to leave. Tar was furious but he decided to stay.

Lily was soon Pregnant and she had the bay but who’s baby was it. No one cared.

“I’m gonna be a mother see” P211. Lily told Gemma. Gemma was then later on pregnant

After the attack of Lily Gemma felt sorry for her and told herself it was time to tell the police for sonny’s sake. Gemma called the police and went to hospital and called her mother and she came to pick her up and went home. Tar was now able to Live and be free. Tar came out of prison later because of Gemma’s phone call to the police. Tar moved away and got a new Girlfriend somewhere else and she always asks him about his past and what he did does he have HIV and everything but he could handle it.

Living in the Detox Centre for Tar was Hard because of Heroin and Smack and all the pressure of how Gemma, Lily and Rob were doing. It turns out when Skolly was a shopkeeper he went to a massage parlor near Tars house and had sex with a girl who worked there. It was in fact Gemma who he had sex with. Tar wasn’t told about it because it would destroy him.

When Tar would knock at Gemma’s house whatever time it was Gemma’s Father wouldn’t let Gemma see Tar even when he came to her doorstep for help in the middle of the day. Gemma was upset and decided to run away as Tar asked her in the old estate Volvo car. Gemma didn’t want to leave then but she changed her mind.

The Book JUNK was a very exciting book for me to read and see how it is in some parts of the world. I have never read a whole book in my life that I really like. JUNK is the best book I have ever read. JUNK shows you what HEROIN and any other drug can do to you. JUNK showed me all the things that can happen in life. After we finished reading the book junk I was shocked to hear that the person based on Richard had died a couple years ago on a motorway.

JUNK show you many life’s of people who run away and cant take living at home and actually have no home. In the book JUNK there were many ADVENTURES & NIGHTMARES like when lily was strangled which was a nightmare and when they took junk which was an adventure. When Gemma and Lily were Pregnant that shocked me because I was told my friend was pregnant and I didn’t know if it was true and I didn’t believe it.

By Ryan Joshua Taylor, 9R, English.