Applies particularly
well to various
situations both
realistic and
hypothetical. The basic concept being that, a
heroin addict will take a
hit. He will then
enjoy the high while it lasts and then
come down, returning to the
misery that is
real life. Then, there is a
period of
revoltion, during which he swears he'll
never do it again. But, it happens. Slowly, the addiction
screams to life and
burns the mind. To illustrate, a passage from
Trainspotting by
Irvine Welsh:
Ah git up fir ma tea, frail, bent and brittle as ah struggle doon the stairs. Every move makes ma blood soar tae ma throbbing heid. At one stage ah thought it wid just burst open, like a balloon, sending blood, skill fragments and grey matter splattering oantae Ma's cream woodchip.
And he goes back, and it happens again. And again. Things that this cycle illustrates particularly well:
Abusive sexual relationships,
masturbation,
alcoholism,
school, etc. Subtle, but applies to a lot of things, mainly due to the
cyclic nature of everything.