# Introduction to the Pains of Opium explained — Confessions of an English Opium-Eater > Chapter companion for Confessions of an English Opium-Eater by Thomas De Quincey. ## What happens The narrator reflects on his life in 1812, eight years after first taking opium, living in a mountain cottage and studying German metaphysics. He describes his daily opium use, his health, and his philosophical justification for the habit. He recounts a period of reduced opium intake that brought temporary happiness, and introduces a memorable incident involving a Malay visitor that later influenced his dreams. ## Themes in this chapter ### Addiction and Dependency The narrator describes his daily opium use as involuntary and compares it to bodily functions like respiration, emphasizing his dependency. ### Pleasure versus Pain He confesses his inability to face misery and his hankering after happiness, justifying his opium use as a means to avoid pain. ### Confession and Self-Justification The narrator openly admits his opium habit and argues that he could not have done otherwise, seeking the reader's indulgence. ### The Philosopher's Life He describes his life as a scholar studying German metaphysics while living in a cottage, embodying the solitary intellectual existence. ## Character check-ins ### Thomas De Quincey Describes his life in 1812, his opium habit, and his philosophical stance as an Eudæmonist. ### Betty The young female servant who opens the door to the Malay and seeks the narrator's help. ## Key lines > Courteous, and I hope indulgent, reader (for all my readers must be indulgent ones, or else I fear I shall shock them too much to count on their courtesy), having accompanied me thus far, now let me request you to move onwards for about eight years; that is to say, from 1804 (when I have said that my acquaintance with opium first began) to 1812. The narrator asks the reader to skip ahead eight years from 1804 to 1812, assuming the reader will be forgiving of his shocking story. _Sets the temporal shift and establishes the narrator's appeal for the reader's patience._ > I confess it, as a besetting infirmity of mine, that I am too much of an Eudæmonist; I hanker too much after a state of happiness, both for myself and others; I cannot face misery, whether my own or not, with an eye of sufficient firmness, and am little capable of encountering present pain for the sake of any reversionary benefit. He admits that he is overly focused on happiness and cannot endure suffering, even for future gain. _Reveals his philosophical justification for continuing opium use._ > One day a Malay knocked at my door. What business a Malay could have to transact amongst English mountains I cannot conjecture; but possibly he was on his road to a seaport about forty miles distant. A Malay man unexpectedly arrives at the narrator's cottage in the mountains, likely traveling to a nearby port. _Introduces the Malay incident that later appears in his dreams._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/confessions_of_an_english_opium_eater_se/chapters/part-ii-introduction-to-the-pains-of-opium - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/confessions_of_an_english_opium_eater_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/confessions_of_an_english_opium_eater_se/chapters