Thank You For Smoking

"Tobacco takes care of its own."

I really loved the repetition of this in the novel. The Captain says it numerous times throughout, and the ambigious use of it is what really made it great. On one hand, you can intepret it somewhat literally how the Captain uses it: "If you stick with the tobacoo industry and do hard work for us, we will reward you handsomely."

We can see this in some parts. The Captain raises Nick's salary twice during the book after he accomplishes some great tasks. You can also argue that if you smoke ciggarettes: the nicotine buzz (or whatever else there is for a reason to smoke) is indeed enjoyable, implying that ciggarettes will "take care of you" if you decide to indulge. But the other way you could interpret the quote is why the quote fits so well in the story...

Tobacco takes care of its own? Sure does, in a bad way. It kills thousands of people that use it (despite what Nick preaches) obviously, but let's look at some examples from the book. The Captain uses the quote when he explains why he's giving The Tumbleweed Man 500 thousand dollars, but besides this, The Tumbleweed Man needs oxygen and has cancer. The tobacco industry almost destroys Nick's seemingly indomitable personality and life, as well as his relationship with his friends.

The ambivalence of the quote just seems so appropriate for the book's theme. I for one don't think the book necessarily tries to preach, and the ambivalence of this quote is one main reason for that. It kind of says, "If you want to smoke, please do, and enjoy it. But be prepared pay the consequences, because you damn well know what your getting yourself into."

The tobacco industry wants to show the upside of the quote, and the government wants to show the downside. From this results a war between personal freedom and public safety, and both sides adopt each area respectively. But do they really believe in it? No. The politicians are pushing for smoking bans to get votes and ultimately get elected. The tobacco industry doesn't care about personal liberties or the right to smoke, they care about profit.