Alcoholism In The Novel Ghost

“When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I survived at all…the poverty; the shiftless loquacious alcoholic father [and] the pious defeated mother moaning by the fire” (McCourt 1). This is how Frank McCourt introduces his memoir, Angela’s Ashes. He tells the story of his growing up in a poverty stricken world, brought on to them by the alcoholism of his father. Being the recollections of a person’s memoires it is sometimes difficult to believe in all the poverty, abuse and family which Franck claims existed and were caused by alcoholism. Alcoholism is the root of all problems in the book as it leads to poverty, abuse and family tensions. By comparing Frank’s testimony of how alcohol ruined his childhood to other real world scenarios it will be possible to determine if Frank’s case is the norm for alcohol taking this kind of effect or is his story just an extreme case of alcohol abuse.

¨You can't hide from crime.¨ This book is called Ghost by Jason Reynolds. This book is a very well thought out and not that long 180 pages. This book is written in first person, and is realistic fiction.

Ghost- Castle [Ghost] Cranshaw is a seventh grader. He is very good at running and is naturally gifted. Ghost fears himself becoming just like his dangerous father. Ghost is trying to prove himself and also keep himself out of trouble.He wants more than anything to be accepted on the track team called the defenders. Sometimes his choices and the consequences got in the way of his progress.

“Your father 's the only one who can help himself, 'Only he knows how to fight his own demons” -Rose Mary. In the novel The Glass Castle: A Memoir written by Jeannette Walls, she talks about the the horrific childhood her and her siblings (Lori, Brian, and Maureen) went through. They grew up with parents who dismissed them, and would rather live in poverty then lavishness. Rex (the father) and Rose Mary (the mother) had four children but did not care for them. Rex was an alcoholic who would steal the money from his children and disappear for days. Rose Mary, was a free spirit who viewed their life of poverty as an adventure. When money ran out, or the excitement of life faded, the Walls family would pack up and leave to a new city. As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her siblings would learn to fend for themselves, supporting one another until finally, the children discovered the resources to leave home. After drinking, Rex would become aggressive and would threatens his wife and other people who would come across him. The way Rex’s alcoholism affected his children is shown by the situations they are put in, and what they have to do to survive. Rex’s alcoholism led the Walls family to many tragic events such as: he was unable to keep a job, he would become abusive, and would abandon his family.

For my book report project I choose to read a memoir by Jeannette Walls titled The Glass Castle. This book takes the reader through the painful years of Jeannette’s childhood while she and her three siblings struggle to survive due to their irresponsible and self-centered parents. At the beginning of the book, the family was living in California moving frequently from town to town. Jeannette’s father, Rex was a major alcoholic. Because of his alcoholism, he found it very hard to maintain a job. He would become violent in fits of rage, sometimes injuring his own wife and children. The family had to be particularly cautious in what they did or said as to not set him off or avoid beatings. They would “skedaddle” or spontaneously relocate

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is a memoir to put down. It is a book about Jeannette’s unique childhood and how her experiences as a child shaped the rest of her life. When she was a child, Jeannette did not have a normal childhood like today’s average children. Her family would constantly push her around, but it was not typical child abuse because she did not realize her life was any different than other children. She thought it was completely normal for a three-year-old to cook her own food on the stove, and when she was forced to use a cardboard box as a bed, she was completely okay with it. Through this memoir, Jeannette Walls grasps the reader’s attention with her rare childhood experiences.

In the novel The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls, the uncertain future of the Walls’ children was questionable from the start. From a drunk father, to never having a steady home, the author tells of her idiosyncratic youth to describe the bitterness and longing for an ordinary childhood.

Alcoholism does not only affect a person’s physical, mental, and emotional state, but it also changes the lives of people close to the drinker forever. It ruins relationships and trust that took years to build up, and may never be able to be restored. In Jeannette Walls’s memoir, The Glass Castle, she tells the story of her childhood in which her father was an alcoholic. Jeannette’s father, Rex Walls, was brilliant and charismatic when he was sober, but when he drank, he was destructive and dishonest.

“'The Father.” By Hugh Garner is a short story involving two characters; and a father and son’s troubled relationship. The story touches on how you can be there and have the responsibilities of being a father without actually being a father. The dad John Purcell and his son are going to the son’s Boy scout banquet meeting the following night. John grudgingly replies that he will go only for his son since the banquet only happens once a year. On the way to the meeting, John makes awkward small talk with the son he barely knows. Proceeding to get to the church he ruins the evening because of the alcohol he consumes earlier in the night; which causes him to become impaired and unable to make proper decisions. The story brings up the effects of alcoholism and how it is the object you turn to to help you through uneventful or stressful situations. It brings up qualities that a good parent does not and should not have.

Hugh Garner’s short story the father has the following significant themes: alcoholism, denial, ignorance, insecurity and neglect. Each theme is conveyed through the characters actions. Alcoholism is expressed through the numerous drinks John Purcell has before and during the banquet. The effects of alcohol are also conveyed through John Purcell’s inappropriate comments, behaviour and lack of self-control. For example the phrase about taking his son to a burlesque show and raising his son, Jonny Purcell’s hand into the air when he receives his lifesaving certificate and badge for hobby craft. Denial is expessed through the irony of John Purcell’s belief that he’s superior to the other fathers because they are too involved when Jonny wishes his

Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Black Cat” follows the unnamed main character as he slowly devolves into madness brought about by his severe alcoholism and subsequent bizarre abhorrence of cats. The narrator starts as a kind and loving person but by the end of the story is a violent and remorseless deviant. Throughout the story it is apparent that the narrator is drifting further and further from reality. As his drinking worsens, the narrator finds himself becoming increasingly violent, irrational and depraved.

In “The Shining”, written by Steven King, the reader is exposed to an issue that a lot of families face in the real world that of which is alcoholism. The story’s main character, Jack Torrance, struggles from this issue due to his troubled past regarding an abusive and alcoholic father as well as his struggle of becoming the very man he loved, yet hated as a child. By exposing the reader to alcoholism, they are instantly aware of the outcomes of it and how it can affect someone. King uses this method to help enhance the story, to allow the contents of the book to become real and relatable to the reader, and most importantly, to allow the reader to actually sympathize with the main characters.

Alcohol consumption was initiated on reservations when traders in the nineteenth century started to offer it to oppressed and depressed Native Americans. Natives represent, in fact, the ethnic group with the highest degree of alcohol consumption in the United States. Confinement on reservations after displacement brought for Native Americans identity conflicts and assimilation problems. This situation promoted the abuse of liquor to mitigate the psychological pain inflicted by the dispossession of the land and enclosure in a limited and controlled space. Both the stereotype of the “Noble Savage” and the “drunken Indian” are recurrent figures in mainstream literature of the US.

Alcoholism is a primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. The disease is often progressive and fatal. Alcoholism is a complex disease with physical, social and psychological consequences, but it can be treated through detoxification and anti-anxiety drugs. What will be explained in this essay is basically the history of alcohol, signs of one possibly being an alcoholic, possibilities to why one becomes an alcoholic, and treatments for it.

Alcoholism is perhaps the most common form of drug abuse in North America today. Scientists report that the reason alcohol is so popular to people is because it is pleasant, relaxing, and is considered a "social beverage." But what individuals often do not take in to consideration is the fact that alcohol dulls the brain and confuses physical reactions. This can lead to numerous injuries, accidents, and death. Alcohol affects every part of an alcoholic's life: their body, their mind and their family life. The body has a natural chemical that gives a feeling of a "natural high". It happens in the presence of a life-endangering situation. This chemical is adrenaline, which is meant to prepare the body for defense in