Drunk Driving Themes

On Jeannette’s 10th birthday, her alcoholic dad gave her an opportunity to ask whatever she wants as long as it’s physically possible. Jeannette asked, “Do you think you could maybe stop drinking?” (Walls 116). Her wish was granted and her dad stopped drinking -- in just one chapter. After a few days, he came home drunk again; “he cursed and lurched at [his kids], swinging his fist” (Walls 122). This illustrates that not only he lacks responsibility, but he also lacks the resolve to do what her daughter asked for her 10th birthday. Furthermore, when they were on a trip to the Grand Canyon, “the speedometer needle crept past one hundred, the last number number on the dial, and pushed into the empty space beyond” (Walls 119). He knows the consequences but he did it anyway. The car broke down, and they were stuck in the middle of the desert. This further emphasizes his lack of responsibility and resistance to

Over the course of the story, Junior faced many challenging obstacles, but the ones that really hurt and affected him were those related to alcohol. In the novel, we learned many things about Junior’s best friend Rowdy such as he had an aggressive and mean personality and that he was being beat by his father. His father not only beat Rowdy, but he also beat Rowdy’s mom when he drank alcohol. His heavy drinking changed his mood which resulted in rage. Introducing the readers to Rowdy’s father is important because it teaches them one of the effects that alcohol can have on people. In the story Junior recalls, “I have to, I guess, especially since Rowdy is having one of the worst summers of his life. His father is drinking hard and throwing hard punches, so Rowdy and his mother are always walking around with bruised and bloody faces.” (Alexie 16). This is an important quote because it teaches the reader the effect alcohol can have on a person's mood. Under the influence, Rowdy’s father became a different person and his actions became more aggressive. While an alcoholic's actions under the influence should not be excused

Many individuals in today’s society wonder what pushes people past a breaking point in which they become involved in actions not accepted by society, such as stripping, prostitution, drug use, alcoholism and more. The reasoning behind this is deviance. Deviance can be either positive (over conforming) or negative (under conforming). When applying the subject of crime to a type of deviance, it falls under the negative category because those who under conform in society have a tendency to reach their goals with non-accepted means. Considering the crime of drunk driving, many factors add up to develop a reason why so many people do it. Merton’s strain theory perspective explains the deviance behind drunk driving very well, using its’ assumptions, key focuses, and root of deviant acts to support it. Before focusing on Merton’s theory relating to the crime of drunk driving, we first have to recognize how sociologists understand the concept of deviance.

One theme from Sherman Alexie’s book “The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part Time Indian” is alcoholism. One way the book shows this theme is when Junior’s grandmother passed away in a car crash. His grandmother got killed and run over by a drunk driver. According to the book, Junior says “In fact, last week, she was walking home from a mini powwow at the Spokane Tribal Community Center, when she was struck and killed by a drunk driver.” (Alexie 157). One major thing that is ironic is that Junior’s grandmother never had a sip of alcohol in her life. In the book, it states “But my grandmother had never drunk alcohol in her life. Not one drop. That’s the rarest kind of Indian in the world.” (Alexie 158). Another way the book shows the theme of alcoholism is how Rowdy’s father gets drunk all the time. Rowdy’s father sometimes drinks way too much alcohol and sometimes gets abusive to Rowdy and Rowdy’s mother. According to the book, Junior states “His father is drinking hard and throwing hard punches, so Rowdy and his mother are always walking around with bruised and bloody faces.” (Alexie 16). One last way the book shows the theme of alcoholism is how Junior’s father is also an alcoholic. Junior’s father gets drunk usually when he is stressed or when him and his family don’t have enough money. According to the book, it states “ He took what little money we did have and ran away to get drunk.” (Alexie 150). Those are the ways that Sherman Alexie’s book shows the theme of alcoholism.

Drunk driving is considered a serious crime in every state. It is wrong, irresponsible and wastes many lives. People who abuse alcohol hurt everyone around them, endanger public safety, and create carnage on the nation's highways. There is nothing positive that can come out of drunk driving, so why do people do it? It is society's job to punish these menaces and try to take control of this out of control issue. America doesn't want to watch idly as hundreds of people are killed each day. We want to take a stand and let the world know that we may be the 'land of the free and the brave' but there is nothing brave or free about driving drunk. What should be done about this problem is debatable and certainly open to discussion, but the first

The theme of alcohol caused deaths on the Reservation affected Junior in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by making him go to a different school and creating friends in the process. A couple of deaths in the book included Eugene dying in a motorcycle crash caused by alcohol, Junior’s grandma dying in a car crash caused by a drunk driver, and Mary dying by becoming drunk and burning to death in a trailer.

In the instance of drunk driving, the actions of the drunk driver are related to the safety of the drivers within their proximity and therefore affects not only the driver but others as well. Our previous moral experiences allow us to determine what the intentions of the drunk driver might be. Some drivers may choose to drive under the influence of alcohol because they have had an emergency that requires them to be at a certain place and they do not have the means to reach to their destination except for driving themselves. In this case, the context becomes complicated and intricate. However, if the driver is risking his own and other drivers’ safety, it becomes clear that their intentions are based on nonchalance and disregard for others.

The Saturday night party was the place to be. Anyone who is anyone was there. John’s curfew is midnight and its 12:05. Mark had been doing quite a lot of drinking and he was John’s ride home. John questioned whether or not he wanted to get in the car with Mark, but thought about how mad his parents were going to be. He was already five minutes late. Saying to himself “Just this one time,” he decided to get in the car. John never made it home that night. Mark had rolled the car off the bridge one mile away from his house. John lost his life all because he was afraid of getting grounded. There are many situations similar to John’s, and in a lot of them, no one survives. Because of all the death and tragedy as a result of driving under the

Burke, Sheila. "TN Supreme Court to Hear Field Sobriety Case." The Tennessean. N.p., 23 Mar. 2013. Web. 28 Mar. 2013.

Grabar, H. (2012, December 31). The Geography of Drunk Driving. Retrieved July 6, 2015, from http://www.citylab.com/commute/2012/12/geography-drunk-driving/4278/

Most people remember the first time they got to sit behind the wheel of a car and the exhilarating feeling of control. The first time I drove came about in the final lap of the derby I raced in the summer before my freshman year of high school. The race took place in Daley Plaza in Chicago on a sunny Saturday afternoon. My team and I were filled with excitement and nerves as we prepared to begin the race. Everyone chose me to drive as our final driver, and the thought of potentially driving to secure our victory terrified me. Soon the race started and we were swept away in the first three crazy laps and the intense challenges. Finally, Aastha pulled up to our pit and scrambled out of the car to complete the challenge. I quickly threw on the

"Every day, 28 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. This amounts to one death every 53 minutes (Impaired Driving)." These intoxicated drivers are not only risking their own lives while unconsciously driving, but they are jeopardizing the lives of several other innocent people. As the number of deaths and injuries due to DUI-related accidents is increasing in America, more organizations are forming awareness programs, protests, and public conventions to decrease this rate and demonstrate how much of a negative impact drunk drivers have on themselves and others. Ecovia, a company in Brazil, supports this movement by creating ads that utilize visual illustrations to show that multitasking

Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is a step of the quantity of alcohol in the blood, revealed as a portion by volume. Connections in between the quantity of alcohol in the blood and the resulting quantity of alcohol in the breath have actually been made. Based on elements noted above, an individual's blood: breath alcohol ratio can differ from 1700:1 to

Driving under the influence has affected many people's lives and families. Today I would like to talk to you about the problems of drinking and driving, and why it is a concern for all of us. Driving under the influence is one of the most common and dangerous situations you can put yourself or someone else in. The fact is that drinking and driving is a huge deal and can leave a long trail of broken dreams and hearts. If you drink and drive, not only are you putting yourself at risk, but your passengers and the pedestrians outside of your vehicle. According to the most recent statistics by the National Commission Against Drunk Driving states that 17,000 Americans die each year in alcohol- related traffic crashes and 600,000 Americans

The character’s in the stories use alcohol to dampen their fear of death. But all of their use of alcohol in the stories, in some certain cases brings them closer to death. People in our society deal with this same issue. Connecting our society’s identity to the ones Carver depicts in the stories. Alcohol allows the Characters in the stories and, people in our society to loosen up. Getting drunk to tell their stories, but the inebriation robs them of their reason to comprehend how to tell it. If they are able to finish their stories, it is possible that they won’t remember what happened in their drunken experiences in a few short hours. This happens all the time in our modern-day culture, getting wasted to forget what’s really important for those few short hours. Its this connection out of others, that connects our societies identity to the Carvers