John Unreliable Narrator

In the non-fiction The Secret Lives of Sergeant John Wilson by Louis Simmie the main character, John Wilson, also known as Jack, was a pathological liar who used his lies to escape self embarrassment. He used these lies to be with another woman, and in the end to try to get away with the murder of his first wife, Polly. John's lies ended up changing his life, he would tell one lie then have to tell two more to cover it up. All of John's lies ended up hurting himself and the people around him; this is shown with him getting the death penealty and in him killing Polly.

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

John's life seemed to be one major drama after another; he didn't have a good male role model as a kid, and it seems he never was able to get on track. What was amazing about his life was the number of problems that he seemed to get into and how he wriggled out of them (with the help of a friendly person who just happened to meet him) only to run into more problems.

John was terrified of discovering the truth about his father. O’Brien explained that for John, “[Knowing] is to be disappointed. To understand is to be betrayed.” (242) While hiding the truth was convenient for John, the secrets piled up and ultimately proved to be too much of a burden. For as hard as John tried to cover up the truth, he always knew about his father’s drinking. “That was the worst part. The secret drinking that wasn’t secret,” O’Brien explained. (66) When Paul hanged himself, however, John was finally able to face the truth. He was still a child, and at the funeral he continually screamed in front of the entire procession, finally relieving himself of the burden of years of secrecy. While the truth of Paul’s alcoholism was not pretty, and was certainly less convenient to face than simply ignoring it, it was a significant relief for John. His mother explained: “I hate to say it, but it was a relief to have him out of the house. John and I, we both adored the man, but suddenly all the tension was gone and we could have supper without sitting there on the edge of our seats.” (97) Throughout the rest of John’s life, a similar process of hiding the truth and ultimately accepting it would repeat. As he progressed to the next stage of his life, as a young adult serving in the Vietnam War, John would bear a secret much heavier than his father’s

It is hard to have a healthy relationship with someone when they are controlled by alcohol. The relationship between John Purcell and his son had drifted apart more and more by his actions and his choice of being alcoholic. As inconsiderate as John he says to a curate "Three dollars! Why, I could have taken Johnny to a burlesque show for less than that." There is a little boy present and their parents do not want their children exposed to such inappropriate jokes like John often expressed. John is inconsiderate therefore he does things without thinking. His recklessness continued when he met another untrustworthy father at the meeting. At that point when the outsider offered him a drink, he expected it happily expressing “You’re a lifesaver,” because of his dependence on alcohol he humiliated his child much further; and had not taken his wife’s oath of being on his best conduct into thought. When he went up the stairs to receive Johnny’s reward, on the way he trips and falls making his son embarrassed and

The first similarity between these two characteristics is that they have limited views of their wives. Throughout the story John constantly thinks of the narrator as a child. First he puts her in a child’s

you, sir, I do not believe it” (Miller70). Even after John’s lechery, she believed that he

What is alcoholism and how does it severely affect people? It is a chronic condition characterized by uncontrolled drinking and preoccupation with alcohol. In The Glass Castle, Jeannette’s father Rex, is an alcoholic. We assume he enjoys drinking when on page nine, Jeannette recalls her father smelling of whiskey. “As he held me close, I breathed in his familiar smell of Vitalis, whiskey, and cigarette smoke. It reminded me of home.” While it is concerning that young Jeannette knows what whiskey smells like, it is not concerning enough until page fourteen, paragraph six. “In my mind, Dad was perfect, although he did have what Mom called a little bit of a drinking situation. There was what Mom

John’s affair created and inner struggle/conflict for him. He was always wanting to what was right but his affair with Abigail constantly held him back. How could he accuse others for doing wrong when he was holding a dirty secret himself? He wanted Abigail’s lies to stop but he couldn’t stop her unless he came out clean. Then finally, one day he couldn’t take it anymore, the guilt was eating him alive and he had to put an end to Abigail’s lies, so he admitted to the court that he had committed lechery. He worked through his fears and struggles and did what was right for a greater cause. But it ended up not doing anything.

Even though he knew it was wrong it was up to him to admit that he had done it to stay honest to himself, keep his name clean, and live free from guilt. The act of confession by John also demonstrates his act of self preservation. If John had not confessed he would not have been physically hurt, but moreover mentally impacted. His act of self preservation was through relieving himself of the guilt he would have had to endure if he had not told his wife, Elizabeth, of his actions. Elizabeth demonstrates her act of self-preservation by tiptoeing around Johns feelings. “Quietly, fearing to anger him by prodding” (51) Due to Elizabeth’s social status, she is unable to speak out and say what she may truly feel. In a ways, Elizabeth said many of the things she said in a mild tone in fear of causing John to lose his temper.

This is not the last time that John’s views will be commented upon with some distain by the narrator.

and spanned a course of some twenty years. Two decades of conflict and disharmony that seemed to connect with many of the attendees displayed by their numerous head nods and looks of shared shame. He said he never intended to become an alcoholic. He was just trying to “fit in” with friends. Another reason given for using alcohol was to squash the stress and anxieties all too familiar with the formative years of pre-adulthood. “Little did I know”, he said that he was setting the stage for how to handle all his subsequent problems later in life.

Danny had a normal childhood, however his father was known to take to the drink more than is healthy. He was an alcoholic and often became enraged when he was drunk. Most of his childhood was spent staying away from his father and dealing with his father’s substance abuse. Danny became set on not becoming like his father and did well at first, however the memories of his father’s abuse and anger, the explosion of the boiler in the hotel which killed everyone but him and his mother, and the constant night-terrors and hallucinations of his past drew him into self medicating with alcohol.

John has a very bad relationship with his parents, and it is always about “one upping,” the other. John won’t use the phone correctly so his father locks it so John can’t use the phone anymore. And, instead of behaving, John puts glue in the lock so no one will be able to use the phone. Lorraine believes the cause of the problem is how much the family lies, which she explains on page 27. “But they’re just as bad as he is when it comes to lying, and that may be the real reason they can’t help John the way they should.” Lorraine is extremely right in this case, it is like going around in a circle. The family is non-stop spinning around in lies trying to find the truth, but what they are searching for won’t be found if they keep lying.

taking orders from her parent without any opposition. John pretends to be a kind and