She Had Some Horses Analysis

Scott Russell Sanders’ “Under the Influence” is about a family growing up with alcoholism, mental and physical abuse. When Sanders was very young, he didn’t recognize that his father was an alcoholic, but as he grew older, he saw the bloodshot eyes, hiding alcohol, the deceptions, and the dual personalities of an alcoholic. “My father drank. He drank as a gut-punched boxer gasps for breath, as a starving dog gobbles food—compulsively, secretly, in pain and trembling.” (215). Sanders story starts at the end, where his father dies from alcoholism. The turmoil and fear this family suffered because of their father’s alcoholism, is a story a lot of families are familiar with.

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.

“Alcohol addiction stunts the spiritual, emotional and mental growth of a person”~Anonymous. Sherman Alexie’s novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, is a book based off the author’s teenage life. The novel is about a poor 14 year old named Junior who faced numerous challenges in his life. Junior has experienced bullying, he was called a traitor for following his dreams, got in a huge fight with his best friend and lost three very important people in his life because of alcohol. Fortunately in the end, Junior got through the pain and lived on but he learned many lessons. One of the lessons Junior learned was that the fall into addiction, in this situation alcohol, leads to a great deal of misery for the individual and those

According to a 2017 study done by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, “More than 10 percent of U.S. children live with a parent with alcohol problems.” The author Jeannette Walls uses the book, The Glass Castle, to talk about her childhood struggles of growing up with an alcoholic father. The reason this book was appealing was because I grew up with an alcoholic father as well and I found it interesting to read about someone who had gone through similar situations. In the first 90 pages the author tells us about her chaotic family life. Her father, who is weary of civilization and authority, packs up the family camp often to roam around the desert. Due to their frequent moving her father is not able to keep a stable job,

In Cormac McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses, the concept of understanding sacrifice to establish a greater moral good is central to the main characters and their developed values. Specifically, McCarthy incorporates a great sacrifice of young love made by John Crady Cole’s love interest, Alejandra. Alejandra strategically surrenders her promising relationship with John Grady in order to accomplish a greater agenda: bailing him out of jail therefore, assuring the forbiddance of their of their future union. In this instance, the sacrifice of love and union reveals the character’s deeper values rooted in moral obligation. This passionate act of love exemplifies Alejandra’s strength and selflessness, while also displaying a deeper understanding to the overall meaning of the book by highlighting how valuable friendships and relationships come at a great cost.

The essay Under the Influence by Scott Russell Sanders, the author is sketching how growing up in a family with an alcoholic father affected his upbringing to adulthood as a husband and father. He remembers his father behavior, how he gradually transformed from a good competent man to a shameful, bungling drunk. The essay can be outlined in eight separate scenarios, which they will explain the message the author is given the reader. We begin with mother, she tolerated husband behavior and never talked about his problem to anyone. Instead of seeking for help or advice, she kept her husband’s shameful problem a secret, at least in appearances.

Inside my family structure, my mother’s parents struggled with addiction. My grandmother, Ellen Sweeney, who has since deceased, was addicted to opiates, and my grandfather, Wayne Smith, who has also passed away, was an alcoholic. My mom was one of five children, her siblings included, Margaret “Markie”, the eldest, , Catherine “Kerrie”, the second eldest, my mother, Marian, the middle child, Amy, the second youngest, and lastly, Matt, the youngest. Moreover, my mother and my aunt Margaret “Markie” Smith have also battled alcoholism and my aunt Amy has since been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. Due to my mother’s family struggle with alcoholism, addiction, and mental disorder, my mother’s childhood was particularly difficult. Not only was she undoubtedly influenced by her parent’s substance abuse when she was a child, but it has continues to affect her as an adult raising her own children.

He brings first hand experience into what it’s like growing up in an alcoholic family. Alexie is not afraid to write about this issue

Psychologist and best-selling author Clarissa Pinkola Estes, who using stories in therapy says, “Stories act like an antibiotic that finds the source of the infection and concentrates there. The story help makes that part of the psyche clear and strong again.”4 In her book Remember the Time, Eileen Silva Kindig recalls a woman who is very depressed after the death of her husband until a young couple moved in next door whom the woman conversed with and shared stories. The woman’s daughter told Kindig the more she shared her stories and knowledge, the more vital she even

In this specific moment with my mom, it was important that I was so close with my mom to know she would only be this distraught over a small number of things. I knew what she was trying to communicate very easily because I had learned how to read facial expressions and tones of voices. It is more important to learn how to read people more than any kind of literature because in moments like this, nothing is more important than being there for family by not having them to say a single word to get a point across. If I was not with my mom and had not been taught the importance of reading others, I would not have been able to read my mom’s facial expression and tone of her voice when I walked into my house that day. In that exact moment, I was reading something very important, more so than any poem or novel in the world could be. I argue that that ability is one of the best traits a family member can possess because without it, people would be forced to utter things they would prefer not to. Without the ability to read close family and friends, it would be nearly impossible to feel as close to others and care as much for people. People can read poems, essays, and novels, but none of those come close to how important it is to read family members because in the end, family is the most important things in

Within the hour the phone rings and I hear Grandmother softly crying. As she calls other family, I slowly piece together an account of the day from her side of the conversation. Mom’s being transported by ambulance to a nearby emergency room for attempted suicide. Sadness grips my chest sucking air from my lungs. Somewhere within my trusting innocence, I expect Dad or Mom to walk through the door; I yearn for reassurance.

Three experiences which have shaped me throughout my life include my parent’s divorce, my grandfather’s heart attack, and my meditation at a Buddhist monastery, which have made me a more confident, more appreciative, and more mindful person.

I was twelve years old when I found my mother unconscious in a pool of blood with a vodka bottle nearby. To everyone, we were the “flawless” Mercuro family, but on the inside we were plagued by the repercussions of alcoholic mother. It was through the three years of living in constant anxiety which helped me find my strongest quality – my ability to overcome disaster by remaining calm and taking action.

It was a cold December night and Alex was walking around the streets of Boston, aimlessly searching for a place to lay down. Seaport Boulevard. Atlantic Avenue. Finally arriving on Congress Street. That night marked the one-month anniversary since Alex lost his job at one of the largest financial institutions in the world, due to a dispute between him and his boss. In retrospect, that well-paying job, with the spacious corner office and the unparalleled view of the Boston Harbor were the least of his concerns. Before that very dispute, Alex’s grandmother, Isabel, whom he loved very much, died after a long hard fight against cancer. At the time of her death, Alex was living in her apartment, which made coping with such circumstances all the more difficult. Drowning in student loans, and unable to foot the bills, Alex was forced to find other living arrangements. His grandmother’s highly coveted apartment in the heart of the city was foreclosed upon and sold to a young family from India who had just recently moved to the States. No job. No money. No family. Three things that plagued Alex and his experience so far as a young adult trying to find success in Boston. Many of Alex’s classmates at this point were starting families and had stable occupations all over Boston and the globe. It was nights like these, that Alex felt ashamed. Wandering alone in the brisk winter night, searching simply for a bench to sleep on, he would try to forget about the friends he

Last Thursday, as we were out at a restaurant eating dinner we discussed D.H. Lawrence’s short story “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter.” We talked about Mabel and her family’s past and their present situations. Surprisingly, you mention to me that you did not understand why Mabel attempts suicide. This statement shocked me since I could think of multiple reasons that led Mabel to attempt suicide. Throughout the short story Lawrence gave clues and reasons to why she attempts suicide. Mabel attempts suicide for the following reasons: To feel closer to her mother, bankruptcy after her father’s death, and because she feels unloved.