Analysis Of Under The Influence By Scott Sanders

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.

During 1945, the final year of World War II, the domestic economy of the United States experienced a series of recessions. As of consequence, many Americans were unemployed and impoverished. In order to escape the challenges of society, many turned to alcohol. Therefore, due to the prevalence of alcohol consumption, alcoholism infected the lives of many people. Scott Russell Sanders describes his ability to overcome adversity as a result of having an alcoholic father by the use of ethos, pathos, and logos in his essay “Under the Influence”.

and presents a paradox with which the native writers must grapple. The pathetic city drunks and

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.

He was far away, or sleeping” (pg. 192). As her daughters watch their mother grow stronger,

The story begins with the description of a deep night and two men bent by their lonely fire. These men are speaking about a strange, mysterious creature, which seems to ruin everything on its way. They are talking about a dreadful dragon, which is described with much detail: “This dragon, they say his eyes are fire. His breath a white gas; you can see him bum across the dark lands”, “Passing, the black brunt of its shoulder smashed the remaining horse and rider a hundred feet against the side of a boulder, wailing, wailing, the dragon shrieking, the fire all about, around, under it, a pink, yellow, orange sun-fire with

After eating some food and resting, he headed to the village nearby. At his arrival, “the whole village was roused”. “Children shrieked” and “women fainted”. “Some fled, some attacked” the creature. The creature was “grievously bruised by stones and many other kinds of missile weapons”. He ran away and “fearfully took refuge in a low hovel”. (p. 83)

Mr. Sanders starts out the narrative telling a story of him seeing his father outside in the barn. As he approached his father he’d see green bottles of wine, beer cans wrapped in brown paper bags, and brown whiskey bottles thrown all over the barn. He’d witness his father drink heavily and as he finished both Mr. Sanders and his father acted as if nothing had just happened. As if it was normal for his father to drown himself in booze. They then carried on with conversation.

In today’s society, alcohol has become one of the main necessities for people to create relaxation, confidence, and the ability to be social. In the short story “A Bartender Tells What Man Did to Booze, and Booze to Man”, an anonymous bartender gives an up close and personal account of his observations about the effects alcohol has on men. He emphasizes the change in their character after a few drinks. Koren Zailckas from Smashed shares a memoir of her life describing her relationship with alcohol abuse and the problems that it caused for her. Although certain types of alcohol are used to support good health, it is the excessive consumption and misuse that leaves people dependent resulting in significant social, physical, and mental

In the article "Drinking to Get Drunk", which appeared in U.S. News and the World Report in 2000 by David Marcus, talks about the rise in college drinking in todays society. Marcus enlightens the readers about recent studies of drinking habits in numerous college students. He uses several examples and well known groups to support his beliefs that college students are just drinking to get drunk. From reading this article I believe Marcus does a spectacular job at finding sources, but lacks substance to his main purpose of the article which weakens the article as a whole.

Alcoholism is defined as an addiction to the indulgence of alcoholic liquor and the compelling behaviour which results from alcohol dependency. In the novel “Medicine Walk” by Richard Wagamese and the essay “Mother’s Milk” by Christie Blatchford, the reasoning behind and dire repercussions of alcohol abuse are evident through the characters Eldon Starlight and Christie’s mother. However, Eldon’s reason for alcoholism is much more traumatic and its effect on both himself and those around him is of greater severity as opposed to Christie’s mother. As a teenager Christie’s mother suffers from social nervousness and uses alcohol as a means of reducing her anxiety, whereas Eldon begins drinking after he was forced to leave his home as his mother chose her abusive husband over him. After Christie was born her mother began drinking at a higher degree while Eldon’s alcoholism heightens after he must kill his only friend to ensure his own survival. Occasionally Christie’s mother would quit alcohol for around a month’s time and her health would improve, contrastingly Eldon’s attempt to abstain from alcohol lasts only a couple of days and results in the deterioration of his health. Despite her alcoholism Christie’s mother lives past the age of 80 and even outlives her husband by 15 years, on the other hand due to his alcohol abuse Eldon suffers from liver failure which results in his early death. Her mother’s

To start off, the main driven idea of this book is the black market, or what they refer to as the underground and “shadow economy”. The underground has its choices and consequences as well as any other type of economic system do. But, in this case the underground can be a country’s main economy for survival such as, “In Bolivia the underground economy is responsible for an estimated 65 percent of GDP. In Nigeria it accounts for perhaps 76 percent.” (7) This type of GDP from the underground is usually found in the developing worlds. That’s not to say that we don’t have a dark side of our own in the mix. The US has been the largest competitor in the Black Market in many fields for example: Marijuana,

"I know everything, you see," the old voice wheedled. "The beginning, the present, the end. Everything. You now, you see the past and the present, like other low creatures: no higher faculties than memory and perception. But dragons, my boy, have a whole different kind of mind." He stretched his mouth in a kind of smile, no trace of pleasure in it. "We see from the mountaintop: all time, all space. We see in one instant the passionate vision and the blowout. Not that we cause things to fail, you understand." He was testy all at once, as if

Achieving sobriety is the ultimate goal for all patients recovering from an addiction to drugs or alcohol. However, the road to long-term sobriety can be long and challenging. That’s why it’s important to understand the benefits of getting sober. When roadblocks appear on the road to recovery, it can be helpful to remember what you’re gaining by giving up alcohol and/or drugs.

Tossing and turning he didn’t know what to do so he woke her up. She looked up in fright. She was relieved it was only her son. They gave each other a huge hug. Both in tears they were relieved. Their hug was soon interrupted by a scream, one that could break glass. Zachariah Turned around quickly and was met by none other than the most feared creature ever, a dragon. Not just a dragon, a huge, thunderous, angry dragon. Zechariah knew who this was,Thou Shout, the king of all the dragons. It was said that each one of his scales were fears, phobias, and peoples souls. Their he was, on the plateau that overlooked his tribe blasting fire at everything he could lay his blood red eyes at.