The Themes Of Alcoholism By Benjamin ONeill

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.

In the first chapter, we read about Bill’s story. Bill’s story describes his journey as an alcoholic and the struggles he faced in both his personal and professional life. Bill’s story genuinely gives a true insight into the struggles and challenges of addiction. His story is written in a way in which you are able to feel his isolation, loneliness, hopelessness, and loss. I personally found Bill’s story impactful and insightful. Through Bill’s words, I was able to gain an inside perspective into his thoughts and feelings about his ordeal and how he shifted from having no hope to having an entirely new world of hope revealed to him through what was essentially the start of Alcoholics Anonymous. The second chapter of our text seemed to me to be a call to anyone who was experiencing a

Carver’s “A Serious Talk” is another short story that perfectly demonstrates the damaging affects of alcohol addiction on both the addict and those who surround them. In the story, a woman named Vera is visited by her ex-husband Burt, who arrives to give

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

The book, Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp, depicts a hardworking, strong, but interestingly weak Caroline. Caroline through her memoir shares her life story and her life relevance with alcohol. She writes her life as a functional alcoholic. She compares her addiction to alcohol to love. Throughout her memoir Caroline also described her journey through her excessive and misuse of alcohol. She describes the hardships that this has caused and how it has affected her, and her relationships. Her life revolved around it, and she was consumed by it. Alcohol ruled her life in many aspects for many years.

How does alcoholism affect families living in poverty? In A Tree Grows in Brooklyn the writer, Betty Smith, portrays the devastation drinking causes in the life of the main character Francie and her family as her father drinks himself to death. "But this acute alcoholism was a definite contributing factor; probably the main cause of death" (Smith 182). Johnny, Francie's father, was an alcoholic and was the reason for many hardships in the Nolan family lives. Johnny thought of drinking boozes as an escape from his reality. In fact, the drinking and Johnny's alcoholism was a prison to the Nolan family, caging them in poverty. In this paper I will be showing how alcoholism connects to the novel and how it affected the Nolan family. I found three major conflicts that

A trigger can send a person into a downward spiral and anything can act as a trigger. For many, alcoholism can be likened to a gun’s trigger, ready to break from its containment and shatter a once strong bond. Many authors use problems like alcoholism and mental problems to create barriers in bonds of an individual forming an identity. Hugh Garner’s short story, “The Father”, demonstrates the chain reaction of alcoholism's effects on a family's relationship in a time of conflict. The story proves that alcoholism makes keeping a close family identity a near-impossible feat. John Purcell drinks until his family relationships are as broken and distorted as the lines he walks when pulled over. John’s drinking gives him

Alcohol has a colorful history in the United States, in the 1920s and early 30s, the sale, manufacture and distribution of alcohol was illegal. The result of a widespread temperance movement during the first decade of the 20th century, Prohibition was difficult to enforce, despite the passage of companion legislation known as the Volstead Act. The increase of the illegal production and sale of liquor (known as “bootlegging”), the proliferation of speakeasies (illegal drinking spots) and the accompanying rise in gang violence and other crimes led to waning support for Prohibition by the end of the 1920s. In early 1933, Congress adopted a resolution proposing a 21st Amendment to the Constitution that would repeal the 18th. Home-made or bootleg liquor was of an inferior quality and sometimes dangerous. Crime rates soared rather than fell. Prohibition turned out to be bad for the economy. Restaurants couldn’t make enough money without liquor sales. Taverns and brewpubs and bottling plants went out of business costing the government an estimated $ billion in excise tax.

Kelsey Bird Intro to Theatre Professor Jennings 5/2/15 Gender roles in Cloud Nine Cloud Nine, written by Churchill, examines the effects of strict, learned gender roles in both men and woman in Western society. Churchill uses the three children, and other characters, and their experiences in the play to show how difficult it can be to learn these roles. To take it a step further, she proves her point by having young Edward be played by a woman, the child Victoria represented in the first act by a doll, and Cathy played by a man.

The subject that we will be fixing in this essay is ‘Doug’. Doug has a problem with drinking. He had an easy upbringing, but lived with a military father. Doug has been drinking since he was a teenager. Doug realizes that if he continues to drink that it will continue to damage his life. His drinking has caused major problems in his life already, he has gone through two divorces because he cannot stop drinking, he has lost two children, and broken his family. Doug uses drinking as a crutch. By helping Doug end his drinking habits, he could turn his life around for the better.

In the article “We Should Retain the Disease Concept of Alcoholism” the eminent psychiatrist George E. Vaillant, who received the Jellinek Prize for research on alcoholism, refutes the inconsistent concepts of the medical model of alcoholism. Although alcoholism is not a disease for itself, the uncontrolled consumption of alcohol causes a state of vicious dependency that should be treated as a disease. Valliant argues the significance to define alcoholism as a disease by highlighting the crucial role of an accurate diagnosis in the rehabilitation process. Also, requiring a medical intervention in the withdraw stage, alcoholism cannot be considered on a par with vices such as gambling and fingernail

Alcohol is often the destructive force behind many dead men who take one sip too many and fall into its control. In the life of Scott Russell Sanders that is exactly what happens. His father falls weak to the evil of alcohol and becomes possessed by it. This ultimately leads to the father’s own demise, and the birth of his son’s own demon that would bring torment upon him and his own family one day. Knowing full well the power of this demon Scott Russell Sanders writes” Under The Influence” in hope that his son may not be afflicted by the disease. Also, he targets the audience for those who have ever been afflicted by the disease known as alcoholism in hopes that they too can break free from the demons. Although the awareness of alcoholism as grown greatly over the last fifty years, it is still a grave issue none the less as it was when Sanders wrote this. The text as a whole convinces the audience that alcoholism does not only affect the alcoholic, but also affects future generations to come and because of this action must be made if it is to ever be stopped.

Alcohol and Alcoholism Alcohol is a drug, but unlike the other drugs, marijuana, cocaine, heroine, and probably all the others for some reason this is socially accepted and is legal. Alcohol is bad for you and does have long term affects associated with it. Such as the long addiction to it, effects on the body, and the social interaction effects. Alcohol, and alcoholism is common in America, but drinking is more common around kids. Social drinking a term kids and drinkers have come accustom to, social drinking is defined by one standard drink per hour, and no more than 3 per day, but some people just socialize around people that drink as heavily as they do and confuse that for social drinking.

Problems with his parents, he would drink. Disagreement with his girlfriend, he would drink. Bad day at work, he would drink. No matter what difficulty he encountered or strain life would throw at him alcohol was always the answer. This, on top of the good times. Favorite sports team won, he would drink. Concert at the coliseum, he would drink. Fishing with friends, he would drink. The problem, he stated, was that his problems only got worse when he drank. So, he figured the answer was to drink more.

Over 3.2 billion people experience the affects of alcohol and the negative results it has on their life. This is the case in Edgar Allen Poe story, “The Black Cat”. The Narrator in the story becomes mentally insane because of an alcohol addiction. The Narrator demonstrates how alcohol can destroy relationships with, animals, people and how he truly is mentally insane because of this.