After the terrible incident of residential schools, the neverending history of suffering can cause a child to reciprocate their feelings by abusing substances. In Tracey Lindberg’s, Birdie, it’s stated briefly of the ways in which Bernice relies on alcohol on many lonely nights. “She knows that she shouldn’t have gone to the motel with him. There are a lot of shouldn’t haves. Drunk gin.
While it is easy to live in an era of economic stability and beat down somebody for wanting to escape the harsh reality around them, the fact remains that alcohol is the primary reason for Francis living as a bum. His problems with alcohol are first highlighted by Helen who says, “Francis wouldn’t stop drinking and then we couldn’t pay the rent” (53). This rare glimpse into a time in Francis’ life when times were prosperous for himself shows he drinks whether things are going good or bad. Nobody is a better character witness to Francis than the woman he has been friends with for nine years who has seen him at his highest and lowest points in his life, the time when the true character shines through. Or in Francis’ case, flees.
Indian Horse, a severe painful yet beautiful novel by Ojibway writer Richard Wagamese, concerns Saul Indian Horse, a former hockey star undergoing treatment for alcoholism. Saul chronicles his life story as a means of identifying the source of his addiction. His autobiography is a familiar vehicle for conveying the novel’s plot. At the same time, it demonstrates how knowing your own story can heal a broken spirit.
Whiskey is doing the impossible by helping those who are literally helpless. He also states it to be what helps make a person more than himself, to be a better person with grand thoughts and ease of communication. Whiskey is being made a “wonder drug” in its abilities based upon his positive argument. His final statement of, “This is my stand. I will not retreat from it.
After the terrible happening of Residential Schools, the neverending history of suffering can cause a child to reciprocate their feelings by abusing substances. In Tracey Lindberg’s Birdie, it’s stated briefly of the ways in which Bernice relies on alcohol on many lonely nights. “She knows that she shouldn’t have gone to the motel with him. There are a lot of shouldn’t haves. Drunk gin.
Have you ever lost someone you loved or was important in your life? Well Junior has, he has lost many people in his life. He has gone to a total of 42 funerals in his lifetime and he is only 14. You will find out more about Junior in the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Most of the people Junior has lost were due to alcohol.
Soon Louie became so traumatized by the events of War World II, he became an alcoholic. Once Louie’s friends and family realized how bad his drinking habit was they begged him to stop, but their words were not convincing enough. Then one day Louie turned to God and stopped drinking. Hillenbrand wrote “ When they entered the apartment, Louie went straight to his cache of liquor. It was the time of night when they usually took hold of him, but for the first time in years, Louie had no desire to drink”(383).
“Look at us. C'mon look at us! See? A couple of bums!” Joe exclaims to Kirstin regarding the harsh reality they are in.
That moment, of engaging directly with the family’s figure of authority – his breath redolent of whisky, can be both frightening and exciting for a
Paul’s gambling addiction and schizophrenia are the result of brain deformities caused by fetal alcohol syndrome. On top of that, Paul’s mother not being able to feel love for her children provides evidence that she drank during the
Throughout my whole life, my father has been an alcoholic. There have been times when he has tried to quit, but it never lasted for more than a few months. His addiction has brought on stressful times for my family. Some days we did not know where he was or if he was coming home. Although my father’s addiction might not have made the best childhood, he did show me the kind of person I did not want to be.
At that moment, he heard the door. Not the doorbell but a series of soft, polite raps, almost apologetic about the late hour. Every house has a logic, and its laws are more eloquent at night, when things occur without palliative noises. He didn’t look at his watch or jump, or suspect that he was hearing things. He simply got up from his chair and walked toward the door without turning on any lights; when he found himself standing face-to-face with his father.
In the poem, “My Papa’s Waltz”, Theodore Roethke illustrates the complex relationship between a little boy and his father by juxtaposing images of love and violence through word choices that portray feelings of fear yet affection for his father. Roethke’s shifting tone encompasses distress and a sense admiration that suggests the complexities of violence both physically and emotionally for the undercurrents of his father and son relationship. The poem begins with a series of negative images, each of which are considered violent and undesirable in a family. For example, “The whiskey on your breath” suggests alcoholism, and “Could make a small boy dizzy” emphasizes that a boy is suffering from the effects of the alcoholic parent.
Alcoholics are often used in stories as comic relief, which to a person who grew up under the shadow of alcoholism, isn’t very funny at all. This point was to illustrate that people really don’t understand alcoholism for what it really is: a disease that has devastating effects on families for generations. Instead of directly countering those misconceptions, Sanders describes his upbringing in vivid detail. He describes his father’s behavior in a way that makes the reader appreciate that there comes a point where alcoholism is not really a matter of a person having a moral weakness, a lack of self-control, or is weak-willed. It’s a disease that robs people of their lives and of themselves.
In this essay, “Let in Snow”, Sedaris proves that alcohol abuse can have a lasting effect on an entire family. He provided several examples from his own childhood experiences that described the effects alcoholism has on the family. He gained the audience’s trust by sharing his own experiences to prove and argue his point of view. Therefore, Sedaris made an extremely strong case against
