Thesis For The Great Alone

In the 1970's, the Vietnam War was coming to an end. Kristin Hannah, a knowledgeable author, wrote the authentic novel, The Great Alone to teach adventurous readers about the dangers which come with living in Alaska and what it takes to survive. The Great Alone is about a lost family who can't find themselves in the states. A Prisoner of War father inherits a cabin in Alaska and without a second thought takes the family on the adventure of a lifetime. They soon realize the difficulties Alaska brings and quickly understand they must learn how to survive on their own. Ernt is a POW who battles multiple mental disorders and often relies on substances to get away from his problems. He has a loving family; however, they cannot help but be scared of him because Ernt struggles to control his emotions and sometimes takes it out on his wife and

The main character, Leni is constantly surrounded by it, being both her mother and father often rely on drinking and smoking to get away from their problems, ultimately causing Leni to feel both alone and depressed. Substance abuse is the act of relying on a substances to deal with ones problems. When Ernt was stressed out he would drink to escape but drinking would only bring out the worst in him. “Dad stood there, his eyes bright with alcohol and rage” (Hannah 182). Ernt is relying on alcohol to get away from the scarring memories of the vietnam war. Ernt struggles with PTSD and found that he could drink away his problems; however, this puts his daughter and wife in danger. It has been shown many times that Ernt can become irritated and uncontrollable when he drinks. This resulted in him taking his anger out on the rest of his family almost beating them to death multiple times. Agents' actions would slowly tear his family apart which only made him feel worse and act up more often. This constant need for relief would only lead to his