Individuals that grow up with poverty in their lives end up committing actions that are out of desperation, enlarging their problems in the end. Alcohol quickly gets dragged into the picture when poverty comes up. In Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian poverty has its grasp on most members of the reservation, and many of them have drinking problems in order to deal with their fiscal troubles.…
Philomena Flynn was Angela’s cousin. Philomena was one of the people who pressured Malachy McCourt Sr. to marry Angela Sheehan after their mishap when Angela first came to the United States resulting in a pregnancy out of wedlock. Instead of Philomena helping her cousin she tracked down Malachy to make the pregnancy Malachy’s problem. Philomena tracked down Malachy McCourt at a bar. Philomena stated to Frank McCourt,” Our cousin no sooner gets off the boat than you are at her. We have morals in Limerick, you know, morals. We’re not like jackrabbits from Antrim, a place crawling with Presbyterians,” (McCourt 16). Philomena also commented on how Malachy had an odd manner (McCourt 16). After the birth of Angela and Malachy’s first son, a party was given at Philomena’s house. Philomena made a statement to Angela, “I’d make sure there’s no more children. He don’t have a job, so he don’t, an’ never will the way he drinks. So… no more children,” (McCourt 19). Philomena had her fill with her cousin after Angela gave birth to another child. Philomena and her family made it clear, “they wanted nothing to do with Angela until she came to her senses,” (McCourt 19). Years later Philomena intervenes in Angela’s life again. Philomena gets in contact with Angela’s mother, Margaret Sheehan, asking for money to send Angela and her family back to Ireland (McCourt 45). Philomena even goes as far as buying a steamer trunk and hiring a van to take the family to…
Frank McCourt’s memoir Angela’s Ashes follows McCourt through his life from youthfulness to maturity, from misfortune to comfort, and from family to independence. Throughout his memoir, McCourt’s experiences provide for a strong central message for his readers: although at times it may seem impossible for an individual to reach success, overcoming the obstacles and limitations imposed by society makes becoming successful an even greater accomplishment. During the course of his novel, McCourt shows how he found himself throughout his life. Even though it took a long time for Frank to come of age, this process is shown in three stages: regret, realization, and reassurance.…
In “Under the Influence”, Scott Russell Sanders recreates his memories and feelings of loss, anger, and fear from his childhood inflicted by his alcoholic father. Sanders shares that growing up with a drunken parent can have a serious long-term effect on a child. He educes awareness and empathy for others by using similes, imaginary, and allusions to recreate battles against his father. Sanders writes to support other victims and to let them know they are not alone.…
Charles Bukowski, an American poet, novelist, and short story writer, once said “If something bad happens you drink in an attempt to forget; if something good happens you drink in order to celebrate; and if nothing happens you drink to make something happen.” Many people around the world struggle with alcoholism. They will find any reason just to slip a drink into their daily routines. Some people drink to forget the guilt and shame, some drink as a way of celebration, and others drink because of they are physically dependent on it. The addiction to alcohol is an illness and the people surrounding an alcoholic can be negatively impacted by their ways. The many consequences that come with the addiction can often lead negative outcomes such as death and crumbling relationships.…
Dear Dad, ..." Sunday Life [Belfast, Northern Ireland] 12 June 2011. Gale World History In…
In the autobiography "Under the Influence" in an Anthology of Norton Reader by Melissa A. Goldthwaite, the author Scott Russell Sanders tells his story about growing up with an alcoholic father. Sanders family go through many obstacles because of their father. His fathers drinking problems made Sanders shame and guilt because the main character felt like it was his fault that his father was drinking and wanted to save his father from his drinking habits. Sanders uses imagery and diction to tell the reader about growing up with an alcoholic father and what consequences it had in his life.…
Angela’s Ashes portrays a kid (the author Frank McCourt) who grows up raising his own family because of the cruelty of a father. In the book, Frank McCourt writes about the way he grows up in Ireland because their family couldn’t handle America. Throughout the story Frank McCourt faces many problems that he has to overcome to get to his final destination, America. America opens people’s hearts to hope and their futures turn brighter. Frank McCourt writes this story not to receive sympathy from others because of the way he had to live, but rather to give insight to what life was like in Ireland in the 1900s. People suffered, but the ones who stuck out were the ones who continued to work hard for them and for their family to get to America, where…
Growing up with an alcoholic can drastically affect a child’s life. One in five Americans has lived with an alcoholic relative while growing up (“Children of Alcoholics”). I am one of those five. Yes, my father was an alcoholic while I was growing up. It is a touchy subject for me, but it is safe to say growing up with an alcoholic dad was very difficult for my family. After an emotional separation, my father realized what his life had become, and he worked to overcome his alcoholism. Many of these efforts to recover died out quickly, and my dad had to jump from organization to organization until he finally recovered through Help Incorporation. Whenever I ask my dad about why it was so…
At a young age, April becomes aware that her parents have involved themselves with alcohol, forcing April and her sister into adoption. April accepts her parents’ alcoholism at the young age of eight, which demonstrates her accelerated (Mosionier 46). April is quoted as saying, “all those promises of getting well. All those lies about taking medicine. Liars!” (46). In this quotation, April shows insight into emotions related to the complex topic of alcohol abuse. Not only does she piece together the occurrences of her past, she is mature enough to understand the negative implications associated with her parent’s choices. This is a clear example of this young girl’s maturity being enhanced from learning to cope with alcohol abuse.…
Alcoholism: “No one tried to wring dad’s neck or yell at him or even point out that he’d ruined the Christmas his family had spent weeks planning.”…
When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I survived at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood.…
Among some tribes, the rates are as high as 1.5 to 2.5 per 1,000 live births” (FASDCE 2007). Aside from the health issues associated with heavy drinking, alcoholics also affects their surrounding families. Many family members feel ashamed, guilty, resentful and even hatred towards the alcoholic, such feels puts stress on the family. Family members may even resort to changing their own behavior to behave more like the alcoholic, which may turn them into an alcoholic as…
5 percent of global income is made up of 40% of the world's population.. In the memoir, The Glass Castle, one of the Walls family main problem is the father of the family. In the book the main character, Jeannette Walls always explains her dad's alcohol problem. It gets so bad that for her birthday gift she asked him to get sober. He also gets very angry, violent, and isolated. Fiction needs to be included in the curriculum because fiction brings people in a different world, a better world, and being taken from reality is good for people. Life can be hard. People can do bad things. Sometimes people just want to escape.…
This participant was very similar to my father in not only age and appearance, but in his alcoholic journey as well. As this participant went into detail regarding his DUI and consequential car crash, I immediately began to think of my father. When I was in high-school, my father was in a car crash that nearly ended his life because he chose to drink and drive which was very similar to this participant’s story. As the participant continued to share his story, I found my eyes filling with tears as I reflected on my past experience with my father. After hearing this individual’s story regarding his struggle and mindset with alcoholism, I began to see my father’s past experience with alcoholism in a different perspective, ultimately leading to an emotion of “freedom”.…