The True Meaning Behind Alcoholism

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The True Meaning behind Alcoholism In “Under the Influence” by Scott Russell Sanders, he portrays, “guilt, shame, rage, and fear, along with the specter of insanity and abandonment. This represents the legacy of alcoholism, in which Sander’s father dies at the age of sixty-four from excessive drinking.” When Sanders father turned to drinking, the liquor would transform him into a different person; the type of person who would be taken away and hidden from world. Moreover, his father’s drinking became a huge part of his life and has made him the way he grew up to be. In brief, Sanders convey his message to his audience consisting of his family, other alcoholics and their families who have dealt or are dealing with alcoholism, and most of all his one and only son about the effects of alcoholism that impacted him as a child and still to this day as an adult. Sanders claims while growing up, his father’s drinking became the family secret because there was no one to turn to for help. Sanders states, “While growing up, his family never breathed a word of it beyond the four walls of their house…To this day, my brother and sister rarely mention it… (184)” I can understand why Sanders and his family had no choice but to keep this a family secret, because they had no one to turn to. In essence, the word Alcoholic never existed where he grew up because it was never written or spoken about. In fact, “in nearby towns, there were no addiction treatment programs, no Alcoholics anonymous chapters, and no therapists. Therefore, Sanders states while being “left alone with our grievous secret, we had no way of understanding Father’s drinking except as an act of will…” (185). In making this comment, he explains that instead of he and his family questioning why their father drank, they just learned to live with it. In addition, after the death of his father, he then questions his
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