The power to be able to fall into a trance where reality is destroyed and only emotions exist seems very attracting. However, using a substance to fall into the trance will only be harmful because the substance will create health hazards. This substance, a toxic liquid, known as “Alcohol” has destroyed many lives. For instance, Sherman Alexie, a Native American writer, experiences many sorrows from alcohol. He writes about the sufferings he experienced in his fiction novel, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian” and talks about the struggle in his interviews. In addition to Alexie’s stories, Diane Sawyer, a reporter, investigates a Native American tribe and discovers that alcohol abuse is common in the reservation. Alcoholism is portray as an enemy to Native Americans; however, alcohol becomes a tool that matures Alexie as an individual. Therefore, alcoholism through the story of the author’s life can educate society to care for communities that struggle with alcohol abuses.
Alcoholism establishes sorrows in the native american’s community in Pine Ridge because many of the civilians endanger each other. The reservation is a small community where tribes live at, but because the place is very small, many of the adults are unable to use their money productively. As a result, many of the adults spend their money buying alcohols and drinks heavily. For instance, Sawyer claims, “over four-million beers are sold in the reservation” (Children of the Plains). Because many native americans consume alcohol, many deaths and child abuses occur. For example, Sawyer interviewed a young girl who had lost her father due to drunk driving (Children of the Plains). This quote from Sawyer’s video supports alcoholism as a problem ...
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...iety learns that the only way to cure a community that fights against alcohol is to start with the future generations because they are the one who will lead the community. Society can raise awareness about the danger of alcohol to young scholars in middle school and high school. Classes and advertisement can portray the cons of drinking, especially underage. These support services will allow young individuals to end the cycle of alcoholism as an enemy and change alcoholism to a means of celebration.
Works Cited
"Sherman Alexie | CONVERSATIONS AT KCTS 9."
YouTube. YouTube, 12 Nov. 2008. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
Sawyer, Diane. "Children of the Plains."
YouTube. YouTube, 2020, 12 Nov. 2011. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
Alexie, Sherman, Ellen Forney, and Mechthild Hesse.
Sherman Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian. Stuttgart: Klett Sprachen, 2009. Print.
Alcoholism has been a fixture in our society since the first introduction of alcohol. Despite it being an equal opportunity disease, a large majority of not only the treatment, but also the research, has been about men. This lack of consideration of the different needs for men and women has led to many women going through recovery systems that do not address their experiences, and therefore do not allow them to take full advantage of that recovery system. This paper will attempt to look at the different experiences that men and women have in their journey through a substance addiction (particularly alcohol), from addiction through recovery. The main recovery method that will be discussed here is Alcoholics Anonymous. As an observation addition to this assignment, I sat in on an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in Kerrville, TX. The meeting was on Thanksgiving Day at noon. I took detailed notes of the meeting, while keeping a watchful eye for any gendered interactions during the flow of the meeting.
would sign any treaty for her (Alexie).” However, alcohol only made their lives worse. Native Americans throughout the story began to realize that sticking to tradition was more important than following the negative roads of white American culture.
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Within the memoir, The Glass Castle, the self destructing addiction of alcohol becomes an apparent theme throughout the literature. Alcoholism is a disease that can cause destruction to families and even ruin lives. This is a common occurrence that effect’s many Americans today. Alcoholism is one of the most common problems in families, it doesn’t always interfere with just the person drinking the alcohol. It also affects the people around the influenced person. Rex’s struggle with alcohol is logged through his daughter Jeannettes struggles as she is finding the balance between respecting daughter and a strong individual. It is through her accounts that the reader is able to see the truly damaging effects of this disease.
Picture yourself in a town where you are underprivileged and sometimes miss a meal. In the novel, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian,” Sherman Alexie wrote the book to show hardships that Native Americans face today. Alexie shows us hardships such as poverty, alcoholism and education. In the novel, Junior goes against the odds to go to an all white school to get a better education to have a better life
Alexie, S. (2009). The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company.
To begin, in “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” Sherman Alexie describes a moment in
Alcoholism is a mental illness that is very destructive not only to an individual that has it, but also to the people that surround him or her and the community. It is a “chronic disease, progressive, and often fatal”, according to James D. Torr, author of the book called Alcoholism (19). Alcohol, when consumed, causes the person to feel pleasure and other desired effects, because of the chemicals it contains. The continuation of consuming alcohol causes the brain and the body to develop tolerance or addiction which leads to alcohol dependence or alcoholism.
Ghosh, R. P. (2012, February 11). Native Americans: The Tragedy of Alcoholism. Retrieved May 21, 2014, from International Business Times: http://www.ibtimes.com/native-americans-tragedy-alcoholism-214046
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