In the play, Ruined, Lynn Nottage the playwright shows how alcohol is important to the people of the Congo and how alcohol changes oneself. The play is based in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo in a bar/brothel that is owned by Mama Nadie. People come in the bar for sexual service and for a drink. The people of this area come to the bar to let go of their regrets because of the war or there hard work. One important man comes to the bar and changes from alcohol. His name is Christian a salesman to Mama and an uncle to one of Mama's workers. Throughout Ruined Christian a once respecful sober man changes because of his new desire for alcohol instead of Fanta. Christian is a sober man and has no desire to consume the taste of alcohol …show more content…
Christian: “Last time I had a drink, I lost several years of my life” (39). Christian may have a desire for alcohol but he substitutes this desire with Fantas. Instead of asking for a beer like most people in this scenario he asked for a soda. This shows that he has strong willpower to not have something that most people would want in this situation. Christian is forced into having a drink of alcohol and is at a turning point in his absence of alcohol. A man arrives in the bar who is a commander for the side of the government not the rebels, his name is commander Osembenga. Osembenga doesn't trust Christian and he asked Moma to give Christian a drink. Christian denys the drink to Mama and states how he doesn't drink. Moma: “Good news , the commander has bought you a drink of whiskey and hopes that you’ll find prosperity”(49). Christian:That's very generous, but you know I don't drink. Please, tell him thanks, but no thanks” (49). Christian eventually takes down the drink and he is offered two other glasses of whisky. He does this because Mama forces him and he doesn't want to disrespect commander Osembenga. This is the turning point for Christian and it is the point where he accepts alcohol for what it is. This scenario causes him to break his soberness for four years and pick up drinking
Additionally, although proclaiming his love for her, Lester becomes a negative influence on Kathy. Under the false sense of security he provides, Kathy, a recovering alcoholic, allows herself to start drinking again after an abstinence of three ye...
Frances Willard’s top priority through her literary piece was to show the negative effects and degradation of the common man due to excessive use of alcohol. Frances Willard’s article on the temperance movement portrays the women’s part in pacifying man’s grasp on alcoholic beverages and the steps they had to take to make it h...
It is a fact of life that Alcoholism will distort the victim’s view of reality. With authors, they put parts of their personality and symptoms of their condition into their characters sometimes, flawed distortions included, with varying degrees
Sometimes, an alcoholic can be abusive. In Arnold Josephs case, it is nonetheless. When Arnold realizes that he accidentally starts a fire that kills Thomas’s parents, alcoholism seems as the only thing in which he can turn to and try to resolve his problems. After a few years, Arnold’s alcoholism takes a toll on the household. Victor’s attitude toward alcohol is greatly affected as he sees what it did to his father. Arnold eventually left the reservation due to him not being able to manage his emotions. Even though it may seem that Arnold was being selfish, in reality, it was quite the opposite. Arnold saves the two by not submitting them to a life of fear by leaving town. In the end, alcohol rescues Victor from living in fear.
God tells us that indulgence is bad, a sing. The books of Proverbs, Hosea, Isaiah, Ephesians, Galatians, and 1 Thessalonians spells out why indulgence in alcohol (wine) is bad. The scriptures discuss this from the angle that alcohol makes a fool of you and leads to fights. Another is that wine robs of ones senses. From a Christian point of view, I know that alcohol or any over indulgence is a sin and should be avoided. Likewise, we, as Christians should avoid those who are gluttons.
Drinking: A Love Story (1996) is a memoir by Caroline Knapp where she shares her experience of gradually becoming an alcoholic. She found drinking to be the most important relationship in her life; she loved how it made her feel, how it coped with her fears and worries. She chronicles some of the effort and self-realization required for recovery from this addiction, but her primary focus is on the charm, seductiveness, and destructiveness that she was able to find in two decades as an alcoholic, hopelessly in love with liquor. Her relationship with alcohol started in early teenage years and progressed through young adulthood, until she finally checked herself into a rehabilitation center at the age of thirty-four.
In taking sides, it is evident that W.J. Rorabaugh was on the right track when he points out that many evangelic religious leaders formed groups to reiterate to the people that liquor was the tool of the devil and that basically, society would continue to...
the only reason that we desire to drink is that we anticipate the result of our
In Alcoholics Anonymous, the source of sobriety is not contained within the alcoholic. Power is given up to God, with powerlessness over alcohol
...ld, and atheist. The importance of these people is that they are constantly contributing their own conversation to the topic of how alcoholism affects them, in their own personal way. This project plans to contribute in a different way: by providing all of these stories to a new audience.
...k of whiskey, a pack of lewd playing cards and condoms and Joy-Hulga discovers that Manley is not the slow, country bumpkin as perceived by everyone within the community (183).
Alcohol is the most commonly consumed harmful toxin. It is to be assumed that by the time the average person reaches the legal drinking age of twenty-one, they have heard most of the warnings and horror stories that go along with this notorious party favor. People frequently have a drink after a hard day or just a couple rounds with friends at a social gathering; yet it is when alcohol consumption goes beyond moderate drinking that real health problems can arise. Health problems are not the sole concern individuals should consider before taking their next sip. This is because alcoholism does not just affect the alcoholic; it can involve those who love and support them as well. Scott Sanders describes his father in his essay, “Under the Influence” like a stranger and as fearful as any graveyard lunatic when drunk (Sanders 235). In reality, this form of alcohol abuse has an increased
Both stories mention alcohol an excessive amount. In Hills Like White Elephants Jig and the American order drinks before discussing the elephant in the room: abortion. They talk about drinks almost as much as they talk about the operation and it seems as if their relationship is based around alcohol. The couple agrees that all they do is, “. . . look at things and try new drinks” (Hemingway 116). That seems like a pretty surface level relationship. The alcohol highlights the talking aspect rather than the communicating aspect of the theme: talking versus communicating. It helps to convey the idea that their relationship is not deep and the couple does not communicate well. The alcohol tells the reader that a lot is lacking from the couple’s relationship if the reoccurring topic of conversation for them is about drinking alcohol. Anyone can talk about alcohol; couples should talk about more important things and get to know each other on an intimate level. Alcohol poses the idea that perhaps the pair is not in an exclusive relationship at all, but only know one another from parties and social events. Alcohol serves as a distraction from the heavy subject that they should converse. Like Hills Like White Elephants, all three characters in the Cathedral drink alcohol constantly. Before every main event a character is preparing or drinking an alcoholic beverage. Once again, this symbolizes
Several times in the novel he indulged in his drinking to the point of becoming
You think it will never happen; never in a million years. Yet, somehow, 11 O’clock you end up at a friend's house watching them drink their future away and you wonder why they would do this? They’re suppose to be leaders, members of the church and here they are intoxicated beyond belief looking at you with glossy eyes, about to fall over drunk. Alcohol was a foreign subject for my friend group. What happened, where did it go wrong?