In his story “Under the Influence: Paying the Price of My Father’s Booze,” author Sanders Russell gives a deeply personal account of the effects of alcoholism in his family as he was growing up. Russell begins by giving an intense description of his father’s addiction. He articulates how his father dies in a trailer as a result of this compulsive thirst for alcohol.
Russell attempts to chronicle the trauma endured by his siblings and himself as a result of their father’s alcohol abuse. By doing so, he demonstrates that alcohol not only negatively impacts on the life of a drinker but it also leaves lasting scars on the people who are forced to live with an alcoholic. The essay aims to discuss more than just the issue of alcoholism but also the social environment that leads to or encourages it.
One of Russell’s primary objectives is to dispel the commonly held myth of drunks as funny and lovable people. He begins by decrying the wide array of comical names such as “..bozzy, woozy, fuddled, or smashed: crocked and shit-faced…” that are used to describe drunkenness. The author notes that these humorous lexicons are a far cry from the folly that is alcoholism.
The author’s description of his father’s drunken stupors is vivid and it highlights the ugly nature of alcoholism. The father’s demeanor is described as “eyes blazing, voice booming” and his actions are equally cruel even as he threatens to give his children a whipping and grabs their mother by her hair, threatening to shut her up by smashing a milk bottle against her head.
Russell lays emphasis on the evils of alcohol and how society is content to turn a blind eye instead of addressing the issue. He points out that he never heard the world “alcoholic” while growing up. This was despite his neighborhood having more than its fair share of drunkards, including his father.
People were willing to ignore the problem even though every member of the family suffers as a result of the actions of the alcoholics. The author speaks of the families of the millions of alcoholics in the US who hide the dark secret of alcoholism that plagues their family. The shame that they feel lingers on and it brings about anger and fear to the people affected.
The author’s tone is vindictive as can be seen from his thoughts concerning the alcohol makers whom he holds responsible for his family’s misery. He plots of how he would travel to the Gallo brother’s address and confront them with the truth about what their product was doing to his father. If the brothers were not remorseful, he says that he would kill them.
The authenticity of Russell’s experiences is evident from his diction as he narrates his story. When referring to the people who run the drug store from which his father obtained the alcohol, the author says ‘because the mom and pop who ran the dump….” This southern affectation is a reflection of the region in which the author grew up.
Russell chronicles the trauma he endured as a result of his father’s addiction. He emphasizes on the adverse effects that his father’s alcoholism had for the whole family and the fact that society turns a blind eye to this problem. He notes that the ugly nature of alcoholism did not die with his father but lives on with him and his siblings.