Chris Landry
Prof. Horowitz
Synthesis Essay
10/26/07
Alcoholism and the Effects on a Family Alcoholism, although thought mostly of its impact on the alcoholic themselves, it is also a very present problem in the ruining of his or her friends and their families lives. Someone who may be a fully functional, great person to his or her family may be extremely dangerous, dishonest, and destructive while they are under the influence of alcohol. This instance occurs in "The Glass Castle" with Rex Walls and also occurs regularly in our society today, such as abusive parents, and husbands. Without alcohol Rex was intelligent, responsible, honest, and a overall respectable father figure, but when under the
That strikes me with the part of "The Glass Castle" where Rex tries to quit drinking for the promise he made to Jeanette for her birthday and has to tie himself down to his bed to keep him from going crazy and drinking again. Because of his addiction to alcohol, he once again breaks another promise and started drinking again. The Article states that alcoholism is a disease and I completely agree with that because it can be inherited and cause the effects such as shaking, sweating, and so on. The "Glass Castle" only supports that theory. Rex's alcoholic ways also prove that one person's blunders can compose a reputation for the entire family. In every town the Wall's family resided in, the problem was not unnoticed. Other children would approach poor Jeanette and remind her of the fact that her father was the town drunk. It seemed as if every town they migrated into everyone would know about her father's drinking habit and Jeanette along with the family would constantly get harassed and teased for it. An online article declares that drunks with negative reputations will most likely affect the people around them in a mental way rather than physical. In addition, it states that physical harm can also be caused because of bullying that a child may receive because of these reputations. This legacy that Rex held, eventually led to Jeanette's bullying by this boy named Ernie and eventually led to a rock being thrown threw her house window. Jeanette was so