Alcoholism In The Scapper

Irish fiction is a unique genre that dives deep into the realities of many Irish families and how these realities both help and hinder them. These realities include alcoholism as well as strong family values. Alcoholism and family values have both helped and hindered Irish families as shown through The Snapper, by Roddy Doyle, with Sharon’s drinking while pregnant and her family handling her pregnancy as well as The Butcher Boy, by Pat McCabe, with Francie’s alcoholic dad and his family lacking family values as they fall apart through addiction, mental illness, and a poor marriage.
In The Snapper, drinking, though dangerous for the baby, allowed Sharon to express her feelings with her friends and relax after all the stresses of an illegitimate …show more content…
On these occasions the group of friends would discuss their guy troubles and other drama going on in their lives. This was the perfect place for Sharon to give her news: “More vodkas and Cokes and a gin and a tonic were ordered. And crisps. Then Sharon told them her bit of news. ‘I’m pregnant, did I tell yis?’’ (Doyle 52) Sharon had been nervous and scared about sharing the embarrassing news of her pregnancy. But, thanks to alcohol, she was able to finally feel comfortable telling her best friends about it during a fun and relaxing time. Without the alcohol to both lesson the inhibitions of her and her friends, Sharon would have been too frightened and embarrassed to tell, and they might not have reacted they way she had hoped. This is an instance of alcohol helping Sharon through a difficult time in her life and making it easier for her to deal with it.
However, alcohol doesn’t help everyone, instead it actually hinders a lot of families. In The Butcher Boy, Francie’s father is an alcoholic whose …show more content…
In the Snapper, alcoholism and family values help Sharon’s family as they make it easier to handle their scandalous situation and stick together through it. In The Butcher Boy, however, alcoholism and family values hinder the family as they cause domestic issues and hampers the parents from seeking help. In “Partners in life: ‘We have a common bond’”, family values keeps the family together through their medical and financial difficulties. Finally, in “The Irish and Substance Abuse”, alcoholism has become a problem in Irish families as families are ashamed of acknowledging their problems and discussing/fixing them