Alcohol, specifically beer, has been a major part to the culture of Ireland, so much that Irishmen are stereotyped worldwide as drunks. In Frank McCourt’s memoir, Angela’s Ashes, he includes this, as his own father was a drunken Irishman. The drunkard path rears its ugly head in this novel, as Frank notices how the drink has influenced the people around him as well as himself. The people of Ireland are demonized as drunken slobs, but due to their culture and the people themselves, the drink is a major part of their lives, just as is religion. The emerald isle has been plagued by alcohol dependency and it was a major factor in the raising of the children in the country.
Frank McCourt was raised in the Irish town of Limerick, and thus had first…show more content… His father would spend much of his time (and most of the family’s money) at the pub drinking (McCourt). His father falls into the mold of the Irish drunkard stereotype nearly perfectly. This Irish stereotype seems to be fitting, not only with such first hand accounts, but also that Ireland ranks number one in the European Union in both drinks per day and amount of binge drinking (Elkin). The amount of drinking alone would be able to fulfill the stereotype but also the idea that one would drink till s/he runs out of money shows how firmly the stereotype holds true. Frank McCourt and his family emphasize how his father’s drunkenness leads to their poor condition in their voicing of his…show more content… People of Ireland understand that the young ones would get addicted, so much that “the mothers of Ireland are always enemies of the first pint” and try to stop young men from drinking (McCourt pg 253). Even with the addiction still would get passed from father to son with the first pint.
The society that encourages such outrageous drinking is a problem. Though some of the adult males have control over the amount they drink, example being Uncle Pa, there other more individuals with alcoholic problems, e.g. Frank’s father or Peter Molly (McCourt). The damage alcoholics can do to their children is cumbersome, as not only could it cause one to end up in poverty but such an alcoholic could cause their children to end up in the same position as them, drunk and influential to the young. There are individuals in this group that try to better themselves:
Tommy, take this pint away from me. I’m the champion of no pints at
