The Effects of Alcohol on Irish Society

The negative effects of alcohol occur again and again through the collection of stories. For the most part, men are brought down by their addiction to alcohol or their inability to control themselves when they are drunk. The effect on family members, particularly wives who suffer physical abuse at the hands of their drunken husbands, is a common element to many stories.

The clearest example of this theme is in "Counterparts," where the main character, Farrington, can think of nothing other than how to get drunk. He jeopardizes his career and spends all his money on alcohol, briefly feeling like an important man while telling stories to his friends in the bar. However, the effects of heavy drinking catch up with him later in the evening, when he is out of money but is not drunk enough to forget his problems. He...