Addiction

Addiction is a major theme running throughout the book and through Pete's life. Many of the important people in the book battle with different kinds of addiction. The first we see are Pete's family. His mother and father appear to have had a drinking problem very early on. They drank together, and as a way to cope with unhappiness in their lives. Neither of them was entirely happy in their marriage, and they had lived through a frightening world war. Drinking helped them to manage these problems, but also seems to have been a method of keeping their failing relationship working and their family together. Eventually Pete's father died of bowel cancer and his mother tried to commit suicide several times. Seeing that her drinking was out of control, Pete checked her into rehab.

Addiction is, unfortunately, hereditary, and children of alcoholics are much more likely to become...