Dubliners Drugs and Alcohol Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Story.Paragraph)

Quote #4

Miss Mary Sinico said that of late her mother had been in the habit of going out at night to buy spirits. She, witness, had often tried to reason with her mother and had induced her to join a league. (A Painful Case.26).

This intervention didn't get as far as the one in "Grace," which is a major bummer because Mrs Sinico loses her life to her habit. Joyce may not talk about drinking as a disease, but it sure does some serious harm.

Quote #5

What a nice evening they would have, all the children singing! Only she hoped that Joe wouldn't come in drunk. He was so different when he took any drink. (Clay.5)

Sounds like there's a lot more to that story, but Maria is too sweet to actually tell it.

Quote #6

She always gave her entire wages—seven shillings—and Harry always sent up what he could but the trouble was to get any money from her father. He said she used to squander the money, that she had no head, that he wasn't going to give her his hard-earned money to throw about the streets, and much more, for he was usually fairly bad of a Saturday night. (Eveline.9)

"Fairly bad" definitely means "very drunk." This little scene gives us a glimpse into what a woman's life must be like in Dublin. Sure, some women have drinking problems of their own, but it looks like most of the ladies spend their days waiting around on drunk dads and hammered husbands. It doesn't sound like much of a life to Shmoop.