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This entry discusses the importance of alcohol in the scope of American Literature. It involves aspects of the history of alcohol and how it continues to affect society and media today.

While the rich history of alcohol in America and its beginnings proves prevalent, its roots in American Literature go highly unrecognized. As brought to attention by Debra Rosenthal in the undergraduate course, Alcohol and American Literature, at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio, efforts are now being made to make connections with various works of 19th and 20th century literature in America and alcohol’s importance in creating themes within the writings that reflect the reality which surrounds them.

Dating back to the times of the thirteen colonies, alcohol played an important role in the societal structure as it did and continues to do in societies around the world. At one time, alcohol’s role reached an esteemed level to that of the church. In the developing towns, taverns and churches were equally prevalent as respective staples of the head of the family (the man) and the family itself. Of course, as is familiar with most societies, great amounts of respect for alcohol often lead to great use and consequently, abuse of the substance. As problematic drinkers gained great attention in small, growing societies, the emphasized triangle of family, tavern, and church was strained and led to some of the first popular writings from the independent nation.

As problematic drinking created difficulties in family life, so too did such difficulties spread to church life and town harmony. As alcoholism provoked the Temperance Movement to work against drinking, writers and artists responded in ways to both support and protest such preaching. Subsequently, temperance novels and stories were published and became incredibly widespread gaining immense popularity and bringing about a social/cultural reform. Early works of sensationalism, which involved graphic portrayals of the negative effects of alcohol (as seen in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Black Cat” and “The Cask of Amontillado” as well as Mark Twain’s, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, led to specific works promoting temperance in support of anti-alcohol propaganda, which were eventually condoned and endorsed by the American Temperance Union in 1836. Throughout temperance writings, the most emphasized themes involved sinfulness and family shame in hopes to prevent continued drinking by emphasizing the painful effects on others.

In degrading the irresponsible drinking of men (mostly), temperance writings supported and promoted the importance of women’s role in maintaining familial structure. Here, well-accepted publications such as Harriet Beecher Stowe’s, “Uncle Enoch” and “Let Every Man Mind His Own Business” as well as Louisa May Alcott’s, “The Good Templars” appeared in portraying how women had to both deal with the hardships of a man’s drinking as well as prevent her children from turning into drunkards. This led to sentimentalism writings that not only incorporated family themes, but also slavery themes, leading to African American-specific temperance works. Frederick Douglass was known to mention such themes in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, as well as Harriett Beecher Stowe in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and Advice Among Masters.

As alcohol affected every race, gender, and society, so too did it affect every genre of writing. In the late 19th century, Emily Dickinson appeared as a revolutionary poet. A large number of her poems have imagery of inebriation. While Emily was not known to have used alcohol herself, her poems reflect a knowledge and curiosity about its personal and societal effects. She also touched on an important theme of masculinity in poem #252 per its relation to alcohol use—a theme that categorized many works of the 20th century.

With The Prohibition in the United States and World War controlling most of American society in the 20th century, alcohol finds itself in themes of masculinity and escape. As described by Jack London in John Barleycorn and works by Ernest Hemingway (The Sun Also Rises; “The Three-Day Blow”), drinking was an important and necessary component of camaraderie and acceptance. In The Sun Also Rises, particular emphasis is placed upon Americans in foreign lands and how the societal role of alcohol in those countries is affected by the Prohibition in the United States driving many to travel internationally. Other stories by Hemingway involve similar Prohibition themes such as, “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”, “Hills Like White Elephants”, and “Wine of Wyoming.”

As history has a way of repeating itself, efforts of taming problematic drinking through the Prohibition failed like the temperance movements of the past, and still resulted in many issues of alcoholism. However, as alcoholism became an increasingly studied topic, it developed its own genre of recovery literature. Spawned by the well-known recovery program, Alcoholics Anonymous, writings of recovering alcoholics began a new type of autobiography and bound together once-hated members of society into a well-respected group. Such short works are complied in the Alcoholics Anonymous namesake work as well as other titles, such as Drinking: A Love Story, by Caroline Knapp. Raymond Carver also produced a number of works revolving around modernized problems caused by drinking and struggles with recovery: “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love”, “Chef’s House”, “Where I’m Calling From”, and “Vitamins.”

Racism themes continue to present works involving alcohol as they did in the past. As part of the greater theme of marginalization (and perhaps, too, the need for escape), Native American literature involves alcohol’s place in continuing institutionalized racism as it is used to numb the pain of such separation and abuse, similar to the topics of African American slavery writings of the past. These themes are particularly prominent in Sherman Alexie’s, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. Additionally, themes of white prejudices against Native Americans also appear in mentions of misrepresentations of Native American culture in American media, where alcohol also plays an important role.

In popular “Cowboys and Indians” myths and media, alcohol is popularly presented as motivators in killings and celebrations of successful robberies or shootings. One such movie, Unforgiven, portrays alcohol as holding such roles. A broken and battered cowboy, Clint Eastwood turns down whiskey for the sake of his deceased wife until he finds a reason where killing is the only way to bring about justice. The plot works as a perfect conclusion to alcohol’s importance in not just American literature, but the entirety American cultural media. Involving the themes of family, the role of women, masculinity, socialization, and escape/marginalization, alcohol proves to have a greater place in societal history than perhaps originally anticipated.