Alcoholism In Alice Walker's The Gospel Of Mark

Early in this story, the mother dies and she is surrounded by her three young children. The mother died because she was a drunkard and lost the control of her way and fell on a piece of wood placed beneath her door: “Idleness, sin, and drunkenness had done their miserable work, and the dead mother lay cold and still aimed her wretched children. She had fallen upon the threshold of her own door, in a drunken fit and died in the presence of her frightened little ones” (1). Being jobless, the mother became an alcoholic person who suffered from alcoholism. This behavior made her not to be able to work and provide the basic needs of her three children. Furthermore, she ended up committing many sins such as binged drinking that led her to lose control …show more content…
In fact, this was the cause for them to accept Maggie in their family. Joe used his love he had for children to soften Jane’s heart that became the source of new life for them. 5. The Thompson home changed for the better the child brought to light, joy and love which the family had missed for a long time. His wife transformed her bitterness behavior to love. Joe also changed his way of drinking. The sick child brought love to the family. The Gospel of Mark stated: “When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone, who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” (Mk. 10:14-15). Jesus is saying that the children will inherit the kingdom of heaven and anyone who will not accept them will not enter into heaven. Moreover, Jesus loves the children for they are innocent and they are learning from the adults. Therefore, Joe and his wife kept Jesus’ teaching into practice and this gave them a new life of joy, cheerfulness, and