Analysis Of Under The Influence By Sanders

In “Under The Influence,” Scott Russell Sanders, an American novelist, essayist, and teacher at Indiana University, talks about his life with his alcoholic father and how it affected him and still affects him to this day. He grew up watching his father battle with alcoholism. He experienced how his father was with alcohol and how he pushed away all the people who tried to help him. As an adult, he is wary of alcohol and developed depression due to struggles he had as a child. Even though his father is long dead his dad’s actions still haunt him. He does not drink often and he acts out of it almost like how his dad used to act. His son blames himself for how his dad acts just like he did when he was younger. He is not able to forget about the past and is constantly reminded of his guilt and that affects the type of person he is now. At the start of the story, and all throughout the story, he creates emotion by using experiences with his father. One moment in the middle of the story evokes sympathy for the children. His father often …show more content…
Even now as an adult with his own kids the pain never stopped it just mutated into something different. Sanders may not be a drunk but he grew up to be like his dad. He did not drink alcohol but instead became a workaholic. He believes, “ the labor is endless and futile, for I can no more redeem myself through work than I could redeem my father”(96). He cannot get over the guilt of his father and is constantly burdened by the cloud of guilt that rains over his mind. Sanders describes his life years after his father's death and how it affected him. His son “feels there must be something he can do to spring me from depression, to fix my life”(7). His actions are just like his father and his son is being affected in the same way. This mental effect that has affected sanders and his son is most likely going to keep moving on to future