Dubliners Drugs and Alcohol Quotes
How we cite our quotes: (Story.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Freddy Malins […] seeing that Mr Browne was grinning at him from the sideboard, crossed the room on rather shaky legs and began to repeat in an undertone the story he had just told to Gabriel. (The Dead.90)
Freddy may be drunk, but he's smart to pick out the other heavy drinker at the party. Luckily Mr Browne heeds the warning not to give him any more alcohol. While both their drinking seems pretty harmless in this story, it's indicative of a boozy undercurrent that flows throughout these stories.
Quote #2
Mr Browne took another sip of his whisky and said, with sidling mimicry:
"Well, you see, I'm like the famous Mary Cassidy, who is reported to have said: Now Mary, Grimes, if I don't take it, make me take it, for I feel I want it." His hot face had leaned forward a little too confidentially and he had assumed a very low Dublin accent so that the young ladies, with one instinct, received his speech in silence. (The Dead.71-72)
Okay, we're sure Mr Browne is relatively harmless, but his boozing sure makes him a creepy old man. We're betting if he were sober, he'd be treating the young ladies with a bit more respect.
Quote #3
People had great sympathy with him for it was known that he had married an unpresentable woman who was an incurable drunkard. (Grace.68)
While most of the carousing is left to the dudes of Dublin, there are two women with drinking problems in Dubliners: Mr Cunningham's wife, who never shows up in the story, and Mrs Sinico. But since we're talking gender here, let's see how those two stack up against all the men: Eveline's father, Mr Mooney, Little Chandler, Farrington, Joe in "Clay," Old Jack's son in "Ivy Day," Mr Kernan, Harford, and Freddy Malins, and maybe Mr Browne. That's Women: 2; Men: 10. Yikes.
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.
Quote #7
Three small whiskies had gone to his head and Gallaher's strong cigar had confused his mind, for he was a delicate and abstinent person […] His arms trembled with anger and suddenly bending to the child's face he shouted
"Stop!" (A Little Cloud.87,113-14)
We're betting Little Chandler wishes Joyce had picked any other night of his life to write a story about him.
Quote #8
But as soon as his father-in-law was dead Mr Mooney began to go to the devil. He drank, plundered the till, ran headlong into debt. (The Boarding House.1)
He's lucky Mrs Mooney didn't take care of him with a butcher's knife. See, drinking problems don't just cause marital woes. They cause money woes, too. And while most of the characters in Dubliners aren't terribly poor, we're betting their pockets aren't too deep either.
Quote #9
The man listened to the clicking of the machine for a few minutes and then set to work to finish his copy. But his head was not clear and his mind wandered away to the glare and rattle of the public-house. It was a night for hot punches. (Counterparts.31)
Notice that Farrington's head isn't clear even before he starts drinking. Bad sign.
Quote #10
He felt his great body again aching for the comfort of the public-house...Yet he must get money somewhere or other […] Suddenly, as he was fingering his watch-chain, he thought of Terry Kelly's pawn-office in Fleet Street. That was the dart! Why didn't he think of it sooner? (Counterparts.41)
This is not the best investment on Farrington's part. Not only does he end up spending all but pennies of the money he gets from pawning his watch-chain, he doesn't even feel drunk at the end of the night. It's a double bummer that probably could have been avoided with some good old-fashioned therapy.
Quote #11
"Would you like a drink, boy?"
"If you please, sir," said the boy.
The old man opened another bottle grudgingly, and handed it to the boy.
"What age are you?" he asked.
"Seventeen," said the boy.
[…]
"That's the way it begins," said the old man. (Ivy Day in the Committee Room.144-48, 50)
It's hard to trust Old Jack after we've heard him talk about beating his son, and he seems to be thinking about his son's problem anyway. It's easier to confront this messenger boy, however, than to actually make a difference in his son's problems.