Alcoholism in the Reunion Writing Assignment

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Alcoholism in the Reunion
The Reunion is a short story told by a boy, Charlie, who sets to meet his father. The parents are divorced, and the boy has not met the dad for three years. The boy is excited about the meeting. However, upon their meeting, Charlie could make out the smell of alcohol on his father’s breath (Cheever 1). The whiskey smell might be alluding to the alcoholism that manifests later in the meeting. Probably the father was drunk even before meeting Charlie at the train station.
Immediately they meet, Charlie’s father just casually greets him. Instead of checking his well-being, given the long period of separation, three years, he goes ahead to tell Charlie of his club. It seems an achievement that he owns a club and hence would want to show off to his son. It is saddening for a father to fail to check on his son after such a long while. Maybe he was drunk even before they set out in different clubs. Hence his inability to make out serious conversations at the beginning of their conversation. Due to Charlie’s limited time in New York, they do not get to his father’s restaurant and rather sets out to the restaurants near the train station.
Although the article does not point out the cause of Charlie’s father and mother divorcing, alcoholism might be part of the reason. The Reunion story clearly illustrates that alcoholism separates families. Charlie meets his father for the ...