In the novel The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne, Brian Moore takes a close look at the theme of alcoholism and its effects on the protagonist Judith Hearne. Moore highlights Hearne's loneliness in the novel, which appears to be the source of his alcoholism. Although Moore appears to view Hearne's alcohol addiction as a psychological problem, he implies that his alcoholism is also a physiological illness. Although Hearne begins drinking to ease her cough, she later consumes alcohol to escape her emotional problems, as alcohol can cheer her up and make her feel better. It appears that her drinking problem is simply a mental problem, but then she is seen suffering from withdrawal symptoms, showing that she cannot function normally without alcohol (Milam and Ketcham 66). Since Moore presents Hearne's drinking problem as both physiological and psychological, he creates a sense of realism in the novel. Thus, the representation of alcoholism in The Solitary Passion of Judith Hearne is complete and realistic. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay At first, Hearne begins drinking because alcohol can ease the pain she suffers from bronchitis. The role of alcohol for her, however, gradually changes; although she continues to believe that her drinking is medicinal (115), she uses it to escape the problems of life. She says, “It made sad things funny, and if you were feeling down or a little lonely, there was nothing like it to cheer you up” (114). Without family, friends and a man, she feels alone and dissatisfied with life. She believes that the reasons for her unhappiness and loneliness are beyond her control, because her youth has already passed away and she will not be able to marry now. She feels sad because her past dream of marrying Mr. Right turned out to be unrealistic, and so she says, "I need something to cheer me up" (114). Since alcohol can change her mood and make her see problems from a different perspective, she abuses her drinking to be fully under its influence. Although Hearne still uses alcohol to relieve her pain, she mainly uses it to resolve her emotional problems and feel less alone. Since alcohol can make Hearne feel better, she uses it excessively to cheer herself up when problems arise. When Mr. Madden appears in her life, she thinks that her dream of getting married will finally come true. Hearne thinks Mr. Madden is the perfect man for her because she thinks he knows a lot about life since he owns a hotel in America. She begins to dream that she will marry him and that they will live together in New York. Yet when she discovers that Mr. Madden is just a doorman for her landlady, Mrs. Rice, she feels insulted and ashamed, because she thinks her deceased aunt would think he is too common for her. Moore skillfully uses limited third-person narration to depict Hearne's inner struggle. He describes the imaginary conversation between Hearne and his aunt, and Hearne tries to defend himself by saying, "Yes, and what's wrong with that [marrying Mr. Madden even though he's just a doorman]” (97). She tries to convince herself that she is right; Yet the more she thinks about it, the more confused and nervous she feels. So she decides to consume alcohol to calm down in the end. Moore ends this scene with: “Warmed, relaxed, her own and only mistress, she grabbed and poured a glass full of drink” (99). This description of Hearne's feelings after drinkingclearly shows that she uses alcohol to resolve her emotional problems. Another example is the scene where Hearne visits Moira after Mr. Madden rejects her. The first time Hearne is rejected by Mr. Madden, she goes to talk to Moira and Moira offers her a Sherry. She says, "I need it, I'm upset, I've had a very upsetting day" (146). Also, after Mr. Madden turns her down a second time, she tells Moira: “You tend to have daydreams and you want to hold on to them. And you can’t. So you take a drink to help them, to cheer yourself up” (200). These two scenes clearly show that Hearne drinks because it helps her forget the reality she lives in to feel better about her life. Although Moore seems to highlight Hearne's emotional problems as the main factor responsible for her drinking problem, he implies that she also suffers from alcoholism. In Under the Influence, Dr. Milam says, “At every stage, the disease itself prevents the alcoholic from realizing it. that he is addicted to alcohol” (95). Moore chooses to use limited third-person narration to describe Hearne's inner thoughts about his drinking. In this way, it portrays Hearne as a victim of alcoholism, implying that alcoholism is a problem. physiological illness as well as a psychological problem. The excerpt shown below shows Hearne denying that she is an alcoholic. It also shows how Moore uses the narrative voice to explain to readers Hearne's inner thoughts about his alcoholism: putting aside the dangers and disappointments of the moment. She drank to be able to view these trials with more philosophy, to examine them more thoroughly, fortified by the stimulus of unreason. (107) In addition to excusing herself for drinking excessively, Hearne also believes that she controls alcohol through willpower. For example, after discovering that Mr. Madden is actually a doorman, she consumes alcohol to calm down. She said: "I must have something to stop it (the cough), something to stop it, to cut the phlegm. I have to. Just a little, it won't be more, I promise you, oh Frightened heart” (98). Despite the promise she makes, she finishes the whole bottle and gets very drunk. Again, this shows her denial of being an alcoholic and also implies that she thinks she can control her drinking. As the events of the novel progress, it becomes apparent that Hearne is indeed an alcoholic. Moore uses third-person narration to describe his various stages of alcoholism. After Hearne gets drunk for the first time after quitting excessive drinking for six months, the narrator describes the scene where she begins drinking tonic wine with Edie. This scene illustrates her increasing consumption of alcohol: she first drinks a bottle of tonic wine with someone, then she begins to drink a large bottle of whiskey alone. According to Dr. Milam, alcohol tolerance is caused by “physiological changes that occur primarily in the liver and central nervous system” (Milam and Ketcham 56). In other words, Hearne's improved ability to tolerate large amounts of alcohol is because she is responding to the physiological changes occurring within her (Milam and Ketcham 57). Later in the novel, she also suffers from "withdrawal syndrome", a disturbance in the chemical and electrical activity of the alcoholic's body brain after she stops drinking (Milam and Ketcham 64-65). After drinking all day and then several hours, Hearne feels nauseous, weak, nervous, and she doesn't even know that she was singing all the time when she was drunk. These are all., 1955.