Talk:Counterparts (short story)

Farrington’s alcoholism, or quick glass of porter

I’ve started this section in response to the request for a discussion, regarding the line in the article which describes the character as an alcoholic, who has gone for a quick glass of beer.

The line in the article is marked as dubious and I am uncertain as to what it is questioning.

The man’s rapid journey out of his office, to the bar for a drink, and back into his office, was undoubtedly “quick.” The text of the story states that he runs “quickly” down his office stairs, and once he arrives at the bar, he drinks his glass of beer “at a gulp.” Circumstantial evidence also leads to the conclusion that his trip was a quick one. For example, his cover-story, to the office manager, for leaving the room, is that he’s going to the bathroom.

Is it dubious, whether the man is an alcoholic? This is a more difficult question. Is an “alcoholic” a person who is addicted to alcohol? The man definitely shows signs, throughout the story, of being addicted to alcohol. In the ninth paragraph of the story (not counting lines of dialogue as separate paragraphs), the man feels in his throat “...a sharp sensation of thirst. The man recognized the sensation and felt that he must have a good night’s drinking.” A few paragraphs later, he sneaks out of his workplace, to drink a glass of beer in a pub. He pawns his watch (or its chain, or both, the text is vague) in order to pay for a few drinks, over the course of one evening. At the end of the story, the man is angry, and one of the principal reasons for his anger is that “he had not even got drunk.” At least ten times, in the text (my own copy being about thirteen pages in length), the focus of the man’s thoughts turns from whatever else he is thinking about, to drinking. The text never labels the man as an “alcoholic” and although that concept had been formalized by 1852, I don’t think it was current, at the start of the 20th century, which is the setting of this story. But the man’s behavior, which includes actions which are not normal, and even extreme, can be best explained by the idea that he is addicted to alcohol.

Nothing about the passage marked to be dubious seems to actually be dubious. catsmoke (talk) 04:51, 30 June 2020 (UTC)

Wiktionary entry for 'counterparts'

Would this do for the citation needed? https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/counterpart

Marcas.oduinn (talk) 05:54, 2 June 2023 (UTC)