My Reaction to "Kubuku Rides Again (This is it)"
             "Kubuku Rides Again" was written by Larry Brown in 1988. This intense story portrays a powerful theme of alcoholism and how damaging it can become. In fact, alcoholism is very destructive because in most cases the user is unaware of the negative affects and their own dependency that the highly addictive drug has caused. I loved reading this story because I could relate to it. I compared the destructive theme of alcoholism, and the dependency that is caused, to an abusive relationship I suffered through in my past. The relationship I survived through was just like an addictive drug. It caused so many mental and physical scars that I blindly accepted because the horrifying fact was that I viewed only the outside of the picture and was ignorant my own suffering and dependency. I lived every day of my life in complete denial, just as the main character, Angel, did. Like my parents in my past, Angel's husband, Alan, did everything he could to try and help her. He tried to believe her every time she lied and promised she would stop drinking. The cold and hard lesson that I had to learn, just as Angel learned at the end of the story, is that eventually empty promises run out.
             Brown's story had such an upsetting impact on my reaction. This work brought back painful memories and new realizations. Reading about Angel's hardships was just like reading about myself. I knew that when Angel promised that she would stop drinking she really meant it. It is sad to say that an addict truly believes this with all of their heart with this tiny little lingering voice in the back of their head saying, "after one more..." The beginning of the story is written so that the readers do not yet know of the brutality Angel and her family had suffered. Alan comes home to find that his wife, whom he loves dearly and is trying with all of his own character and self-wor...