ABSTRACT
The alcoholically divided self lives two modes of existence referenced by the terms sober and intoxicated. The chapter presents the destructive life story of the alcoholically divided self in terms of this play the alcoholic and his significant others enact. It analyses the drama of destruction the alcoholically divided self experiences. The alcoholically divided self and his or her other have played out the crucial stages of alcoholism. The complexity of their interaction is increased by the fact that they stand in a father-son relationship to one another. They both exist as alcoholically divided selves. The underlying premise of all interactions in the alcohol-dependent relationship questions the presence or absence of alcohol in the drinker’s consciousness. This premise makes problematic the intentionally of the alcoholic’s conduct, for her actions and meanings can always be interpreted from within the “she has been drinking” framework.
