“YOU WERE PERFECTLY FINE” BY DOROTHY PARKER

Dorothy Parker was a short story writer who lived during the 20th century in New York. As
well as she was a critic in significant magazines such as Vogue and Vanity Fair, she also
published short stories back in the time. One of the Parker’s short stories is “You Were
Perfectly Fine” (1929) based on a story that tells about a man who get drunk and what he
goes through when he was drunk. This story also reflects some of the real-life events from the
1920s New York. In the story, Dorothy Parker, the author, refer to the law of Prohibition, the
manufacture and sale of alcohol were prohibited, as well. And the story revolves around
issues as guilt and irresponsibility in terms of its correlation to alcoholism in the story.

In the story, alcoholism and what it caused highlighted. It is worth noting that throughout the
narrative, story’s main character Peter stays still in his chair. Parker may be intending to
metaphorically underline Peter's slavery to alcohol by having him make very little motion. He
is the contrast to the person he was the night previous, when he may have thought he was
amusing everyone. It is also likely that Peter feels overwhelmed with remorse as a result of
his blackout. Being aware of that he might need to accept responsibility to others for his
behaviours. Notwithstanding, the young woman's assurances that all is well. If anything,
Peter's reckless behaviour was brought on by his heavy drinking. This is also give a strong
belief to the reader about the origin of the all the irresponsible actions of Peter is alcohol or
his alcoholism.

Moreover, the other example of how alcoholism is the major problem of Peter is that his
escapism. It is intriguing that just after she reminds him about their taxi drive, Peter asks her
for a drink. It appears like Peter may be trying to get away from what he could have told the
young woman in addition to trying to get over his hangover. She believes that their cab
discussion changed their lives. However, Peter does not even remember any memory about
the taxi drive. It is demonstrating that he acts irresponsible and feels guilty because he does
not have any memories. Another point to consider is that Parker could be implying that Peter
is an alcoholic by having him drink whiskey and soda in the daytime. He can't cope with life
on reality's terms; therefore, he finds the need to drink to make himself forget what he may
have said or done.

In conclusion, this essay discussed the themes of guilt and irresponsibility of Peter in terms of
its relation to alcoholism. How he acted when he was drunk and how it affected Peter the
night before and the day after. The reader can clearly observe that Peter additionally is
irresponsible for his actions but, at the end he feels guilt what he has done. Even though he
feels guilt for his behaviours, he still does not give up his alcoholism. Such would once again
persuade the reader to believe that Peter really does have a drinking issue. Finally, in this
story, the author, Dorothy Parker may aim to reflect her period’s real-life experiences and an
average man with alcohol problems of the 1920s’ through her character Peter.