In James Joyce's Dubliners of 1914, many adult characters drink to revel in the temporary distraction it brings from everyday monotony. After the first three stories exploring childhood in Dublin, the remaining twelve adult-centered stories all allude to or explicitly reference drinking or drunkenness. However, there is a comparative difference in the depth of mentions between male and female drinkers in the novel. Only two women – Mr. Cunnigham's wife in Grace and Mrs. Sinico in A Painful Case – are described in passing as having succumbed to this vice, while there are ten detailed accounts of male drinkers – such as Farrington in Counterparts – where The entire short story focuses on the male character. The underlying theme of excessive drinking in the stories speaks to the emotional avoidance of the male characters during the Dubliners' difficult times. It further examines the historically vague definition of alcoholism and the neurological, psychological, and social differences between male and female drinkers. Alcoholism was not recognized as a diagnosable affliction in Ireland during the Dublin era. The lack of a medical definition leaves the reader with Joyce's downplayed terminology, consisting only of the term "drunkard" – and even then it appears little in the text. Both cases – once at The Boarding House and another at Grace – involved minor memories of non-comparative individuals which were described as serious cases. The lack of definition of alcoholism among Dubliners can be understood by assessing the correlation between alcohol and Ireland's tumultuous socio-economic past. Historically speaking, it is not uncommon to associate the cultural stereotype of excessive alcohol consumption...... middle of paper... ...in reality, it has come at a great cost. Sacrifice is the silent theme of Dubliners. He remains silent as they mourn the loss of identity and nation in the aimless crowds of pubs. Works CitedAlcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. “Men are more likely than women to crave alcohol when experiencing negative emotions.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, May 12, 2008. Joyce, James. Dubliners. New York: Modern Library, 1926. Print. Urban, Nina Bl, Lawrence S. Kegeles, Mark Slifstein, Xiaoyan Xu, Diana Martinez, Ehab Sakr, Felipe Castillo, Tiffany Moadel, Stephanie S. O'malley, John H. Krystal, and Anissa Abi-Dargham. “Sex differences in striatal dopamine release in young adults following oral alcohol challenge: a positron emission tomography imaging study with [11C]Raclopride.” Biological Psychiatry 68.8 (2010): 689-96. Print.