Big Blonde

Writers use the technique of personification to give human qualities to nonhuman beings or objects. In “Big Blonde,” Parker (through Hazel) gives alcohol the attributes of a friend, thus personifying it. Throughout the story, Hazel self-soothes with alcohol—specifically, with whiskey. Whiskey is always her go-to drink when she’s feeling down; instead of talking to a friend to vent her sadness and sorrow, she turns to the bottle. In fact, alcohol seems to be her only friend, and when it stops working, she feels abandoned: “She was beginning to feel towards alcohol a little puzzled distrust, as toward an old friend who has refused a simple favor” (21).

When she’s feeling particularly despondent before attempting death by suicide, she crawls into bed with a quart of whiskey, hoping it’ll work its magic—and it does: “During the next few days, whiskey ministered to her as tenderly as it had done when she first turned to its aid” (24). However, the effects don’t last: When she walks out into the street, she finds that the whiskey has “deserted her completely” (24).

At the end of the story, when she’s distraught after waking up from her attempt to die by suicide, she seeks out whiskey again: “Maybe it would help.