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Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)
Al-Anon is an auxiliary group of AA that helps family members of addicts to find support. In Beautiful Boy, David and Karen attend Al-Anon meetings, where they hear stories from other people who also have loved ones who are addicts.
Al-Anon Quotes in Beautiful Boy
The Beautiful Boy quotes below are all either spoken by Al-Anon or refer to Al-Anon. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 11
Quotes
He says that one of the most difficult things about having a child addicted to drugs is that we cannot control it. We cannot save Nic. “You can support his recovery but you can’t do it for him,” he says. “We try to save them. Parents try. It’s what parents do.”
He tells us Al-Anon’s Three Cs: “You didn’t cause it, you can’t control it, you can’t cure it.”
Related Characters:
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Al-Anon Term Timeline in Beautiful Boy
The timeline below shows where the term Al-Anon appears in Beautiful Boy. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 11
...of themselves, because addiction can destroy families. The therapist also suggests that they go to Al-Anon meetings.
(full context)
...support his recovery, but you can’t do it for him.” He also introduces David to Al-Anon’s “Three C’s”: he didn’t cause it, he can’t control it, and he can’t cure it.
(full context)
Chapter 15
In late May, while Nic is still gone, Karen and David go to an Al-Anon meeting—their first group meeting without Nic with them. David kept his family’s problem a secret...
(full context)
...Nic is gone is torturously, physically painful. David tries to “detach,” as they counsel in Al-Anon, but he doesn’t know how to let go of his son. He continues to wonder...
(full context)
Chapter 19
...break-in. He would never have contemplated calling the police, but now, like the parents in Al-Anon, he knows that Nic would probably be safer in jail.
(full context)
David continues to go to Al-Anon meetings, crying as he retells the story of the previous weeks. David is unsure how...
(full context)
Chapter 24
...he doesn’t know how to give up completely. He recalls a woman he met in Al-Anon meetings who said that after seven rehabs, her son has now been sober for three...
(full context)
Epilogue
David continues to attend Al-Anon meetings. Though he has been doing good work in therapy, he is still unsure of...
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...be patient with themselves and allow for mistakes. He suggests they go to therapy and Al-Anon because shared stories can help people support one another. For David, reading and writing has...
(full context)
