sober by it

Hi!

Does it mean that she has been drinking so much and now speaks without complexes? clearly? Thank you.

"Ita has been drinking so long she has been made sober by it, and slow, and violent."

I think it is a myth that you can drink yourself sober.

You probably have all you need to know from the idea that she has been made slow and violent.

Sorry, but I'm not sure I have understood your answer. Thank you, anyway.

Karavostassis said:

Hi!

Does it mean that she has been drinking so much and now speaks without complexes? clearly? Thank you.

"Ita has been drinking so long she has been made sober by it, and slow, and violent."

It's difficult to tell exactly what this means without more information. But maybe it could point to the fact that Ita is no longer affected by alcohol because of the length of time she has been drinking, and that the other residual effects of her drinking are slowness and irritability/violent behavior.

Others might have better interpretations.

Thank you WestSideGal. I'll take into consideration your point of view.

What do you mean by "speaking without complexes"?

I agree with suzi br. It is said that if you drink enough you go past the stage where your actions are effected (staggering, slurring of words, loss of coordination, etc.) to another stage where you appear sober. Suzi calls this a myth: i.e. it is folklore and not actually true. I'm sure it is not literally true, however some people certainly get to a stage where they are virtually in a stupor so that their actions cease: this may give the superficial impression of sobriety.

For the purposes of fiction, there's no need to question the veracity of this myth; we can simply accept it. The writer is saying that Ita is at this stage, but she is slow (understandably), but the violent propensity that overcomes some people when they are drunk is nevertheless still present.