Wandering Through Bill's Story - Chapter 1 - Page 16

variously strenuous, comic, and tragic

"Our struggles with them are variously, strenuous, comic, tragic." ¹
Big Book - Bill's Story - page 16.

In this sentence the word variously functions as an adverb. It modifies the adjectives (strenuous, comic, and tragic) that follow it, indicating that the struggles are characterized by these qualities in different ways or to different degrees. ²

Definitions from Webster's 1930 edition. ³

Story Behind The Suicide Sentence

"One poor chap committed suicide in my home." ¹
Big Book - Bill's Story - page 16.

Bill is referring to a incident that took place in 1937. He had already met Dr. Bob in Akron and was back in Brooklyn with Lois. They were attending Oxford Group meetings and even hosted one each Tuesday night at their home on Clinton Street. The group that met at there home included men Bill had worked with at Towns Hospital. While technically an Oxford Group meeting, the Tuesday nights focused on alcoholics, some of whom lived with Bill and Lois at their home. The number of men in the house varied over time as some drank again and left and new ones were added. In October, Bill borrowed a car and he and Lois drove to Baltimore for a weekend visit with Fitz Mayo and his wife. Since a few men were staying at Clinton Street at the time, Bill asked Bill C., a regular tenant, to oversee the house for the weekend. Bill returned Monday night, but Lois decided to stay with the Mayo's a few more days. When Bill entered the Brooklyn brownstone, he smelled gas. In the kitchen he found Bill C., his head still in the oven; the police determined Bill C. had been dead for hours. ⁴

Definition from Webster's 1930 edition. ³

worldliness, levity, earnestness

"I suppose some would be shocked at our seeming worldliness and levity. But just underneath there is deadly earnestness." ¹
Big Book - Bill's Story - page 16.

In this sentence both worldliness and levity function as nouns. In the following sentence earnestness also functions as a noun. ²

Definitions from Webster's 1930 edition. ³

faith

"Faith has to work twenty-four hours a day in and through us, or we perish." ¹
Big Book - Bill's Story - page 16

In this sentence faith functions as a noun. ²

Definitions from Webster's 1930 edition. ³

Utopia

"Most of us feel we need look no further for Utopia." ¹
Big Book - Bill's Story - page 16

In this sentence Utopia functions as a noun. ²

Utopia is an imagined, ideal society with perfect laws, government, and social conditions. Sir Thomas More described it in his 1516 book Utopia. In the book, he creates an imaginary place called Utopia, a fictional island with communal living, religious tolerance, and no poverty. The word Utopia comes from the Greek ou-topos, which literally means "no place."

Definitions from Webster's 1930 edition. ³

Death of Bill Wilson

"Bill W., co-founder of A.A.,
died January 24, 1971" ¹
Big Book - Bill's Story - page 16;

In the 1930s, smoking was widespread, and many early AA members, including Bill, smoked heavily. This caused health issues for many of them. In the early 1960s, Bill was diagnosed with emphysema, the same illness that had taken Ebby’s life in 1966. By the time Bill turned 70, his health had noticeably gotten worse. Bill attended the July 1970 AA International Convention in Miami, tried to participate, but ended up requiring treatment at the Miami Heart Institute instead. After a few days, he was well enough to fly home. He spent the fall and winter in bed, cared for by nurses. In January 1971, a doctor from the Miami Heart Institute invited Bill to try a new breathing machine that had just been procured. Bill was flown to Miami on a chartered jet. During the flight, Bill spoke about seeing family and friends who had passed away on the plane with them. At the Institute, he was taken to his room, and Lois said goodnight. That night, around 11:30 p.m., Bill died. Bill Wilson had died of emphysema and pneumonia. His body was taken to East Dorset, his hometown, for a private funeral. His grave was marked by a simple stone. ⁴

Click here to read Bill's Obituary.

Footnotes for page 16

¹Quotes from the Big Book on listed on this page are from the public domain version, in the United States, of the 2^nd edition of the book Alcoholics Anonymous. Accessible at 12step.org

²Sentence diagramming, to determine the word usage within the sentence, was performed by CoreNLP at corenlp.run.

³Definitions used are from the Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language 1930 Edition. Access to this dictionary online is at Hathitrust.org

⁴Historical event taken from the book "Bill W." by Hartigan (2000), page 211.