Uncle John sat uneasily, his lonely haunted eyes were not at ease, and his thin strong body was not relaxed. Nearly all the time the barrier of loneliness cut Uncle John off from people and from appetites. He ate little, drank nothing, and was celibate. But underneath, his appetites swelled into pressures until the broke through. Then he would eat some food until he was sick; or he would drink jake whiskey until he was a shaken paralytic with red wet eyes; or he would raven with lust for some whore in Sallisaw…But when one of his appetites was sated, he was sad and ashamed and lonely again. He hid from people, and by gifts tried to make up to all people for himself.
– John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 10. Uncle John comes across as a lonely and tortured man, who regularly fills the void in his life by overeating, overdrinking and having sex with whores. He eats until he is sick, drinks until he is drunk, and has loveless sex with whores to sedate himself.
