Normally white, Willie's eyes were a deep, obvious yellow, the result of liver failure and accumulation of yellow-tinged bile. End-stage alcoholics have arms and legs thinned by malnutrition. Examine the skin of the forearms and chest and you'll likely see purple blotches, the result of fragile capillaries and easy bruising. Take the bed covers off and you may find a distended, tense belly, like that of a child with kwashiorkor. The physiology is the same massive fluid buildup due to lack of protein.
Protein holds water inside the blood vessels.
Victims of kwashiorkor are starved for protein. In contrast, victims of alcoholism like Willie Duncan have a destroyed liver, and so can no longer manufacture water-holding protein. These abnormal vessel clusters are another sign of severe liver failure. The mind of the typical yellow man will likely be slipping away. Our Willie Duncan was confused and disoriented.