Blog #3

The Drunkard by Frank O'Connor

The Drunkard, by Frank O'Connor, is a rather humorous short story, which contains a big emphasis on the literary term, irony. The boys father was a known alcoholic whose own addiction had caused him both embarrassment and issues at home. After the son and the the father attend a friend's funeral, the father brings his son to a pub. First off, a responsible father would bring their child home, but it appears the drawing powers of alcohol lured him to the pub anyway. The father orders a drink, but turns his back to it, creating a perfect situation for a curious son to make his move. Quickly, roles become reverse as it is now the father who is witnessing his son puking and making a fool of himself due to drunkenness. The boy is stumbling and cursing at women, leaving the father mortified. "Twill be all over the road. Never again, never again, not if I live to be a thousand!"(O'Connor, 350). The father is now experiencing the pain and embarrassment his son and wife feel when he becomes consumed in liquor. Only now, through his own son getting drunk, is he able to realize that he does indeed have a problem. At the end, the boy's mother says he is a guarding angel. I think she makes this statement because her son, through revealing the foolishness associated with being drunk, saved his father from progressing his drinking habits.