The Drunkard

Obviously this short stories is in the section labeled "Humor and Irony" for a reason. I did find the story to be somewhat humorous- I mean as funny as some adults are drunk, I can only imagine what a child must be like. Irony also ties into the story in several different parts. The first hint of irony I noticed is when Crowley says, "He was well liked," about Mr. Dooley. This is ironic because Crowley did not actually know Mr. Dooley, he was just at the funeral in an attempt to get free drinks. Another ironic occurrence in the story is the fact that the child is drinking and the father is not. Obviously (especially considering the father's alcoholism) it should be the other way around. I also found it ironic that as the boy is on his way home he yells at a group of women and thinks to himself "I have never seen such ill-mannered people." I felt this was especially ironic because he is a drunken child who is singing and yelling at his father and he calls someone else ill-mannered. Pretty funny. Finally, at the end of the story the mother is rightfully angry at her husband for shaming their family by "allowing" their son to drink the beer. However, in the last few lines of the story the mother completely forgets about all of that when she realizes that her sons actions ultimately led to the father staying sober and going to work the next day. In turn, the mother thanks the son for his behavior. All of these ironic instances in the story help support the idea that it is an exaggeration. These ironies also make the story a little bit more humorous.