The Drunkard by Frank O'Connor

The Drunkard by Frank O’Connor is a short story about a man who takes his son to a bar, and then the son consumes an excess amount of alcohol till he is intoxicated. There is a great deal of humor in this story not only because the sun is clearly underage, around the age of nine or ten to be exact, but there also plays some irony behind the son’s drunkenness. In the beginning of the story, the son seems to be like a typical child in both his manner in speech. Soon after he consumes his father’s beer, the son’s diction changes very radically. The son becomes an angry drunk (sad to think he is an angry drunk at the age of nine) and makes statements such as, “’Ah, Jasus,’ [he] said crossly, ‘what do I want to go home for? Why the hell can’t you leave me alone?’” (O’Connor, 350). The use of this boy’s diction shows that he is so mentally altered by the alcohol that he has completely lost his filter, like most drunk people. More importantly, his diction serves to produce a great deal of humor for the story. Nothing is more funny that a nine year old getting drunk and yelling at some old ladies in the street. After being embarrassed by his son’s performance, the father feels as though he should be pitied for being so mistreated. Through these humorous events, I think his father is rethinking the choices he made of bringing his son to a bar and leaving him unattended.