The Drunkard

"The Drunkard"
Frank O'Connor

As negative as the title of this story may appear, it is actually a light comedy of a little boy who saved his father from the drink. Ironic, as well, is that the son became the actual drunkard of the story after constructing the bad character of the father.

This short story illustrates that although some of the workings of a family might not be perfect, the most important outcome is the preservation of the family as a whole. All the apparent unpleasentness of the inner-workings of a familial relationship help the family to run smoothly like a well-oiled machine. Larry's role in the story, to stay his father from drinking, is fulfilled although not in what would have been an acceptable method. His drinking of his father's alcohol did not allow his father to consume it himself, and thus, Larry fulfilled his mother's wish. "'You were his guardian angel,'" his mother tells him when he thinks he would be scolded (O'Connor, 351).