The Drunkard

Despite the obvious humor thought Frank O'Connor's The Drunkard, such as the mere fact that a young boy is in a bar and drinking a beer, an underlying presence of pathos also exists. I thought it funny that a young boy accidentally became belligerent, but the reason why this situations as necessary is quite tragic. The boy had to attend the funeral with his father because his mother saw this as a way to possibly stop his father from drinking and then spiraling into a cycle of alcoholism that the family had no doubt seen before. The boy is aware of all of  this, "I knew that my mother would be half crazy with anxiety; that next day Fathe wouldn't go to work; and before the end of the week she would be running down to the pawn with the clock under her shawl. I could never get over the lonesomeness of the kitchen without a clock". I'm not sure what times were like in the era in which this story was written, but I don't think any child should be faced with te trouble of preventing his fathers alcoholism and the effects of that alcoholism. Regardless, the boy drinks the beer, giving the story a surface feel of humor. The more subtle pathos is nevertheless present.