His Gaurdian Angel

His Guardian Angel

Drinking underage is a problem and is not something a person jokes about. However, in Frank O’Connor’s story, “The Drunkard,” it is a story about Larry, a kid, who gets drunk, but does it for a good cause. In the beginning of the short story we are introduce to the death of Mr. Dooley. In the story, Larry states, “I did not take the report of his death seriously. Even then I felt there must be a catch and that some summer evening Mr. Dooley must reappear at our gate to give us the lowdown on the next world” (538). Through Larry’s perspective, we understand how much Mr. Dooley meant to Larry and his family, especially to his father, who considered Mr. Dooley one of his “best friends” (541). It was said that before Mr. Dooley’s death, Larry’s father would be the “first up in the morning and brought the mother a cup of tea in bed, stayed at home in the evenings and read the paper; saved money and brought himself a new blue serge suite and bowler hat” (540). However, soon after, he became a drunkard, “By the time he had taken the first he already realized that he had made a fool of himself, took a second to forget it and a third to forget that he couldn’t forget, and at last came home reeling drunk.” This shows how much Mr. Dooley’s death changed Larry’s father. Throughout this short story, O’Connor uses irony and humor to make this story more entertaining.

Irony and humor played a significant part in this story. One of the scenes that shows irony was after the mother asked who will take care of Larry, and Mick responded, “I’ll look after Larry. The little walk will do him good.” And Larry thinks to himself, “There was no more to be said, though we all knew I didn’t need anyone to look after me, and that I could quite well have stayed home and looked after Sonny, but I was being attached to the party to act as a brake on Father. As a brake I had never achieved anything, but Mother still had great faith in me” (541). This quote is ironic because the mother positions her son as a “brake” for her husband’s drinking, and Larry had never been successful at trying until the end when he became drunk. When Larry found he was going with his father to the funeral to be a “brake” on his drinking, he had the night all planned out of how it was going to end up. He imagined taking his father home drunk again and all the neighbors calling him a drunk. However, the irony was that Larry actually was the one who got drunk and got laughed at by this neighbors. His father was the one who was supposed to get drunk and the son was going to watch out for him, but instead, the opposite happened.

There was also irony in the part where the father and son were leaving the bar. Throughout the course of the night, all Larry wanted to do was leave so that his father would not drink and get drunk. However, in the end, Larry was the one who got drunk and it wasn’t until Larry got druk that they left the place. This was ironic because the father would not let him leave when he asked, but now that Larry’s drunk, they are leaving. Lastly, another part where irony came up would be the part where the mother states, “My brave little man! It was God did it you were there. You were his guardian angel” (546). This shows how happy his mother was because Larry was able to prevent his father from drinking. Therefore, this quote shows irony because the young boy should have been scolded for getting drunk, but instead, he was praise for how well he had done.

With everything being said, it took Larry to risk his own safety to get his father to leave without drinking, and the use of irony and humor were used throughout the entire story. Through irony and humor, it made the story a much more amusing one.