Potpourri Blog #2

"The Drunkard" #4
The title is not seriously meant. It is a form of irony, which adds to the humor of the story. The story's humor is caused by the irony in the story. The irony that the title refers to is the most important ironic event in the story. This is the boy getting drunk. The boy drinks his father's beer, and the father is the alcoholic. The father is the one who is expected to get drunk in the story. In the beginnning it refers to his drinking patterns(page 344), which occur at funerals usually. Since the boy and father are at a funeral, the reader would expect the father to get drunk. Ironically, it is his son. The reversal of roles between the son and father causes other ironies in the story. It also reveals the source of humor, irony. The title refers to the son since he is the one who gets drunk. The father is expected to be the one, but he is not.