The Drunkard

I did not find this story to be humorous. I could recognize the irony of the situation, the reversal of expectation, the image of the cute little boy staggering home and swearing loudly at the neighbors, but personally I was just utterly unable to derive any amusement from any of those things. It might possibly have a bit to do with the subject matter, who knows. Tom Hanks stuck in a dry cleaning bag is funny, but this was not.

He gets out eventually.

I'll go ahead and analyze those things anyway, despite their unfunny nature. There's a bit of irony here. The son refers to himself as a "brake," or as something that is supposed to stop the father from drinking. So the audience expects little Larry to pull off some guilt trip, maybe cry a little, in order to get Daddy home sober. What actually ends up happening, however, is that Larry ends up drinking off Daddy's lager and bashes his skull into the wall. Hohoho, doesn't that just tickle the funny bone? However, through his severely intoxicated actions, he actually manages to keep his father from drinking. Kudos, Larry. It is particularly noteworthy to state that his previous efforts of attempting to divert Daddy away from the pub ultimately failed, so it makes it even more ironic that getting drunk would actually end up being the solution to his problems. There is of course, the reversal of expectation in that the reader expects Daddy to get plastered, but in fact, it is Larry who ends up a'stumbling home. Hohoho, I just taste the hilarity. The best, most hilariousest part of all, however, happens to be in that last little paragraph when Mother calls Larry his Father's guardian angel and implying that it was God's will that he get so severely intoxicated. One would expect Mother to be outraged that her precious little boy is drunk and bleeding profusely from the head, but rather she views it as divine intervention and pretty much the grandest thing since sliced bread. Hohoho, I must struggle to fight back the tears of laughter.

Serious dog and I have a lot in common.