"The Drundard" by Frank O'Conner

In the story, "The Drunkard" by Frank O'Conner, the son, Larry, takes on four different perspectives on drunkenness by different characters in the story. The different perspectives are shameful, pitiful, funny, and a blessing. The son's father was shameful of his son's drunkenness. He worried about how the neighborhood would view him on having a son that was drunk. The father had a "shameful desire" (349) to get him home quickly. He shows his embarrassment when …

…got drunk instead of her husband he went to work the next morning. Therefore, she saw it as God intervening and using her son as her husband's guardian angel so that he would not miss work. The boy, himself, found his drunkenness to be a mixture of things, from wonderful and grownup to shameful and sickening. In the end we see that depending on the source the boy's drunkenness can be perceived many different ways.