Irony: The Drunkard

"'Never again, never again, not if I live to be a thousand!'
To this day I don't know whether he was forswearing me or the drink."

I thought that this story was much more ironic than humorous. I actually thought this story was somewhat sad. Either way, the main point was that it took the son getting fall-over drunk before the father could realize that he had a problem. That in itself is ironic. It reminds me of how in Health we learned that one is more likely to be an alcoholic if their parent is an alcoholic. People see the awful effects that alcohol have on their parents, but it is also the only example they have ever seen. Maybe that had something to do with why the father changed. He saw that he was making his son turn out the same way he did. He knew that his life when he was a "drunkard" was wrong but he didn't want anyone to worry about him or tell him what to do so he always acted like he was fine. However, once he saw the way that his son was getting drunk, it changed something in him. It is ironic that he had to see the same problem in someone else to recognize it in himself. It was also ironic how the father was acting superior at his friends funeral. He was almost joyous, and he acted arrogant. I think it was his own insecurities though. He knew that people were criticizing him, but he could be proud for at least that moment knowing that he was greater than the man who was dead.