1. What are the sources of humor in this story? Does the humor arise from observation of life or from distortion of life? What elements of the story seem to you funniest?
The sources of humor are somewhat dry but at the same time give off great mental images. Alcohol seems to be the father's downfall when in reality it is his pride that gets him. He is proud to have information others do not and he is proud to be especially good at something. The bad thing about is pride is that when he is particularly happy about something he decides to celebrate with alcohol. Then he is mad at himself for giving in to that temptation, so he drinks to "reprimand" himself in a way. Then he drinks to forget about his previous drinking. That part is pretty amusing as well. The humor arises from the observation of life because he observes how great he is then he is upset that he gave into such temptation. The funniest part of the story is when the young boy is walking home with his dad and there is a sort of role reversal. Larry is being loud and obnoxious to everyone on the way home and his father is being whiny and embarrassed like his son usually is. It seems that when the kid becomes the adult, the adult reverts to a childlike state. Then another part that is humorous is when the mom praises Larry for being drunk because he was her "brave little man" and he was his dad's "guardian angel" (page 352) because he prevented his father from getting drunk which allowed him to go to work the next day.
The sources of humor are somewhat dry but at the same time give off great mental images. Alcohol seems to be the father's downfall when in reality it is his pride that gets him. He is proud to have information others do not and he is proud to be especially good at something. The bad thing about is pride is that when he is particularly happy about something he decides to celebrate with alcohol. Then he is mad at himself for giving in to that temptation, so he drinks to "reprimand" himself in a way. Then he drinks to forget about his previous drinking. That part is pretty amusing as well. The humor arises from the observation of life because he observes how great he is then he is upset that he gave into such temptation. The funniest part of the story is when the young boy is walking home with his dad and there is a sort of role reversal. Larry is being loud and obnoxious to everyone on the way home and his father is being whiny and embarrassed like his son usually is. It seems that when the kid becomes the adult, the adult reverts to a childlike state. Then another part that is humorous is when the mom praises Larry for being drunk because he was her "brave little man" and he was his dad's "guardian angel" (page 352) because he prevented his father from getting drunk which allowed him to go to work the next day.
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