"I was still thirsty. I found if I stood on tiptoe I could just reach Father's glass, and the idea occurred to me that it would be interesting to know what the contents were like. He had his back to it and wouldn't notice. I took down the glass and sipped cautiously. It was a terrible disappointment. I was astonished that he could even drink such stuff. It looked as if he had never tried lemonade" (page 347).
There are many sources of humor in this story. First off, the boy starts off the story acting as if he is annoyed with his father's drinking. I find it funny that the boy ends up drinking himself. Irony fills this story. For instance, on page 345, the author states that "The father was stepping out like a boy, pleased with everything." I just find it ironic that the father acts like a boy at time, and that the boy acts like an actual drunkard. It's as if they switched roles. It is also humorous when the boy yells at ladies who laugh at him. He cusses. It is also funny who the twelve year old boy "thinks deeply about life / death." It's just an interesting story. THe humor arises from distortion of life because everything is kind of out of whack. There are also undertones of pathos. For instance, the mother thinks that the boy drank because he was trying to protect his father. The mother is proud of him, even though this really wasn't the case at all. The boy was just curious. It shows that he is human. I feel that the central theme of this story is that parents definitely influence their children to act a certain way. However, everyone is given the choices to live justly and accordingly. The title refers to the boy. At first, I thought that the title was referring to the boy's dad. Then I realized that this is probably also talking about the son. Maybe it is like that common phrase: "like father like son..."
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