Abstract This paper introduces, discusses, and analyzes Frank O'Connor's story, "The Drunkard". More specifically, the paper relates the plot of the story, the author's use of narrative voice, the crucial phase of the story, and how, rather than a sad tale of a father's alcoholism, the story becomes a funny and ultimately uplifting tale of how the young boy in the story fulfilled his mother's implied plea to guard his father and to act as a brake upon the man's weakness. The paper concludes that the what seems to be a story of tragedy early on becomes a comic and hopeful tale about a young son making good on a promise to his mother.
From the Paper "Here is the crucial phrase of the story: "To this day I don't know whether he was forswearing me or the drink." This is the punch line that makes the tale into a positive tale, about the father foreswearing drink, rather than a story about either the father's or his son's eventual descent into alcoholism. "My brave little man!" she said with her eyes shining. "It was God did it you were there. You were his guardian angel." The fact that his father eventually foreswore drink indicates the extent to which the incident impacted his father in ways that the boy could not know at the time. However, the mother's joy and the fact that the boy was the father's guardian angel seem to indicate that this incident, for all of its negative implications, was a harbinger of good things to come. The fact that the boy became the drunkard of the title for one night rather than his father is the child's lasting legacy to his family's security, and eventually resulted in his father foreswearing drink for the rest of his life. What seems to be a story of tragedy early on becomes a comic and hopeful tale about a young son making good on a promise to his mother."
Abstract This paper examines how, since his death, there have been two different people with the name of Edgar Allen Poe. It looks at how many readers now believe Edgar Allan Poe was a drunkard and a drug addict who suffered from insanity. This paper points out why and how Poe's reputation was desecrated after his death and looks into both the falsehoods and truths of his life.
From the Paper "Griswold and Poe became acquainted in 1841 in connection to an anthology of poetry on which Griswold was working. Poe had given him some advice in regards to poets and works that he felt should be included in the book, but Griswold disregarded Poe's advice. After the book was published, Poe, who was a critic, stated in a review that some of the poets who made their appearance were "too mediocre to entitle them to particular notice". Still, overall the review was a good one, but the negative comment angered Griswold. When a later review that was highly negative of both the book and Griswold's talents was published anonymously, he assumed that Poe was responsible for that review."
Abstract This paper reviews the short story "A Tree. A Rock. A Cloud" by Carson McCullers. The writer describes the main characters of the story, their interaction with each other and explains their literary roles as defined by the author.
From the Paper "There are three central characters, two of whom have minimal dialogue, and only one of whom is given a name. Leo is the owner of the cafe where the story takes place. The newspaper boy who visits the cafe early in the morning while on his rounds is twelve and is never named. The focus is on the drunken man sitting alone at a table, a man who makes a surprising comment to the boy and who then expands on his comment by telling his own story. The situation between the boy and the drunk involves a series of implied contrasts between youth and age, innocence and experience. A secondary contrast is evident between the drunken man and Leo, here between an open and accepting spirit and a closed and angry one. What the drunken man imparts to the boy is a difficult lesson learned, and the rather elliptical way the older man imparts this lesson suggests that the boy will have to learn it for himself, probably through experience, just as the older man has."
