In "The Drunkard," I believe the story is not purely humorous. Even when reading it the first time, I sensed moments of pathos where the speaker is tying to connect emotionally with the reader. One of the very first moments of pathos I spotted was "mother and I knew the phases and dreaded all the dangers." To me, that sentence-along with those surrounding it- do not evoke humor; they evoke sympathy because the reader pities the mother and the son, since they must often deal with an alcoholic if they know the phases and dread the dangers. The pathos is continued when the father tells his son to "run out in the road and play." The son's emotion is revealed when he begins to think in the next lines about the effects of his father's decision and attempts to stop them because of his emotion toward his mother. A final example of pathos is the mother's reaction at the story's end when the son recalls, "Mother threw herself on me in the bed an kissed me." Obviously, this is much efficacious emotion being performed; everyone can connect with the happiness, pride, and joy that the Mother is feeling because of her son's actions.
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