Care Of His Sick Mother example essay topic

Character Analysis of The little boy from "The Man of the House" by Frank O'Connor The story opens with the boy, whom to this point had ignored his mothers coughs, drops everything to rush to her aid as she "collapsed into a little wicker armchair, holding her side". (O'Connor 206) As he watched his mother struggle trying to light the fire he told her, "Go back to bed and Ill light the fire". (206) Now to this point, as the reader, I am unsure of the age of the boy, but I get the impression that he is a young boy. My idea of this boy is that he tries to take on too much throughout the day and eventually it was the demise of the opposite sex that eventually caused the meltdown of the "awesome" little boy. This is certainly something that will happen again to this young lad but he has definitely learned his lesson this time. The young boy while tending to his mother also did the following things to try and help her get better because of how sick she was at the time.

When he made her some tea and it was a little strong he agreed with her in a manner of almost trying to be equal saying that " "'Tis too strong", I agreed cheerfully, remembering the patience of the saints in their many afflictions. "I'll pour half of it out". ... " 'Tis my fault", I said, taking the cup. "I can never remember about tea". (207) When the young boy says this I feel that he is trying to act as if he is older than he really is because he is "the man of the house" and he is taking care of his sick mother.

Also, while he has been taking care of his mother, he decides not to go to school today because taking care of his mother is much more important to him than going to school. After he turns down the bus ride to school he offers to go to the store to pick up a few things that his mother might want to get but is certainly unable being laid up in bed all day. So he offer to get eggs because " "What will I get for dinner? Eggs?" As hard boiled eggs were the only dish I could manage". (207) I believe that in this exchange he denotes his young age because all he could make is a simple kind of dish that a lot of people and young people certainly know how to prepare. While he was on his way to the store he passed his school and stood and stared for a few minutes.

I think in a way he was thinking of what life might be like outside of his little school because he feels like he is already there in a way because of how he has had to be the man and take care of the things while his mother was a little sick. When the young boy arrived after going to the store he found his mother with one of her good friends sitting by her side". "How are you, Mum?" I asked. "Grand", said my mother with a smile". (208) Here, I believe his mother was certainly proud of the boy she has raised because of how her son has been such a help to her while she has been sick. She also said to her friend that he was, "As good as gold", (208) when her friend asked her how he was as a son.

When the afternoon arrived, his mother told him he should go play and not to worry about her. But, when he went outside all he could think about was his mother and how he wouldn't respond fast enough if he were too far away. For instance if he was in. ".. the Rockies, the Himalayas, or the Highlands, according to your mood". (208) I again think that this is another reference to how young this boy may be even though we have never really gotten his actual age. Later that night, he ran into his mothers' friend, Minnie Ryan and she tells him", "If she's not better in the morning, I think I'd get the doctor, Flurry". (208) After talking briefly with Miss Ryan, she gives him the quick remedy of a shot of whiskey with a squeeze of lemon.

So of course, the young boy, whose name is never really mentioned either, runs to the closest "public house" (209) and asked for a shot of whiskey for his mother. The bartender looked at him, cracked a joke and when asked for a shot of whiskey for his mother his response was", "Pretending 'tis for his mother, and the last time I seen him he had to be carried home". ... to which the barmaid said, "Ah, let the child alone, Johnnie", and she gave him the whiskey and while still frightened from the men in the public house ran off to fine a lemon". (209) When he finally came home with the whiskey and the lemon, she drank it and fell right to sleep. Throughout the night, his mother coughing and "rambling in her talk" waked him up.

(209) The next morning seemed to be no better and he really felt a little nervous and compelled to do something for his poor mother. So he went to fetch a doctor and when he came home he had to prepare the house for the doctor to arrive and that meant he had to. ".. have a basin of water and soap and a clean towel laid out for him, and I had to go get dinner, too". (210) This shows me this young boy seems to be starting to take a little more on than maybe he is really supposed to. I believe it may be a little too much for him to do at such a young age.

Now when the doctor comes, he prescribes a certain kind of syrup for his mother and the only place around that would have it is the "North Dispensary" and it was a long trip, especially for a little boy. On his long trek he passes a church and vows to spend the one penny he got from his mother on a candle to help heal his mother quickly. When he arrived at the pharmacy there was a little girl that ended up being quite talkative. They ended up hanging out a bit after they left and she got the nice young boy to drink all of his mother's cough syrup for fun and he spent the money on sweets. So in conclusion, I enjoyed to story and I think the boy is very interesting and he will be grow to be quite the gentlemen when he gets to be a little older. But, until then he certainly has a quite a bit to learn as plenty of time to learn it in.

Works Cite dO " Connor, Frank. "The Man of the House". 50 Great Short Stories. New York: Bantam, 1952 206-213.