# II: The Boy Grew Older explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Ring Lardner.

## What happens

The narrator abandons the third-person style due to confusion with his brothers also named Ring, and recounts his early childhood, including the family's crowded household, his first sweetheart Livid Taylor, and a disastrous attempt to attend the Inaugural Ball in Seattle, which they miss due to train delays.

## Themes in this chapter

### Family and Generational Conflict

The narrator's chaotic family life with many siblings and the humorous description of the 'intramural traffic problem' highlight the challenges of a large household.

### Satire of Media and Business

The absurdity of the Inaugural Ball's location and the impracticality of travel are satirized, mocking the exclusivity and inefficiency of political events.

## Character check-ins

### Ring Lardner

The narrator, who decides to write in first person to avoid confusion with his brothers.

## Key lines

> This autobiography started out to follow the style of Edward Bok and Henry (Peaches) Adams and refer to the hero in the third person, but the idea has been abandoned because in my case it would be confusing on account of two of my interminable brothers also being named Ring.

The narrator initially planned to write in third person but abandoned it because his brothers share the same name, causing confusion.

_Explains the shift to first-person narration._

> A new door was cut into the wall to be used for eat-bound traffic only and my sisters took a course in barking and served as traffic cops, but the situation would of soon gotten intolerable only for nine of the boys suddenly deciding to leave home.

The family's overcrowding was so severe that they had to create a separate door for dining, and the situation was only relieved when many of the brothers left home.

_Highlights the extreme crowding and the humorous solution._

> In March, 1891, a few days before my sixth birthday, the postman brought an invitation, for our whole family, to attend the Inaugural Ball.

When the narrator was almost six, the family received an invitation to the Inaugural Ball.

_Sets up the central anecdote of the chapter._

> The invitations were always purposely sent out so late that only people who lived right near Seattle could hope to get there in time, and they were not invited.

The invitations were deliberately sent late so that only those near Seattle could attend, but those people were not invited.

_Satirizes the exclusivity of the event._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_62_se/chapters/ii-the-boy-grew-older
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_62_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_62_se/chapters