# X: N.Y. To Grenitch 500.0 explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Ring Lardner.

## What happens

The narrator and his father attempt to drive from Manhattan to their new home in Greenwich, Connecticut, but get lost on the Grand Concourse and nearly head toward Pittsfield. After turning around, they reach New Rochelle and ask a policeman for directions. The father misinterprets the policeman's advice about the Boston Post Road and accelerates away, leaving the officer behind.

## Themes in this chapter

### Family and Generational Conflict

The father's terse 'Shut up' to the child's question highlights a strained, humorous dynamic between generations.

### Satire of Media and Business

The father's misunderstanding of 'Boston Post' as a newspaper subscription satirizes media consumption and literal-mindedness.

## Character check-ins

### Bert

Narrator of the chapter, traveling with his father to their new home.

### Mr. Grant

The father, driving and getting lost on the way to Greenwich.

## Key lines

> Are you lost daddy I arsked tenderly. Shut up he explained.

The child asks if they are lost, and the father curtly tells him to be quiet.

_Shows the father's irritation and the child's innocent questioning._

> Take the Boston post replid the policeman. I have all ready subscribed to one out of town paper said my father and steped on the gas

The policeman advises taking the Boston Post Road, but the father misinterprets it as a newspaper and speeds off.

_A humorous misunderstanding highlighting the father's literal interpretation._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_62_se/chapters/x-n-y-to-grenitch-500-0
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_62_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_62_se/chapters