Lardner’s

Lardner’s is a liquor store in the world of Eileen’s life in X-ville, appearing as a place her father visits for alcohol and as a stop Eileen sometimes considers on her way home. Its brief appearances connect ordinary errands with the strains of the household: her father’s drinking, his fear of imagined pursuers, and Eileen’s growing focus on a life beyond caring for him.

Setting and appearances

The store enters the narrative through several references rather than an extended description. On one evening, Eileen is too tired to stop there on her way home. At another point, her father announces that it is open, and later Eileen drives him there. The episodes place Lardner’s within the practical geography of their daily life, but do not establish a precise address or describe the premises beyond its counter and shelves.

The Christmas-period visit

During a holiday-period outing, Eileen drives her father through the city and stops at Lardner’s. He speaks quietly to Mr. Lewis behind the counter, orders a case of gin, and takes bags of potato chips from the shelf. Eileen buys a bottle of wine for her planned evening at Rebecca’s house. The same errand thus serves distinct purposes: her father stocks up on gin while Eileen prepares for a social occasion of her own.

On the return drive, her father lies across the back seat, shaken by his fear that people are pursuing him. At home, he scrambles through a window rather than wait for Eileen to unlock the door, then hurries inside with bottles of gin. The purchase at Lardner’s is part of this larger episode of fear and drinking, though the store itself is presented matter-of-factly as the place where he obtains what he wants.

Narrative significance

Lardner’s recurs at moments when Eileen’s attention is divided between her father’s needs and her own. On the evening she does not stop, she reflects that his need for a drink is his responsibility; during the later visit, she buys wine for an evening centered on Rebecca. The contrast makes the store more than a background business: it marks the ordinary transactions through which her father’s dependence continues, even as Eileen directs her energy toward plans outside the household.