V.S. Pritchett's "The Fly in the Ointment," studies the theme of relationships—here, between a father and his son.
Harold's father's career is crashing around him; when his son comes to the office, the old man is shy with him, an unusual response:
"Hullo, old chap. This is very nice of you, Harold," said the old man shyly.
(This is an extremely accurate glimpse into the human condition by the author: sometimes when an individual is at the "top of his/her game," he can be nasty. When he is sick, depressed or sad, he will soften.) The father seems to have changed. He hasn't always been nice to Harold:
"Come in, Professor," said the father. This was an old family joke. He despised his son, who was, in fact, not a professor but a poorly paid lecturer at a provincial university...
This shy, soft side of the father disappears...
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when Harold mentions that his dad has always been an optimist. The old man goes through a noticeable change, though Harold never saw it before.
...the son noticed for the first time that like all big-faced men his father had two faces. There was the outer face like a soft warm and careless daub of innocent sealing-wax and inside it, as if thumbed there by a seal, was a much smaller one, babyish, shrewd, scared and hard.
The old man explains he has worked hard all his life; if he weren't an optimist, in the middle of losing his business, "I'd finish it" or, he would kill himself. Quickly, his good spirits are restored and he smiles a great deal. The "big face" is back. Then, just as swiftly, he alters again and starts to criticize his son: he is going bald, he doesn't give himself enough credit, he needs to "think big..." (This change in attitude is foreshadowing.)
Irritated, Harold continues to smile. His father moves on to other things, sometimes being critical; but eventually he becomes reflective. He admits he has made mistakes, the biggest one was putting money before anything else:
"Money's been my trouble," said the old man. "I thought I needed money. That's one thing it's taught me. I've done with money. Absolutely done and finished with it. I never want to see another penny as long as I live."
Harold finds it hard to believe this, but he came to support his father and has had to put the difficulties of the past behind him. He has not been treated well by his father (we can infer), but he cares for him nonetheless. Sad for his father, Harold says that had there been any way possible, he would have done whatever was necessary to raise money for him. With the speed of a trap snapping on a hapless mouse, Harold's father says:
Why didn't you tell me before you could raise money? How can you raise it? Where? By when?
Suddenly we are aware that the lesson Harold's father said he had learned has not had a lasting impact. Money still is the most important thing. We can assume that the relationship between the two has not changed: it probably never will. They are locked in this dysfunctional association. Immediately, the old man is demanding details about money from the son he detests. The old man is not much of a father, but Harold is very much the good son.
Pritchett points out that relationships are tricky things, slippery like ice, and hard to predict.