Compare and contrast Harold's character with his father in both physical appearance and characteristics in the story "The Fly in the Ointment.""Fly...

In V.S. Pritchett's "The Fly in the Ointment," Harold and
his father are only slightly similar in appearance. Neither is tall. However, where
Harold his going bald, doesn't stand straight and isn't dressed well, his father is a
commanding figure, dressed quite nicely.

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They were both short. The father was
well-dressed in an excellent navy-blue suit. He was a vigorous, broad man with a pleased
impish smile. The sun burn shone through the clipped white hair of his head and he had
the simple, trim, open-air look of a snow man. The son beside him was round-shouldered
and shabby, a keen but anxious fellow in need of a hair-cut and going
bald.

It would be safe to
say, also, that the men are very different in how they act. Generally, the father is
cheerful and outgoing, showing a big face, but then (Harold notices) a small-face
emerges: one that is "babyish, shrewd, scared and hard." This seems to be the face he
has shown Harold in the past, but Harold only now realizes the two sides of his father.
The old man actually detests Harold, but seems to shyly appreciate his son's presence as
he is forced to vacate his business in the face of bankruptcy, after thirty
years.

The old man speaks of letting things go; he admits
that he has made mistakes, putting money before everything else. It would appear that he
is finally seeing the world through new eyes, and making the best of the situtation.
Harold, who is so sorry for his father's plight and feels so sad, tells his father that
had there been any way to raise money for him,
he would have done so. Immediately, with the speed of a cobra's strike, his father spins
on the word "money" and demands the details of how his son will get the money, and why
hadn't he said something before.

The reader finds that the
old man has not changed. He is willing to take what he can get from
the son he despises, and he has learned nothing in losing his business. Harold, on the
other hand, is a decent son, though not well thought of by his father. Knowing how
difficult his dad can be, he still resolves to be there to support his father through
this difficult time.

The old man may look the part of a
successful business man, but Harold acts the part of a decent and
loving son. This is echoed in the title of another of Pritchett's works, "Handsome Is as
Handsome Does."