The Fly in the Ointment Reflection

The Fly in the Ointment

By: V. S. Pritchett

     The Fly in the Ointment is about a young man; Harold, who goes to see his father whose business has just gone bankrupt. The business which took his father 30 years to build from scratch. It is clear from the story that Harold and his father do not get along well due to money which his father cares far too much about. The father is overly conservative and his life revolves around making money. In the story the father and son spend some time together in the father's empty building on the last day before his father will be forced to clear out. While Harold and his father are catching up, a fly enters the room, irritating his father. After the little fiasco with the fly, which was never caught or forced out of the room, the father declares that he will be leaving his old money-loving ways behind him as soon as he steps out of his business building doors. Unfortunately, as soon as Harold mentions something about being able to raise money for his father, if it becomes necessary, his father forgets all about his earlier speech and proves that he never really did change, jumping at the thought of making money. 

     What I found challenging about this story was that I struggled to find a connection between the story and the title. I understand why the fly is mentioned in the title as I feel that it symbolizes change, on the other hand I don't quite understand why ointment was mentioned in the title. Ointment is used to heal things, so maybe it was hinting towards the father being healed from his love of money, because it is clear that money was a huge problem in his life as it came between his relationship with his family members. I like that the title was thought provoking; it made the story more interesting. Nobody in my literature circle group could think of how ointment was related to the story but it made for a good discussion so I think that the bit of confusion in the title helped us to use our imaginations and think outside the box.

     I think that the part of the story where the father was annoyed about the fly in the office was very significant because to me it symbolized his inadaptability; his inability and unwillingness to accept change. It is stated in the story that normally with all the machines and people bustling about, a fly would not be heard in the office and I think that is the true reason why the man was so infuriated by it. The fly reminded him that his business was bankrupt, that from then onwards things were going to be different. Obviously something that is a reminder of losing 30 years of hard work would annoy a person but even more so for Harold's father who was utterly obsessed with money. When the father tired and got down from the table (giving up on getting rid of the fly), with the help of his son, that seemed to be him accepting that he couldn't make the fly go away and I interpreted that as him accepting that he was bankrupt, that there was nothing he could do to save his company.

     It is interesting to see how the father goes from one extreme to the other. First, he is portrayed as a man who loves money above all else and then he tries to come across as someone who no long cares for money, who is so naive as to believe that he can live a peaceful life in a cottage without money. It is ironic how a man, who spent so many years trying to make and save money, ended up bankrupt and how he lectured Harold, his son, who came to visit him, about how experience had taught him that money wasn't everything. This being the same son whom he had neglected and whom had a bad relationship with because of his obsession with money. Although the father declared that he had changed his views on wealth, his statements were exaggerated, hinting that the reader should believe no such thing and ultimately that turned out to be justified with the father still thinking primarily about money which made the conclusion predictable.

     To me, the fathers "change" in perspective was a pathetic attempt at maturity, he was trying to show that he could deal with his life and that money didn't mean everything to him, which clearly it did. Although the father is depicted as a cheating scumbag, Harold manages to come off as a subdued, more sincere character. He was moral enough to go and see his father and offer him help in his time of need and even felt ashamed of himself for dreading having to be there for his father, though he had every right to dread it, due to their personal/monetary issues.

     The father is someone who cares more about money than his own son which disgusts me and makes me feel bad for Harold. It made me think of the world today and how corrupt it is. It's sad how some people care more about money than their fellow human beings. From my perspective the father represented a government and Harold, a nation and it seemed to me as though the story was a discrete representation of corruption. Corrupt governments waste money, using it for their own benefits and they abuse their power, crippling their own nation and their own people. Some people of power and influence let money become more important to them than caring for their own much like how the father let money become the central factor in his life, he made it more important than anyone or anything else. Corruption aside, I think the clearer message from the story was that old habits die hard. Change is a process, which isn't simply dealt with overnight. It takes time. I also think that the author was exploring the thought that even when people do change, their past is always with them and therefore new experiences are capable of bringing back old habits.

     I would recommend this book to people who like descriptive writing or thought-provoking stories. I don't like writing that's very descriptive because I feel that it disrupts the flow of the story but the description in The Fly in the Ointment was not too detailed, but enough so to inspire images for unusual ideas.