The Fly in the

Ointment
By V.S. Pritchett

Idiom
Someone or something that
spoils a situation which could
have been successful or
pleasant

Essay Questions
How does Pritchett vividly portray the relationship
between Harold and the father in the story The Fly in
the Ointment? Support your answer with details from
the writing
You are Harold. You have offered to raise money for
your father and he asked, By when? Write your
thoughts.

Outline
Younger man visits bankrupt father who is depressed
following the collapse of his business.
Son is a disappointment to his father who looks down on
him, since his work a university professor-, is viewed as a
poor career
Father seems strong until a fly enters the room
Perhaps moved by the visible weakness of his father, the
boy offers him money
At once, passion returns and the father brutally demands to
know why the offer had not been forthcoming at an earlier
date

The Great Depression

Written in 1932, three years after the Wall Street crash
and the Great Depression
Britains recovery from the Great Depression was slow

This links in with Harolds fathers company going

bankrupt and losing all his money

Plot
Mainly focused on one conversation
From the start to the end, the father and son talk
about their recent bankruptcy

The characters minds are gradually built up and

changed throughout the conversation
Portrays the transition of the two different aspects of
the fathers personalities

Characterisation Father and

Son
See handout

Language
Mansfield employs several literary devices to present the
tone and genre:
Metaphor

Foreshadowing
Hyperbole
Simile

Adjectives
Rhetorical Question

Metaphor
Title is a metaphorical use
Fly = son
Ointment = son trying to fix the problem and create a
solution
Also shown in the short story literally by a fly entering
the room and causes such an overreaction by the old
man that foreshadows text that shows that everything
is not the way it used to be and it isnt all right

Foreshadowing
Use of the fathers two faces shows the contrasting
emotions the old man has
He quickly changes his moods throughout this short
story
Readers should be able to see the truth behind the
father

Hyperbole
Now this little inner face had gone greenish.
Exaggeration to show the fact that the father is
frustrated

Simile
Now, like the harvest moon in full glow, the fathers
face shone up at his son.
Harvest moon being compared to fathers face =
illustrates that the fathers caring outer face is
pleasant and harmonious
To show how stressful and dead society is after The
Great Depression

Adjectives help create contrast between rich and poor

and this time

Adjectives
Under the ceiling of level mud-coloured cloud, the
latest office buildings of the city stood out alarmingly
like the new tombstones (P112)
???

Rhetorical Question
Why didnt you tell me before you could raise money?
How can you raise it? Where? By when?
Rhetorical questions are added for the reader to
reflect in real life
Shows how clueless the businessmen were in
England after The Great Depression

Punctuation
The use of different punctuation shows the characters
different emotions more effectively
For heavens sake, he wanted to shout, Dont!

Irritated

I thought youd come along, Ito see how you were.

Im not like youI
-

Shy, nervous, careful

Structure
Typical short story = paragraphs, dialogue, emotive
language
Clearly focuses on a single conversation

Story ends with a sudden twist of the old mans

personality = he changes back to his money loving
side again
Raise it? said the old man sharply. Why didnt you
tell me before you could raise money? How can you
raise it? Where? By when?

Themes = $$$
Lust for money
Desire for money has created conflicts in him and
becomes controlled by it

Raise it? said the old man sharply. Why didnt you
tell me before you could raise money? How can you
raise it? Where? By when?
-

shows excitement

Themes = Double
Personalities
Double personalities = outer and inner face.
Outer face = optimisitc, caring, loving, generous
Inner face = pessimistic, greedy, snobbish, cold,
selfish, money-loving

Themes = Father/Son
Relationship
Father & Son relationship = distant and stoic, might be because
his father has spent 30 years working instead of being a fmaily
man
It was his fathers last day at his factory, the last day of thirty
years work and life among these streets.
Have a cup? No thanks, said the son, I have had my tea.
Very polite to each other which makes them seem distant as if
they are not father and son, but businessmen
Naturally I had to come, said the son, shyly also.
Shyly = uncomfortable with expressing his concerns to his father

Symbolism
Son represents ointment
He tries to comfort his father by visiting him at his
fathers last day of work

Tries to make him feel better and solve the situation

However, there didnt seem to be a good outcome
from the father and ends up overreacting with what is
happening

Symbolism
Son represents fly inside the room
He is the fathers distraction when the son is just
trying to help

Father overreacts about his bankruptcy to his son

when at the end he realises that it is not a big problem
and it was just a tiny disturbance