Keeping it from Harold Themes

In “Keeping it from Harold,” the adults in ten-year-old Harold Bramble’s life are greatly concerned with morality. The fact that Harold’s father, Bill Bramble (a.k.a. “Young Porky”) boxes for a living is considered so indecent that Bill is willing to withdraw from one of the most important matches of his career to avoid confessing his double life to his precocious son—a confession, the adults believe, that would offend young Harold’s righteous spiritual principles. Yet…

So seemingly perfect is Harold Bramble that the adults in his life fear that the truth of his father’s profession would damage his delicate sensibilities. Harold’s mother, Jane Bramble, insists that “his very perfection had made necessary a series of evasions and even deliberate falsehoods on the part of herself and her husband.” However, immediately thereafter, the story goes into greater detail about how the couple’s charade began: “While he was a baby it…