In James Joyce's "Counterparts," Mr. Alleyne complains that Farrington always has "some excuse or another for shirking work" and that he must "[u]nderstand once and for all that you get half an hour for your lunch and not an hour and a half." Mr. Alleyne's comments about Farrington are perfectly accurate. Farrington is lazy, immature and suffers from an inferiority complex. In addition, he's not particularly bright.
These traits can be seen in Farrington's reaction to these comments. He returns to his desk for a few minutes and begins his work, but he decides he needs to escape the office and heads down to the pub for a "glass of plain porter." After returning to the office, Farrington insults Mr. Alleyne. His first reaction isn't to apologize out of concern for his job and, by extension, his family, but to head to a pawn shop to sell his watch so he could enjoy a night out. This lack of responsibility, coupled with Farrington's immaturity, prompts him to spend his money at the pub bragging about his insult to his boss. Despite being a married man, he attempts to woo a woman and then, in order to prove his masculinity, he attempts to arm wrestle a friend, but loses.
After this defeat at arm wrestling, Farrington goes home feeling "humiliated and discontented ... He cursed everything." Because of his inferiority complex and his "shirking" of responsibility, Farrington takes out his anger on his son, whom he forgot was going to be home alone that night. He beats his son for not keeping his food warm, but really because he feels the need to show his superiority over someone.
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