Analyze the character of the elderly man in the story "Dusk" by H.H. Munro (SAKI).

The story "Dusk" by H.H. Munro (known as Saki) tells us
about a man named Norman Gortsby, who wanders around the city at dusk to take a look at
the people who come out at this time of day. Gortsby claims that only those who need to
hide from society, those who are miserable, and those who are in trouble are the ones
who would go out during dusk.

While he is at the park
sitting, he spots an elderly man who sits next to him. Instantly, Gortsby concocts a
profile about this man based solely on his looks. The impression that the elderly man
causes in him makes Gorstby believe that the man must be a loner, an angry man, and
someone who is ignored. This, he bases on the fact that the elderly man is not showy,
nor dressed to impress.

The story describes the elderly man
in the following manner:

an elderly gentleman with
a drooping air of defiance that was probably the remaining vestige of self-respect in an
individual who had ceased to defy successfully anybody or anything. His clothes could
scarcely be called shabby, at least they passed muster in the half-light, but one's
imagination could not have pictured the wearer embarking on the purchase of a half-crown
box of chocolates or laying out ninepence on a carnation buttonhole. He belonged
unmistakably to that forlorn orchestra to whose piping no one dances; he was one of the
world's lamenters who induce no responsive
weeping.

What we actually see is the figure of a
simple man. He is not flashy, petulant, nor asks for anything. He is the typical social
figure that seems to dissappear in the crowds precisely because of its simple and
transparent nature. However, to Normal Gorstby, these characteristics are symbols of a
weakness of character. As a result, he feels repulsed by the
man.

Contrastingly, when the flashy youth shows up and
tells him the lies that he invents (to get money from Gortsby), Gortsby immediately
feels a tendency to believe him and even identifies himself with the youth. When the
young man tells him that he needs money because he has lost the address to his hotel,
AND a bar of soap from the chemist shop, Gortsby does not believe him. However, when a
bar of soap happens to show up underneath the sit where the youth was sitting, Gorstby
resolved to loan him money and send him on his way.

In the
end, we know that the elderly man is the actual owner of the bar of soap, that he is
probably the one who lost it, that the youth may have even stolen it from him, and that
Gorstby has been duped. This is the lesson to be learned: Age, demeanor and appearance
do not dictate morals nor character. One cannot judge a book by its
cover.