In this novel, by Carlos Fuentes, the character of the old gringo acts as a father figure to General Arroyo and Miss Harriet. The old gringo's actions as a father figure towards Arroyo and Harriet have both similarities and differences.
First, there is a strong relationship between the old gringo and Harriet which straddles the line of father-daughter and sometimes goes more towards the physical attraction that the old gringo has for Harriet. Generally speaking though, the old gringo feels like he should be more of a father and a protector of Harriet. Not only does he feel he should do this, he is told this by Arroyo. Arroyo gives the old gringo specific orders to she that she keeps out of harm (36). Nevertheless, from the moment the old gringo set eyes on Harriet he felt that it was his duty to try and protect her. In the midst of the house Harriet worked at being burned down and her wanting to stay the old gringo thought to himself, she must be forewarned (33). This was directly related to the fact that Harriet resembled many girls in his life, including his daughter (33).
The feeling of the father-daughter relationship was without doubt returned by Harriet. She too felt that there was a family feeling between the two of them. In the quote, " accept in her father's name the old gringo she wanted to see and listen to, not as a journalist, but as a military man lost in action, lost in the desert with no comfort but hers, his compatriot imbued with notion of military honor and of the succor due compatriots in a foreign land" (72). Here she wants to find in the old gringo something she had lost, her actual father who she claimed was lost in a war but really ran away to be with another woman. These feelings are further felt when she begins to question the old gringo about his daughter. She uses the lost relationship between her and her father and relates it to the old gringo and his daughter.