First, Joyce characterizes Farrington immediately by the selection of his name. "Farrington" is a standard Irish name, an ancient one, and it d a particular place (meaning literally "place where ferns grow"). This name instantly characterizes Farrington as a kind of Everyman, a typical Irishman whom we might expect to exhibit typical Irish characteristics and struggle with typical Irish issues at the time Joyce was writing.
Throughout the story, Joyce also characterizes Farrington by depicting:
What Farrington does: what actions he takes, and how he reacts to others.
Consider how he sneaks out of work to get a drink, how he pawns his watch (a symbol of orderliness and punctuality) in order to drink more, how he wastes his earnings on impressing his friends by buying drinks for them, and of course, how he beats his child. These are desperate actions. Cornered and trapped as he is by society and by the results of his own poor choices, Farrington takes whatever actions will bring him immediate relief of his suffering.
What Farrington thinks: how he mentally perceives things and how he ruminates silently.
Farrington's thoughts are dominated by anxiety, anger, and an uncontrollable thirst for alcohol. He clearly resents his low, demeaning role in the office, and he seethes over being ignored by the beautiful woman in the bar and by being beaten in the arm-wrestling contest. Reading the story, even though it's written in the third person, is an exhausting trip inside Farrington's invariably negative and frustrated thoughts.
What Farrington says: his spoken words and the tone with which he delivers them.
Think about how he (almost accidentally) sasses his boss, how he retells the story for his drinking friends, and how harshly he speaks to his young son at the end of the evening. These words and the harshness that accompanies them portray Farrington as uneducated, rough, defensive, eager to seize on whatever tenuous opportunities for pleasure or for social advancement come his way, and utterly unable to hold a pleasant conversation.
What Farrington looks like: his physical appearance and movements.
He's heavy, and he walks heavily. This weight and the trudging way he bears it reveal how burdened Farrington is by his own issues. When the narrator emphasizes that Farrington's skin is dark, like wine, we understand how his alcoholism and constant anger have permanently darkened his personality as well as his skin.
How other characters react to Farrington: their tone, words, and actions toward him that reveal who he is.
The frustrated way in which Mr. Alleyne chastises Farrington reveals that this employee has a long history of poor performance. His friends only seem to care about Farrington for the entertainment he provides through the story about his sassing the boss, and for the drinking money he shares. His wife has clearly and wisely made herself scarce when she knew Farrington might be home from his day of work and night of drinking—her absence from the home in favor of the church is an indication of how little she cares about him and how desperate she is to get away from him, even leaving the children alone in the house. And Farrington's son's stuttering, whimpering manner around his father indicate that this is not the first time Farrington has taken out his anger on his young son.
Authors can also build characterization of one person indirectly by allowing others to talk about him when he isn't present in the scene, but in "Counterparts," the narration stays focused on Farrington himself.
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