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The major symbol in the story, the fly can be interpreted as representing the struggle to live and the inevitability of death. Like the transitory nature of memory and grief, the inevitability of death is a major theme that permeates the story; memory, grief, and life itself do not endure.
The Fly. Katherine Mansfield. “The Fly,” written in February 1922, primarily concerns the loss of a young British soldier in World War I and the effects of his death on his father. The story was published the following month in The Nation and Athenaeum. In 1923, after Mansfield’s death at 34, “The Fly” was published in The Doves ...
A classic example of Mansfield’s modernist fiction, ‘The Fly’ is about loss, grief, war, and death, among other themes. You can read the story here before proceeding to the summary and analysis of the story below. The story takes around 10 minutes to read. ‘The Fly’: plot summary. The setting of the story is the office of a man ...
- The Fly Summary
- Background of The Story
- Themes in The Fly
- Characters Analysis
- Literary Analysis
Every Tuesday, Mr. Woodifield visits his former boss’s office in “the City”. On the present Tuesday, he is sitting before the boss in a huge armchair. It makes him appear like a child sneaking out of his stroller with the boss sitting on his desk as a domineering figure. He got retired after having health issues. This situation presents him as a vu...
Katherine Mansfield, in 1922, wrote the short story “The Fly”, just one year before her demise. On the surface level, it seems a simple story of the killing of an irritating fly by a man. However, there are certain deep social, moral, and political meanings to it. It serves as an allegorical tale for the life of Mansfield’s time. Mansfield’s story ...
Effects of War
In “The Fly”, Mansfield presents distressing and heartfelt consequences of World War-I in numerous ways. When Mansfield wrote the story in 1922, England was not yet recovered from the memories of the destructive war. The story occurs in London six years after the war. The unnamed protagonist, the boss, has a conversation with his former employee, Woodifield. Both of them have the same pain as they have lost their young sons in the war. When Woodifield rewinds the account of his daughters’ vis...
Memory
The story recounts the main truth of life i.e. death through the painful recollection of a forgotten memory. As Woodifield visits his former employer, the boss, he struggles from a memory loss in which he is unable to revive something forgotten. He is a weak, forgetful, and frail person who is contrasted with the youthful energy of the boss. However, when Woodifield finally remembers that their sons’ graves lie close to each other, the boss suddenly becomes a feeble and distressed figure who...
Masculinity
The boss identifies a traditional masculine figure in “The Fly” as he veils his son’s grief under his masculinity. He asserts his superiority over other characters and in turn, demands reverence and obedience. Although he loses his only son in World War-I, he runs a successful business and a respected life. As he is reminded of his son, the mood of the boss dramatically shifts. He becomes so agonized and senseless that he intentionally kills a fly by dipping it in the ink and watches it die....
The Boss
The boss, an unnamed protagonist, is a successful business owner in London and Mr. Woodifield’s former boss. The boss is presented as a vigorous and strong character at the beginning of the story. He is dominant and is respected by the people. The boss is also commanding over Woodifield and reminds him of his inferiority by showing him new furniture in the office over and again. He also asserts his superiority by calling his former employee “old Woodifield”. He names him such due to his obliv...
Woodifield
Woodifield is the first character to be introduced in the story. He is also the one who breaks the details of the boss’s son’s grave to him and turns his former vigor and strength down. Woodifield is an aged man who suffers from memory loss due to a stroke that was inflicted upon him. He is a frail and dim-eyed man. Woodifield is dependent upon his wife and daughters due to his weak health. For instance, he stays at home locked up for the whole week instead of Tuesday. On Tuesday, he visits h...
The Boss’s Son
When Woodifield reminds the boss about his son’s grave in Belgium, he gets trapped in his wild thoughts about his son. The boss’s son was killed in World War-I. He was the only son and heir to his business. The boss remembers his apprenticeship in his office for one year. He was a talented boy and was popular among the office staff. His son signifies the boss’ materialism because he remembers him as his heir. He thinks that his son was the only person he was setting the business for. Now, Woo...
The writer shapes “The Fly” according to the crucial subjects of contemporary society i.e. effects of war, control, and miseries of death. In the story, Mansfield defines control of the boss over the environment by using his office as the setting of the story. He asserts his superiority over the people and engages in materialistic pleasures to forg...
Katherine Mansfield. The Fly Summary & Analysis. LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Fly, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. On a Tuesday in an office in “the City,” the boss and his former employee Mr. Woodifield are midway through conversation. “Old Woodifield” is seated in an immense ...
Apr 24, 2024 · Example: Grief and Loss: The story revolves around the unnamed boss’s profound grief over his deceased son. His boastful behavior and obsession with the fly are attempts to mask his emotional pain. Examples include the photo of the son on the desk, the boss’s dismissal of Woodifield’s frailty, and his relentless pursuit of the fly.
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The back legs were stuck to the body; the front legs were not to be seen. “Come on,” said the boss. “Look sharp!”. And he stirred it with his pen—in vain. Nothing happened or was likely to happen. The fly was dead. The boss lifted the corpse on the end of the paper-knife and flung it into the wastepaper basket.
