12.

The Fly

By Katherine Mansfield

Summary

The story “The Fly” throws light on the fact that time is a great healer and it conquers
grief.

Mr. Woodifield comes to see his ex-boss. He is retired and is a heart patient. He praises
the new setting and furniture of the office. Then the boss offers him whisky. After
drinking it, Mr. Woodifield remembers what he has forgotten. He tells the boss that his
daughters have visited the graves of the bosses as well as Mr. Woodsfield’s son.
Actually, they have died in a war.

When Mr. Woodifield has gone, the boss remembers his dead son. He tries to have the
same feelings of grief as he felt on the day of his death. However, he fails. For the last
try, he decides to go to the photograph of his son, but a fly in an inkpot attracts his
attention. He forgets all about his son.

He takes the fly out of the inkpot and puts it on a blotting paper. As soon as the fly is
about to fly, he drops a drop of ink on it and enjoys its struggle. At last, the fly dies of
drops of ink. The boss throws it away and orders for a fresh blotting paper. Then he
tries to remember what he was thinking before attending to the fly. It means he forgets
his dead son again.

What is the theme of the story “The Fly”?

No doubt, this is quite established fact that the story “The Fly” is about the conquest of
time over grief. This is the first theme of the story.

To show that time conquers grief the writer presents two characters, Mr. Woodifield and
his ex-boss. Both of them lost their only sons six years ago. It was a long period and it
had healed up their grief.
First, the writer tells us about the state of grief of Mr. Woodifield. He talks about his son
and his grave, but does not feel any pang of grief. This clearly shows that the time has
made him forget his grief.

Then the writer talks about the state of grief of the boss. The Boss believed that time
would not make any difference to his grief. Now his present state of grief is different.
After the departure of old Woodifield, he sits in the chair. He wants to feel the same
pang of grief that he used to feel.

He wants to feel the pang of grief. As a last try, he decides to get up and have a look at
his son’s photograph. However, a fly in the inkpot attracts his attention and he forgets
about his son and the grief in a moment. He starts dropping drops of ink on the fly to
enjoy its struggle. After the death of the fly, he tries to remember what he was thinking,
but cannot. This clearly shows that time has conquered his grief.

Discuss the writer’s views about life, death, and fate as given in her story “The
Fly”.“As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; they kill us for their sport.”
Discuss. What does the Boss do to the fly at the end of the story and what does
the death of the fly signify to him? What is the theme of the story fly?

The second theme of the story “The Fly” is “As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods;
they kill us for their sport.”

When we read the story carefully, we find that the fly in the story symbolizes
helplessness of man before fate. Just like the fly, man tries hard and gets out of the grip
of death for the time being, but fate captures him again. Man has no power to defy fate
and fall an easy prey to it. When we read the story, we find that the writer and all the
characters in the story stand for the fly.

This incident of the fly highly is symbolic. The writer herself died of T.B that was
incurable at that time. Many people were dying at that time. Later, man discovered a
cure for the disease and thought that he had escaped death and had defied fate.
However, just like the Boss, fate dropped another drop – AIDS. Now many people are
dying of it. Now it is the last drop. Just like the fly, people cannot survive it. We hope
that man will discover a cure for it. However, who knows what the next drop is like.

Therefore, we are just like the fly in the story and the Boss is just like a god who kills it
just for his sport. This is the second theme of the story.

What does the fly stand for?Bring out the symbolism in the short story “The Fly”
by Katherine Mansfield.
The fly in the story “The Fly” symbolizes helplessness of man before fate. Man may try
hard to escape his death, but he is not given a chance to escape. Just like the fly, man
tries hard and gets out of the grip of death for the time being, but fate again captures
him. He has no power to defy fate and fall an easy prey to it. When we read the story,
we find that the writer and all the characters in the story stand for the fly.

To convey this idea, the writer tells a brief incident. A fly falls into an inkpot. The boss
sees it, puts it on a blotting paper, and enjoys its struggle. Just when the fly is able to
escape death, drops a drop of ink onto the fly and enjoys its struggle again. At last, the
fly dies of those drops of ink.

This incident of the fly is highly symbolic. The writer herself died of T. B that was
incurable at that time. Many people were dying at that time. Later, man discovered a
cure for the disease. He thought that he had escaped death and had defied fate.
However, just like the boss, fate dropped another drop – the drop of AIDS. Now many
people are dying of it. Now it is the last drop. Just like the fly, people cannot survive it.
We hope that man will discover a cure for it.

However, who knows what the next drop is like.

Describe the reaction of the Boss when he comes to know that Mr. Woodifield’s
daughters have visited the grave of his son.

The reaction of the Boss is that of a father over the death of his only son. However, he
does not express his grief before Mr. Woodifield.

When Mr. Woodifield has gone, he sits in his chair. He asks Mr. Macey that he will see
nobody for half an hour. He wants to feel the same pang of grief. The writer describes
his condition, “He wanted, he intended, he had arranged to weep…” It is a terrible shock
to him when Mr. Woodifield mentions the grave of his son. He imagines his son lying in
his grave. He groans, “My son!” However, no tears come yet.

In the past, in the first months and even years after the death of his son he could not
control his tears. He thought that the time would never change the condition of his grief.
He had developed his business for his son. Everybody liked his son. However, he went
to a war and died. When he received a telegram about his death, he felt the whole place
crashing about his head.

Now the situation is different. Six years have passed and he does not feel the same
pang of grief. As a last try, he decides to get up and have a look at his son’s
photograph. He thinks that by looking at the photograph he will feel the same pang of
grief as he used to feel. However, a fly in the inkpot attracts his attention and he forgets
about his son in a moment. He starts enjoying the struggle of the fly by dropping drops
of ink on it. After the death of the fly, he tries to remember what it was he thinking before
attending to the fly, but cannot.