1 Name: Priyanka Patel Year: 2012-13

STORY: THE FLY

The Fly is a story penned down by Katherine Mansfield. This story has been rated among the fifteen finest short stories ever written. The story begins with a retired, enfeeble old man, Mr. Woodifield. As per the tradition, Mr. Woodifield was on his visit to the office where he worked before suffering a stroke. The boss, who was in quite friendly terms with Mr. Woodifield, was stout and fit, 5 years older than his employee. When the boss was explaining him how he had once done up his room, Woodifield notices that the boss does not point out to the photograph of a grave looking boy in uniform. Though the whole room was renovated, this old photograph wasnt changed. While both of them were talking, Woodifield suddenly recalled something but as he was on his last pins, his memory betrayed him and he forgot what he was going to tell. His hands were trembling and patches of red showed above his beard. To make him feel okay, boss poured out whiskey in two tumblers, offering one to Woodifield though it was against doctors orders. As they enjoyed the drinks, Woodifield suddenly remembered what he wanted to tell. His daughters had recently been to Belgium where they had visited their brothers gravesite. They noticed bosss sons gravesite was nearby. Woodifield paused, expecting some reaction from the other side. But as no reaction came, he continued saying that the girls reported that the gravesite was in a very good condition. When Woodifield asked whether he had been there, he says no. After talking for sometime, Woodifield leaves. The boss stares blankly for sometime, then orders his clerk to make sure he remains alone and undisturbed for sometime. He closes his door, slumps into his chair and covers his face with his hands. He wanted to; he intended to, he had arranged to weep. Woodifields remark about the boys grave had come up with a terrible shock. Six years had passed but it seemed that the letter informing him about his sons death was read by him just yesterday. He tried to cry, remembering all those moments in office and home which he had spent with his son, but no tears came, and finally he gave up. At that moment, he saw that a fly had fallen in his inkpot and was struggling to get free. The boss lifted the fly and kept it on the blotting paper. He observed the fly cleaning herself, joyfully as she had narrowly escaped death. When it was about to fly, boss dropped some ink on fly and again the struggle to clean began. Boss was impressed by the flys fighting spirit. Again when fly had cleaned herself, boss dropped another drop of ink on her. But this time, the fly was not able to stir and died. Boss lifted the corpse and threw it in the dustbin. The Fly is such a story that it is left open to social criticism with allegory and symbolism in subtle ways, forcing readers to determine for themselves what a story may actually means. Mansfield never explained exactly what she meant The Fly to signify and thus the story has various interpretations. This story has often been seen as an indication towards the brutal horrors of World Wars along with hopelessness and despair. Many scholars say that in the story the time of death of two sons coincides with the death of Mansfields brothers death, a victim in war. During the war, no care was taken of the dead bodies and they were often left on the ground for flies, vultures and eagles to feed on. Some critics have pointed out that this story represents Mansfield only who was struggling to fight with life threatening tuberculosis, only to be crushed in the end by a selfish and cruel father much like the boss in her story. In the story much attention is paid to central character of the boss. There has been a debate over a point whether the boss is sympathetic or not. Most critics say that he is a symbol of malignant forces that are motiveless, a representative of the generation that has sent its sons to their slaughter in a cruel war. For his own pleasures, he bullied the fly. Never ever in the 6 years he went to visit his own sons graveyard. Thus these sad emotions may just be a show off to the world that he still grieved for his son. His attitude

2 concerning the death of his son seems very emotional on the face, but he seems to mourn in a very calculated way as evidenced in the line He wanted to, he intended to, he had arranged to weep. However, after the episode of the fly, he had completely forgotten that he had arranged to weep for his son. This is the strong evidence that his surface emotions are not genuine. The images of loved ones are always in heart and to remember them, we dont need a photograph because their images automatically click in front of our eyes when we recall them. But here, to bring tears, to mourn, boss decides and is in need to see the photograph of his son in order to properly mourn when he arranges to do so. Doesnt this act of boss show us that his emotions for his own child are not genuine? However, on the other hand some critics view the boss as a man whose experiments on housefly are the one done unconsciously while mourning, while in pain, grief and despair of his great loss, the loss of his own and the only son. Thus The Fly is a story which can be said a reflection of the times during World War wherein the British military leaders and the elder generation of early twentieth century supported the war out of unthinking patriotism and a childish desire to win the war at any cost, remaining ignorant of the death of thousands of soldiers. The boss can be seen as a symbol of the elder class of British who blindly supported the war and the fly as a symbol of innocent sons sent to the war.