The Fly (short story)

"The Fly" is a 1922 short story written by Katherine Mansfield. The text was first published in "The Nation & Athenaeum" on 18 March 1922 and it later appeared in "The Dove's Nest and Other Stories. [Katherine Mansfield, "Selected Stories", Oxford World's Classics, explanatory notes]

Plot summary

Woodifield, an old and infirm gentleman, is talking to the boss, his friend, who is five years older than he is and 'still going strong'. The latter apparently enjoys showing off his redecorated office to Woodifield, with new furniture and electric heating, yet an old picture of his deceased son. Woodifield wants to tell the boss something, but cannot remember what it was, when the boss offers him some whisky. After drinking, his memory is refreshed and Woodifield talks about a recent visit that "the girls" (his two daughters) made to their sons' graves. We now come to know that both their sons had died in the war. After Woodifield leaves, the boss sits down at his table, calls the office boy and tells him that he does not want to be disturbed. He is extremely perturbed at the sudden reference to his dead son, but does not manage to weep. He looks at his son's photo, and then notices a fly that was struggling to get out of his inkpot. The boss helps it out of the inkpot and observes how it dries itself, with some amount of admiration. Just when the fly is dry and safe, the boss has an idea and starts playing with the fly by dropping ink on it. When it dies, he throws the blotting paper with it into the wastepaper basket, and asks his servant for more blotting paper.

Characters in "The Fly"

*Woodifield, an old and infirm man, who is only allowed to leave his house on Tuesdays. He lives with his wife and daughter.
*the boss, a well-off friend of his, who has lost a son to World War I.
*Macey, the boss's servant.
*the fly

Major themes

*The deathly toll of World War I on the youth.

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.inlex.org/stories/mansfield/thefly.html Full text]
* [http://www.enotes.com/short-story-criticism/fly-katherine-mansfield/introduction?print=1 Short Story Criticism]