The Fly by Mansfield

Considering the short story on the fly by Mansfield, one can identify many themes such as ignorance, war, sacrifice, death, control, and responsibility. Obtained from her other work of writing and collection of works, the fly is described in the third person with an unidentified person and after getting to read the story each reader can identify that the author might be using the setting of another story names the boss office in order to give more information regarding the theme of control. Through reading, one can also identify that Woodifield has given some information to the boss with regards to the office. The office has also been decorated according to how the boss wants it to appear. This is very important since it indicates that the boss has the control over the office which is the environment he occupies (Kimber 4). The reader can also sense that the boss during the time he is dropping some ink from a pen to the fly applies some level of control. During the first time, he puts a single or two drops of the ink to the fly before he thinks of applying some more. Many times he appears to be in control over the whole situation. The boss is also in control in a situation when he asks Macey to not disturb him. It is very clear that by highlighting the ideas that there is a boss and who controls the environment and other areas, Mansfield has not indicated who the boss is to the reader but in the same sense likening the actions performed by the boss compared to those of the generals who tried to control and outline the results of the first world war.

There is also a theme of death in the setting which can be identified as the main theme in the short story by Mansfield. This can be termed as perhaps one of the darkest works of Mansfield since it is an existential notation of the implications of senseless deaths to others and their loss of the will. Looking at the desk of the boss, there is a photograph of the son who was a youth and who the world war one took when it happened. Since the young man was buried in the country of Belgium, his family had no advantage of experiencing the realism of their son’s death (Kimber 56). And since the boss had never come into terms fully that the son is dead, he becomes very disturbed when one of his former employees by the name of Woodifield visits him and tells him about how the daughter traveled to Belgium. When the girls had been in the cemetery where the brother who died in a war was buried, they make a discovery of where he was buried. At this time, the boss does not make any comment regarding this revelation and instead makes a simple remark on the information given by Woodifield terming it as a daughter’s purchase of jam and eventually follows Woodifield as he walks out of the door. For a very long time, the boss stood, staring while the office messenger who was watching him come in and out of the cubby hole like something that is exited over a minor issue. The boss ordered Macey not to allow anyone else to his office for the next one hour.

Very terrified by the death of his son, the boss just sits without any movements. The boss lived to allow his son to take over the management of the business after he gets back which is something that never happened. Now he contemplates that the only result after being alive is death. When looking at the photo, it seems that it is different from any other time he has ever looked at it (Kimber 78). Then a fly from up falls into the ink of the boss and he uses the pen to remove it. The fly has the capacity of cleaning itself the ink and even tests its wings. Before the fly takes off, the boss inserts it into the ink pot again. The fly tries again and again and it finally flies away. Finally, the boss says it is the last time according to the agent of fate. The death of the fly can well be symbolized as the death of the will. Woodifield has this time round been weakened since he is suffering from stroke and his strength is slowly diminishing. Through the obeying the orders by the boss, Macey is also suffering from the death of will. The boss has a death will to face since the son is dead makes him treat other people wrong.

Symbolism can be identified from the story. The fly can be used to signify the young men who were obligated to fight in the war and just like the fly, died in the field. The pen used by the boss has some important symbolism. Just like he uses the pen to pour ink on the fly and kills it, in the end, the continued signing by the general during the war resulted in the death of many young men which is of no importance (Kimber 40). The description of the grave of the son by Woodifield can also symbolize a large number of people who died from the war in Belgium. When the boss is looking at the photo of his son, he notes that the look can be cold and stern-looking. Mansfield might be suggesting that even though the son is long dead if he was still alive the same look would be identified just like the old generals in the World War I. 

The setting of the short story can be related to the time during the World War I where many people died as a result of the war. The office if the boss is the main physical setting which very decorated and which signifies the type of comfort the British upper-middle-class people enjoy. The social setting gives credit of the First World War and the aging British middle-class individuals. Both the boss and Woodifield have lost their sons as a result of the war and they are now lonely and aging without any generation to follow.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works cited

Kimber, Gerri. Katherine Mansfield and the Art of the Short Story. Springer, 2014.

Mansfield, Katherine. "Katherine Mansfield: The Complete Collection." (2016).