The Fly by Katherine Mansfield PDF

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Summary

When it was first published in the The Nation and Athenaeum in 1922, it was dubbed "The Fly." Mansfield was grieving the death of her brother, who died in a military training accident shortly before he was to be deployed to France at the start of World War I. At the time of the interview, Mansfield ...

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The Fly by Katherine Mansfield When it was first published in the The Nation and Athenaeum in 1922, it was dubbed "The Fly." Mansfield was grieving the death of her brother, who died in a military training accident shortly before he was to be deployed to France at the start of World War I. At the time of the interview, Mansfield was grieving the loss of her brother. Mansfield was also gravely ill with tuberculosis at the time of the writing of the novel, which would ultimately lead to her untimely death at the age of thirty-four. These biographical considerations have a significant impact on the text. It has received mixed reviews, particularly when it comes to the story's central symbolism, which has been a source of controversy. There is disagreement among critics as to what the fly actually represents. Katherine? Who is the boss? Is it something completely different? There has also been disagreement among critics about the overall quality of the story. When The Guardian published a review of "The Fly" in 2008, Chris Powers described it as "melodramatic, clumsy, and at times unbearably sentimental." But "The Fly" has been hailed for its dark portrayal of the impact of World War I on European society, as well as the psychological effects of loss and grief more generally on the human psyche. The novel "The Fly" by Katherine Mansfield begins in a city office, where two old friends are paying a visit. Having suffered a stroke, Mr. Woodifield has been forced to retire, and his wife and daughters only allow him to leave the house once a week for social visits with friends. Today is one of those social occasions; Mr. Woodifield has travelled into the city to pay a visit to his friend, the boss, who is considerably older than Mr. Woodifield but is still going strong. They exchange pleasantries as the visit draws to a close; Mr. Woodifield expresses his admiration for the boss' office, and the boss confirms that it has been recently redone.... The atmosphere changes when Mr. Woodifield recalls something he had intended to tell the boss: that his daughters had discovered the grave of the boss' son in Belgium, and that it had been well-cared for since then. While the news of his son's death is barely acknowledged by his boss, Mr. Woodifield is overcome with emotion as soon as he leaves his office. Everything else is centred on the boss' internal experience as he prepares to cry but is unable to do so for reasons that are not entirely clear. He recalls the day he learned that his son had been killed in action during World War II, and how it ruined his life and caused him to lose sight of his dream that his son would take over the family business. The boss then notices that a fly has fallen into his ink pot, which he promptly removes. Then he takes it out of the water and marvels at the way the fly slowly and patiently cleans itself of ink until it is once again ready to take on life. A perverse instinct takes over the boss, who proceeds to flick ink down at the fly repeatedly until it is no longer able to clean himself. He places the dead fly in the wastebasket and walks away. He is suddenly overcome with great sorrow and fear, but he is unable to comprehend why; he also has no recollection of what he was thinking about prior to noticing the fly.

Old Mr. Woodifield is sitting in the boss' green leather armchair, right next to his friend, the boss, who is working at his desk. He expresses admiration for the office's cosiness, which causes him to extend his visit's conclusion. He knows it is time to leave, but he is adamant about not leaving. After suffering a stroke that forced him to retire, Mr. Woodifield's wife and daughters have been caring for him at home every day except Tuesdays. On Tuesdays, he is permitted to travel to the city for the day in order to see his friends. Even though his wife and daughters believe that he must be an inconvenience to his friends, Mr. Woodifield finds it to be a great pleasure to spend time with them on a regular basis. As a result, he pays a visit to his boss, who is five years his senior and still in good health, and expresses his admiration for his vigour. The boss, who is idly flipping through his copy of The Financial Times with a paper knife, concurs that his office is comfortable. In fact, he is very proud of his room, and it gives him great pleasure to sit in the middle of it and be admired by the frail old gentleman who lives next door. He explains that he has recently renovated the office, which is an explanation he has previously provided to Mr. Woodifield on numerous occasions during previous visits. He points out the new carpet, which is red with white wings, as well as the new furniture, which includes a bookcase and a table, as well as the new electric heating. However, he makes no comment on the photograph of a boy in uniform, presumably because it is not new. After a brief introduction, Mr. Woodifield begins to inform the boss that he has something important to share with him. With each unsuccessful attempt to recall something, his hands begin to tremble and his cheeks turn red. The boss sympathises with him and, in an attempt to cheer him up, winks and pulls a bottle of whisky from a locked drawer in the corner of his office. Mr. Woodifield is taken aback by the sight of the whiskey and almost tears up, as his wife and daughters have forbidden him from consuming alcoholic beverages at home. The boss responds that they are more knowledgeable than the ladies. Mr. Woodifield receives a tumbler of whiskey from him, which he tells him will be beneficial to his health. Mr. Woodifield takes a sip of his drink and falls silent for a moment. Then, as the whisky begins to warm him, he declares that it has a nutty flavour to it. He recalls what we had intended to say and informs the boss that his daughters, while in Belgium last week to visit their brother Reggie's grave, discovered the grave of the boss' son, which was located nearby. The boss's eyelids quiver, but he doesn't say anything else. Mr. Woodifield goes on to tell him that the graves are extremely wellcared for, as if they were in their own backyard. He inquires as to whether or not the boss has paid a visit to the grave, which he has not done for a variety of reasons. Mr. Woodifield continues, describing the flowers that line the graves as well as the wide, well-kept paths. He pauses, then brightens, as he tells the girls how much the hotel charged them for a pot of jam, which they find outrageous. Mr. Woodifield points out that just because they went to the cemetery to pay their respects does not imply that they should be charged that much.

With that, the visit is officially concluded. Mr. Woodifield is escorted out of the office by the boss, who expresses his enthusiastic support for him without fully understanding what he is supporting. When the elderly gentleman departs, the boss informs the office messenger that he does not wish to be disturbed for the next half hour, and the messenger is instructed to comply. He is finally alone in his office, and he is preparing to cry as he rests his face in the palms of his hands. It had come as a surprise to him when the old man brought up the grave of his son, but he manages to keep his tears at bay for some reason. In the past, during the first few years following the death of his son, the mere thought of his son would cause him to have violent fits of grief. He believed at the time that time would make no difference and that he would never be able to recover from his grief. As the boss's only son, he'd been preparing him to take over the family business for a while. What was the point of it all if not for his son? His son had been working in the office for a year prior to the war, gaining valuable experience. They shared a daily commute back and forth, and the boss was extremely pleased with his son's accomplishments. Everyone adored him; he was a natural in every way. However, it is as if that period of time never existed. Even though it's been six years since he received the news, it could have been yesterday when he received the telegram. However, the boss is no longer able to express his genuine sadness as he would have liked. He gets to his feet and walks over to his son's photograph, but the boy's expression in the photograph is stern and unlike his own, so he ignores it. Just then, the boss notices a fly has fallen into his ink pot and looks down at it to see what he can do about it. It is desperately attempting to climb out of the ink pot, but the edges of the ink pot are too slippery for it to succeed. A blotter is used to catch the insect after it has been lifted from the well by the boss using the tip of his pen. It is the boss who observes as the fly begins to slowly clean itself, ridding itself of the ink that has adhered to its wings so that it can take to the air once more. The boss recognises in the fly's demeanour a sense of excitement, as if life is about to begin anew. The boss, on the other hand, has an idea. When he dips his pen into the inkwell, he sends a drop of ink down towards the fly, which he then catches. The insect remains motionless, stunned, and terrified. However, it then begins the process of cleaning itself from the ground up. The determination and spirit of the fly are admired by the boss. He sends another drop down to see how it works once more. Once there is a brief moment of silence, the insect begins to clean itself once more. Even though the boss is relieved, the fly's motions are noticeably weaker this time. He decides to try it one more time, but when the ink droplet hits the ground, the fly remains motionless for a moment. It is the boss's intention to "look sharp!" by gently twirling the fly's tail with the tip of his pen. However, it is no longer alive. He slashes the corpse with the blade of a paper knife and flings it into a nearby waste basket, overcome by a sense of desolation. He sends a stern message to the messenger by pressing the button for him to deliver fresh blotting paper. During the time that the old messenger is off in search of the blotting paper, the boss is sitting in his office trying to recall what he

had been thinking about earlier. But he can't for the life of him recall anything that happened. In terms of its formal elements, Katherine Mansfield's short story "The Fly" is a typical Modernist short story of the period. An almost complete lack of plot and only one setting (the boss' office, which serves as a symbol of his power and vitality) distinguish this story from others that follow a linear narrative. It is instead divided into two distinct parts: the pitiful interaction between Mr. Woodifield and the boss, and the internal anguish that both the boss and the fly are experiencing. As the text progresses from the first to the second section, the narrator's point of view shifts as well. The omniscient narrator provides some background information about Mr. Woodifield's home life and notes a few of the boss' thoughts in the first section, but the majority of the text is comprised of dialogue. However, in the second section, the boss finds himself alone in the office, and the text turns inward, focusing entirely on the boss' tortured mental state. The narrator delves into the inner workings of the boss's brain, his observation of a fly struggling to rid itself of ink, and his shifting emotions throughout the story. Formalism distinguishes itself by emphasising inner life rather than linear narrative as its central theme. The story is made even more powerful by the subtle transition from an interaction between two men to an internal experience of one of the protagonists. Despite the fact that formal elements such as the narrative of the story are disjointed, "The Fly" is nevertheless held together by thematic material that is highly coherent in its presentation. The characters' struggle for memory is a major source of internal conflict that carries over from the first to the second part of the novel. It appears that Mr. Woodifield is having trouble recalling what he wanted to tell the boss, and the boss interprets this as a sign that the elderly gentleman is "on his last pins." Mr. Woodifield's inability to recall events makes him appear pathetic, if not emasculated, when compared to a baby in a pram. The boss, on the other hand, is "still going strong" and is pleased with the contrast between himself and his friend. Although by the end of the story, the boss has also experienced lapses in memory that threaten to undermine his self-confidence and destabilise his sense of competence. Immediately following his preparations for mourning, the boss is distracted by the plight of a fly that has fallen into his ink well. While at first he manages to save it, he is then overcome by a morbid impulse and repeatedly flings ink down at the recovering fly until it takes its last breath. In the very last line of the text, the boss finds himself "wondering what it was he had been thinking about before... For the life of him, he [can]'t remember what it was." Consequently, the story comes full circle by demonstrating the overlap of symptoms between Mr. Woodifield and his boss, despite the fact that their illnesses were caused by different factors. Mansfield may be hinting at the existence of a deep-rooted pathology of memory loss that affects more than just her characters by making both Mr. Woodifield and the boss appear weak due to a lack of memory. As it did for much of Modernist literature and, indeed, Katherine Mansfield's personal life, World War I has a strong influence on "The Fly," as well as on the novel. On hearing the news of her brother's death in 1915, Mansfield jotted down her

thoughts in her journal, writing, "The present and the future mean nothing to me... the only possible value that anything can have for me is that it should remind me of something that happened or was when we were alive." A clear parallel exists between Mansfield's words and the boss's belief that "life itself had come to have no other meaning" as a result of his son's death, which is expressed in the same way. 'The Fly' is both an in-depth exploration of a man's inner life and a social critique of the contemporary world. On the one hand, the boss appears to be unable to regulate his emotions. Despite the fact that he intends to weep, he is prevented from doing so for an unknown reason. Perhaps as a result of this stumbling block, he continues the cycle of violence, using his control over the fly to torment and eventually drive it to extinction. Elaine Showalter wrote in a 1977 essay that "the moment of selfawareness is also the moment of self-betrayal" in Katherine Mansfield's short stories, and in this way, "The Fly" epitomises that observation. As the boss approaches the precipice of realising his own grief, he diverts his attention away from it by engaging in destructive and violent behaviour. Meanwhile, "The Fly" can be read as a social critique of the cycle of violence perpetuated by men and epitomised by World War I, which is depicted in the novel. For example, the boss is referred to simply as "the boss.". With no specific name, his character possesses allegorical potential and can be interpreted as an abstract representation of power structures and structures. First and foremost, the boss himself is subjected to violence and the threat of war; World War I has ravaged him, as evidenced by the death of his son during the conflict. In addition to the fly, the boss also participates in this violent dynamic, engaging in cruel games with it until he finally dictates the terms of the fly's death. In this way, Mansfield illuminates the cyclical pattern of violence that has become so common that it appears to be unavoidable. Contemporary writers and artists began breaking with the aesthetic traditions of the Victorian and post-Romantic periods in the late nineteenth century and continued to do so until the middle of the twentieth century. This period was known as Modernism. In a world dominated by dogmatic Christian belief, literature was influenced by a realist understanding of the world's natural order. According to Susan Sniader Lanser's Fictions of Authority: Women Writers and Narrative Voice, modernism experimented with upending the previous adherence to logical narrative and, in doing so, "challenged both of the narrative imperatives—knowing and judging... associated with classic realism." Contemporary writers' arsenals have been bolstered by the introduction of new literary devices, such as symbolism and constructed patterns, as well as the rejection of a realist approach and experiments with time. This aesthetic shift was profoundly influenced by the significant shifts in Western understandings of the world that were taking place at the same time. Both the shift away from adherence to the natural order and the belief in scientific laws, as well as the shift away from stable personalities and toward Freudian psychology, influenced modernist writing. "Traditional foundations of fact and value [were] severely

undermined," writes Lanser of the situation. World War I was at the heart of these ruptures, creating what historian Judy Simons refers to as a "contemporary wasteland" after the war. The influx of thousands of severely injured and traumatised veterans into the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe altered the social landscape for the foreseeable future. A significant number of women were forced to work outside the home during World War I; with men away at war, women filled the void left by men in factories and other traditionally male fields of employment. In conjunction with these sociopolitical shifts, literary experimentation provided new opportunities for women writers and performers. As a result of Modernism's shift away from literature about traditionally masculine domains and towards literary explorations of the inner life, female writers saw it as an opportunity to develop a new, women-centric literary aesthetic. As a result, a wave of newly prominent female writers aligned with the tradition of Modernism emerged during this time period. Famous female writers from this era include, among many others, Virginia Woolf, Edith Wharton, and, of course, Katherine Mansfield, among many others. Mr. Woodifield's and the boss's experiences are tied together by the theme of memory and the loss of memories. At the outset of the text, memory is emphasised as a key point of distinction between the two characters. Mr. Woodifield has completely forgotten what he was going to say to his boss just a minute ago. The boss feels sorry for him because he has lost his memory, as well as for the implied loss of virility or masculinity. However, by the end of the text, the boss has experienced a lapse in memory of his own. Despite his best efforts, he is unable to feel the sorrow he expects to feel as his son passes away. The plight of a fly that has fallen into his inkwell then draws his attention away from his writing. Fortunately, by the time the fly is dead, he has forgotten about his sorrow. Consequently, Mansfield suggests that the boss's loss of memory is a form of self-preservation, as he chooses to forget his sorrow in order to maintain his own sense of masculine identity and social standing. One of the most important themes in Katherine Mansfield's novel "The Fly" is death, which is combined with loss and grief to form one of the novel's most important themes. Mr. Woodifield and the boss both have sons who died as a result of the horrors of World War I, and this is a source of contention between them. In a paragraph written from the perspective of the boss, Mansfield poignantly expresses the trauma of this bereavement. Afterwards, the boss describes "violent fits[s] of weeping" as well as the feeling that "life itself had come to have no other meaning." The pathology of grief, as defined by Mansfield, goes beyond a simple description of the emotions triggered by loss to include an analysis of the pathology of grief as defined by Mansfield. For example, the boss has experienced a traumatic event that is so severe that he is unable to process it; when he sits down to grieve, he is unable to cry. Instead, he expresses his feelings through violence against an innocent fly, which he sees as a perverse manifestation of his grief. Mr. Wood...