The Fly by Katherine Mansfield The Fly by Katherine Mansfield Available in the public domain through Gutenberg Project 'Y'are very snug in here,' piped old Mr. Woodifield, and peered out of the great, green-leather armchair by his friend the boss's desk as a baby peers out of its pram. His talk was over; it was time for him to be off. But he did not want to go. Since he had retired, since his ... stroke, the wife and the girls kept him boxed up in the house every day of the week except Tuesday. On Tuesday he was dressed ...
The Fly by Katherine Mansfield English Short Stories
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The central theme of this short story is death as well as surviving, forgetting and war. The fly symbolizes the boss’ grief. The fly struggled to survive in an inkwell but as soon as it started reminding the boss of his own grief he killed it.
Thank you for your comment, which is to the point.
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“as soon as it started reminding the boss of his own grief he killed it.” This part of your comment is ambiguous and ungrammatical.
The boss thought he would never forget about the death of his son but it seems not to be like that. Now, after six years, we can see him killing the fly and then he didn’t remember that he was thinking about his son. I think the death of the fly after so much struggling, symbolled the boss’s sadness and grief for his son.
You’re right. This could be regarded as a minor sign of sadism in a smaller scale. Sadists inadvertently manage to hurt other people or animals either physically or emotionally.