Introduction

Katherine Mansfield wrote her short story “The Fly” in 1922, and as she did, she looked toward the past, reflected on the present, and pondered the future. “The Fly” is a brief tale, but it is packed with meaning. Both of the story’s characters lost a son in World War I, and Mansfield herself was no stranger to that grief, for her brother died in the war. Further, the author herself was fighting a battle with death in 1922, for she had suffered from tuberculosis for several years already, and she was constantly aware of her own strengths and weaknesses, a theme the story explores in detail.

Mansfield died of a complication of her disease on January 9, 1923, but she did live to see “The Fly” published in the March 18, 1922, edition of The Nation and Athenaeum. The story also appeared in The Doves’ Nest and Other Stories, an anthology of Mansfield’s work published in 1923, shortly after her death.

Plot Summary

“The Fly” opens in an office on a Tuesday. Mr. Woodifield, a retired man who has suffered a stroke, always visits his friend, known only as the boss, every Tuesday. The boss is older than Woodifield but still hardy, active, and quite proud of his luxurious, comfortable office. Every week, he tells Woodifield all about the new carpet, new furniture, and electric heating.

But there is one thing the boss never mentions: a picture of a young man in a military uniform. Woodifield, however, has something important to tell the boss about that young man. He cannot remember what it is at first. The boss pours him a small serving of excellent whiskey with the advice, “Drink it down. It’ll do you good.” Both men enjoy their treat.

Warmed by the liquor, Woodifield remembers his message. He says his daughters have been to Belgium to visit their brother’s grave, and they found the boss’s son’s grave as well. Woodifield remarks that the girls were very pleased “with the way the place is kept.” It is beautiful, “neat as a garden,” with flowers everywhere.

Woodifield asks the boss if he has been there, and the boss responds with a “No, no!” Woodifield does not seem to notice his friend’s discomfort and goes on about jam pots and expenses. Then he leaves, and the boss tells his assistant, Macey, that he is not to be disturbed for a half hour.

The boss means to weep for his son, the young man in the photograph, the young man with so much potential, who was killed in the war. The boss built his company for his son. All his hopes and dreams had centered on that boy, his only son, who was already successful and well-loved for his “bright, natural self, with the right word for everybody.”

Then the young man went off to war, and six years ago, the boss got a telegram with the words, “Deeply regret to inform you…” His son was dead, and he was a “broken man, with his life in ruins.” But now the boss cannot weep, even though he wants to. Something has changed.

As he gets up to look at his son’s picture, the boss notices a fly struggling in the inkpot. Feeling sorry for the insect, the boss fishes it out with a pen and sets it on some blotting paper. The fly proceeds to clean itself almost joyfully as if it were happy for its escape. The boss watches and then deliberately plops a blot of ink back onto the fly. The insect cleans itself again, and...