Man's Inhumanity to Man as Reflected in "The Fly" by Katherine Mansfield

Man’s Inhumanity to Man as reflected in “The Fly” by Katherine Mansfield

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An Analysis of the Concepts of Modernity as reflected in the short story “The Fly” by Katherine Mansfield
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In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Course
Modern Literature (Lit 162)

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By
Tan, Vincent Paul G.
B. S. Business Administration

“The Fly” by Katherine Mansfield

I. Introduction: Katherine Mansfield A. Life B. Works C. Influences II. “The Fly A. Synopsis B. Analysis 1. Theme 2. Techniques 3. Concepts of Modernity III. Evaluation A. Relevance of the Theme in Modern times B. Effectiveness of Techniques in relation to content C. Social, Cultural Relevance in Modern times IV. Conclusion

Kathleen Mansfield Beauchamp Murry (14 October 1888 – 9 January 1923) was a prominent modernist writer of short fiction who was born and brought up in colonial New Zealand and wrote under the pen name of Katherine Mansfield. Mansfield left for Great Britain in 1908 where she encountered Modernist writers such as D.H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf with whom she became close friends. Her stories often focus on moments of disruption and frequently open rather abruptly. Among her most well known stories are "The Garden Party," "The Daughters of the Late Colonel," and "The Fly." During the First World War Mansfield contracted extra pulmonary tuberculosis which rendered any return or visit to New Zealand impossible and led to her death at the age of 34.
Mansfield wrote the “The Fly” in Paris in 1922 while undergoing X-ray treatment for tuberculosis, and it is clear from her letters and journals that she was not wholly pleased with it. It is likely that she was hard-pressed for money to pay for her medical treatment at the time, and was working under the additional pressures of market requirements and publication deadlines. In a response to her friend William Gerhardi, who had confessed to her that he disliked the piece, Mansfield herself admitted that she “hated” writing the story. Writing the story might be the result of her brother dying during war. Emotions drawn up from her tragic loss might have influenced the themes and ideas presented in the story.
Mansfield died less than a year following the story's publication and did not witness the intense critical and popular interest in “The Fly.” After its initial magazine publication in 1922, the story appeared in the highly regarded, posthumously published collection. The work began to receive serious critical treatment beginning in 1945, when a series of short articles sought to uncover the symbolic meanings and thematic concerns hidden in the deceptively simply tale. Ironically, most critics acknowledge that “The Fly” is not one of Mansfield's strongest works, and some have even suggested that it is the story's flaws that make it an interesting subject of scrutiny. However, the work continues to enjoy a reputation as one of Mansfield's most famous stories, and is regarded as a fine example of the complexity of method that is the author's great contribution to the short story form.
Here is the summary of the short story. 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. The boss then has no recollection of what he was talking about before the fly.
The story is frequently seen as an indictment of the brutal horror of World War I, along with the hopelessness and despair left in its wake. The war dead, it is claimed, are likened to flies and innocently slaughtered by cruel forces over which they have no control. There is the existential message concerning the inevitability of death and man's unwillingness to accept this truth.
Much attention has been paid to the central character of the boss. He has been seen as a symbol of malignant forces that are base and motiveless, a representative of the generation that sent its sons to their slaughter in a cruel war. The boss is a bully who torments the fly for boyish pleasure, and his sense of loss is no more than self-pity.
Imagery and Symbolism are the main techniques used in the story. The vigorous boss is at first seen in contrast to doddering old Woodifield, but by the end of the story both men have forgotten about their son's deaths. Woodifield, in his dotage, is likened to a baby, and the boss to a greedy boy; both men are immature and lacking in real strength. Neither of them visits his son's grave because of their respective weaknesses, but while the frailty of Woodifield is immediately apparent, the deficiency of the powerful boss is revealed to be far more disturbing. The fly seems to be a symbol for, among other things, the men under the boss's control. The boss treats the fly condescendingly and benevolently as he does Woodifield who is “on his last pins.” He also demands that the fly “look sharp,” the same order he gives his clerk.
As the whole story mainly revolved around the actions of the boss towards the fly, the use of imagery lets people understand how the whole incident is a reflection of the cruelty of man towards man. The suffering of the fly is related to modern man as the latter suffers under the hand of the fellow man. The modern man is about the self and has little sympathy towards others and this is reflected on the story itself as the boss, representing the higher classes of the modern society, toys with the suffering of the fly, representing the lower classes of modern society.
In modern times, many are victims of manipulation. The theme of “The Fly” is relevant to this issue because soldiers of war are victims of the manipulative hands of generals and commanders. These soldiers are forced to inflict cruelty on fellow soldiers as they are manipulated by the higher ranks to do so, thus inflicting cruelty upon the soldiers themselves. The story does the same. The boss inflicts cruelty upon the fly, as he tries to manipulate it to do what he wants. Throwing the dead fly on the trash bin show how man can be unsympathetic towards fellow man after having used them. The commanders of war don’t really have compassion for their soldiers. They just use the soldiers as things that they can use to get what they want. This makes the soldiers disposable and this is what modern man is capable of.
The symbolisms and imagery used in the story are most important in interpreting the content. It shows the problems of social and cultural issues in the modern times. It clearly reflects man’s inhumanity to its kin. The relationship between the high and the low ranks of the modern society is shown clearly and how the latter are victims of manipulation and cruelty. This short story is an excellent example of social criticism through symbolism and allegory. Furthermore, it holds a lesson within it, which is as important today as it was when it was originally published in 1923: War is not a game. The last line of this short story which reads, “For the life of him he could not remember”, must be taken as a warning to all to remember the hard‐won lessons of war “lest we forget” and find ourselves in a war which is much worse. Sadly, the war‐torn history of the world in the has proven that mankind has yet to learn the ultimate folly of war and man’s cruelty.