We have all experienced traumatic incidents in our lives. Some of us have endured more than others. But the question remains: How much is enough? At what point is a person tired of fighting? When will a person give up hope for survival? Such is the question that confronts the boss in Katherine Mansfields short story, 'The Fly.' The boss is an intelligent and determined individual who has overcome many obstacles in his life. However, he is now confronted with an insurmountable barrier that he is frightened of facing --the death of his only son. The boss in this story, although resilient, has come to realize that people do have limits.
The boss is an extremely resilient individual. He has endured a great amount and is able to use these experiences to catapult himself to the top. A business is extremely difficult to start and once started, there are many obstacles to face. The road to a successful business is a very treacherous one that leaves many people heartbroken or hopeless. The boss is an example of someone who has traveled this treacherous road successfully, and therefore has a thriving business.
The boss is shown to be intelligent through his success and also by the way he contemplates a situation before making a decision or an assumption. For example, when the boss is confronted with the fly, he doesn't merely think of the fly as insignificant. On the contrary, the boss examines the fly's actions, questions them, and experiments to find out more. It is also shown that the boss likes to prepare for the future through how the boss had been building up his business for the sole purpose of leaving it to his only son.
So, as you can see, the boss was a fighter. He was a survivor. He was the type of person to face all obstacles with a positive mind and resolve within himself to overcome these barriers. However, the boss had now come to an obstacle that is not so easily overcome -the death of his one and only son.
The boss loved his son dearly. Early