Symbolism In Mansfield's The Fly

The coping process after losing someone in which they are close varies amongst all people. In Mansfield's "The Fly", we, as readers, are introduced to a man who has been attempting to cope with the loss of his son. The overall mental state of the man is dissected throughout the writing. Mansfield use of symbolism in her writing helps describe the man's situation and how he attempts to deal with the adversity. Through her uses of descriptions of the man's demeanor, symbolism, and examples of human nature within the man's situation, Mansfield illustrates a complex setting of a man trying to cope with the loss of his son.

In "The Fly", Mansfield creates a detailed character in the form of the boss through descriptions of his secluded lifestyle and his treatment of others. The boss is said to be "kept him boxed up in the house every day

When he first sees the fly, the boss notice that it is struggling to escape the ink. The fly had "struggling legs" and "fell back... and began to swim." Once the boss saves the fly for the first time, he proceeds to cover it in ink again to watch the struggle. The struggle he is watching take place can be easily compared to the struggle he is going through. The boss, like the fly, is fighting off the adversity he is faced with, for him it is the sorrow of his son's death. Then, when he has finally gotten through the struggle, the pain and adversity, like the ink, falls back upon him. Along with this, the death of the fly can be seen as symbolic of the boss's acceptance of the death and the "death" of the sorrow that goes with it. The boss is said to have "fell to wondering what it was he had been thinking about before" and that "for the life of him he could not remember." The fly and what it has experienced in this short time can be seen as a symbol of the boss and his