The Fly George Langelaan

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“The Fly” by George Langelaan Have you ever asked yourself just because something can be done, should it? This is a major theme in the short story “The Fly” by George Langelaan. The story unfolds late one night as Francois receives a phone call from his sister in law, Helene, informing him of his brother’s death which she caused. Helene supposedly operated a machine in Francois’s factory that ultimately crushed the head and arm of her husband, Andre. This short story was published in Playboy Magazine and later made into a movie. Although the two bear many similarities, the differences between the short story and the movie are striking. First and foremost, one of the more obvious differences between Langelaan’s short story and it’s 1958 …show more content…

Francois goes on to reveal that Henri, Helene’s son, has discovered the fly that his mother has been obsessing over. Francois then orders Helene to confess so that he can ensure the safety of his nephew. Helene reluctantly gives in and produces a written confession that Francois takes home to read. On the other hand, in the movie adaptation, Helene is visited by Francois while she is under observation in her home. He demands the same request, only this time Helene does not have a thick wad of papers of which the truth has been written. Instead, Francois quickly calls up Commissioner Charas who is also present for Helene’s verbal …show more content…

The confession begins a couple of months back when Andre discovers how to transmit matter. Andre works day and night to perfect his transmitting device. He experiments on many objects including an ashtray and their house pets- a cat named Dandelo and a dog named Miquette, the dog of which does not exist in the movie. One day Helene has not heard from Andre and began to worry, She decides to check on him in his lab. Upon checking on him, Helene discovers that one of Andre’s experiments have gone completely wrong. In efforts to transmit himself, Andre transmits himself as a fly flies in with him. As Andre emerges out of the transmitter, he realizes that he is not entirely human… he has the head and the arm of a fly. Helene begs Andre to go through the transmitter once more, hoping to reverse the effects. This is where a significant difference comes into play; in the short story, Andre disappears in the transmitter and emerges changed again, but not for the better. Andre now has the ears and nose of his former pet cat, Dandelo. Andre soon comes to the conclusion that asking Helene to help destroy his body is the only way to solve the

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