The Ending of The Fly

The ending of “The Fly” by Katherine Mansfield was both unpredictable and strange but at the same time it was appropriate. The boss, the protagonist, cannot overcome the death of his only son who he lost in World War I, and he is stricken with anguish. After attempting to improve his situation by talking to his friend, who also lost a loved one in the war, the boss noticed a fly on his death. The fly acts as an outlet for the boss, because he can focus on something else besides the death of his brother. When the fly first lands on the boss’s death he teases it by allowing a drop of ink drop on it, and then watches it struggle to get free. He repeats this again and again, sarcastically encouraging the fly until the fly eventually drowns and dies. The ending is so strange because it is completely unexpected that the boss would go from grieving over his son’s death to torturing a fly. Even though the ending is peculiar it is appropriate be after killing the fly he could not remember what he was doing before, weeping about his son. The author was attempting to show that the boss had finally begun the healing process by killing the fly. His treatment of the fly could have symbolized how he believes his son was treated, taking no value in his life and putting him in a situation where he would more than likely be killed.