No matter how strong one is, or how brave one is, one cannot escape from his fate. Mansfield narrates a short story about a retired worker who visits his old workplace to talk to his old boss about how his daughter visited her brother’s grave, and happens to see the boss son grave. This upsets the boss, but instead of grieving he decides to torture a fly that got stuck in his ink pot. Katherine Mansfield’s short story, “The Fly”, gave me an angry feeling because of its critical tone. The tone of the boss is what really angers me. He plays a role of a controlling, powerful, disrupt character. It is as if he is a god deciding the fate of everyone, considering the fact Mansfield named him “boss” instead of giving us a real name. He is also very
…show more content…
This is why Mansfield named him boss. He’s like a god; he can decide the fate of many flies or soldiers, if you think of the fly as a symbol representing a soldier. Who gets drops of ink dripped on him, but since the soldier is strong, he continues to try to get up, over and over again. Trying to look sharp, which the boss tells Macey, “Bring me some fresh blotting paper, he said sternly, and look sharp about it.” (738). He also tells the fly the same thing after it dies, “Come on, said the boss. Look sharp!”(738). The boss uses the word “sharp” as a way of being prepared, or a way of survival. The same way all soldiers look sharp, prepared, and serious. Also the same way the boss son portrait looked, with a serious and sharp pose. I felt like the boss was being ironic with that word choice, meaning no matter if you’re alive or dead you always have to look …show more content…
He enlisted into the U.S Army, got deployed to Afghanistan. I never liked the idea, but that was his decision. He was a U.S Army Combat Engineer. One night as they are patrolling the Afghanistan streets, his convoy is hit with a rocket propelled grenade. He instantly died from the blast, and his whole crew survived. Every time I remark upon this story, it makes me angry, and brings tears. Knowing as young as he was, he was fighting a war that was not his, and his fate was the result of it. Katherine Mansfield accomplishes in applying a critical tone in this short story to give it multiple feelings. For me, it made me feel angry, and hatred towards the boss. She was able to accomplish this with her choice of words, and her style of writing. After a while, I believe I will still be able to think of this story, after critically analyzing
This is why Mansfield named him boss. He’s like a god; he can decide the fate of many flies or soldiers, if you think of the fly as a symbol representing a soldier. Who gets drops of ink dripped on him, but since the soldier is strong, he continues to try to get up, over and over again. Trying to look sharp, which the boss tells Macey, “Bring me some fresh blotting paper, he said sternly, and look sharp about it.” (738). He also tells the fly the same thing after it dies, “Come on, said the boss. Look sharp!”(738). The boss uses the word “sharp” as a way of being prepared, or a way of survival. The same way all soldiers look sharp, prepared, and serious. Also the same way the boss son portrait looked, with a serious and sharp pose. I felt like the boss was being ironic with that word choice, meaning no matter if you’re alive or dead you always have to look …show more content…
He enlisted into the U.S Army, got deployed to Afghanistan. I never liked the idea, but that was his decision. He was a U.S Army Combat Engineer. One night as they are patrolling the Afghanistan streets, his convoy is hit with a rocket propelled grenade. He instantly died from the blast, and his whole crew survived. Every time I remark upon this story, it makes me angry, and brings tears. Knowing as young as he was, he was fighting a war that was not his, and his fate was the result of it. Katherine Mansfield accomplishes in applying a critical tone in this short story to give it multiple feelings. For me, it made me feel angry, and hatred towards the boss. She was able to accomplish this with her choice of words, and her style of writing. After a while, I believe I will still be able to think of this story, after critically analyzing