Reasons For Suicide In George Langelaan's The Fly

Reasons for Suicide in “The Fly”
George Langelaan’s “The Fly” is a short but captivating story that unfolds the horrific events that led up to a scientist and his wife’s death. The scientist in the narrative, André Delambre, was very secretive about scientific inventions. His invention, the disintegrator-reintegrators transmitted matter one place to another via space. Unfortunately, his invention displayed some flaws when he tested it on his house pets. After he felt that it was functioning as he hoped, André tested the machine on himself. But a fly accidently appear in the disintegrator and the results were gruesome and unbearable for André’s wife and himself. His solution was for his wife to kill the man that he became. André expresses his feelings as: “since I go I must, I would rather …show more content…
I must destroy myself in such way that no one can possible know what has happened to me” (Langelaan 198). André decision to kill himself did not only affect him but the people who cared most and this event led to Andre’s wife, Helene, resorting to suicide as well. André was a very egoistical man who could have sought other solutions to his problem rather than resulting to kill himself while involving his wife to do so. In the article “Suicide: cry for help of a selfish act?” Katie Sanbrock stated “suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem” (12). André ignored his wife’s plead to acquire help from his scientist colleagues and doctor. Helene tried whatever she could to help her husband with the small amount of information her husband was giving her. But when Helene witnessed her husband for the first time without anything covering his face she was terrified. Helene