Journal+Entry

__**Journal Entry #1 - "The Fly"**__

In the short story “The Fly” by Katherine Mansfield, the fly that the boss aggravates is a simulacrum of his son. Just as the boss is annoyed by the fly’s inability to survive, the boss is angry at his son for not enduring the hardships at war. This connection was very evident throughout the text, and it was interesting to note how the boss’s memories were represented by the fly’s death as well. This link between his memories and the fly’s struggles and its gambit can be seen when the boss tries to remember what he was thinking about before; that is, he had been thinking about his son’s death, but he pulled himself out of that memory by preoccupying himself with purposefully irritating the fly with drops of inkblot. Thus, the boss gets rid of his painful memories when the fly finally gives up and dies; his past dies with the fly’s death. The boss’s attempt to compensate for dissatisfaction with his son was shown when he continued to encourage the fly to keep itself alive despite a series of attacks of inkblot. He perhaps had the same hope towards his son; this becomes even more evident when the boss’s effort in building up a business for his son is described as he weeps. His dream of letting his son take his place in business in the future never came true, which accounts for his anger and frustration towards his son.