Language
The language used in the short story “The Fly” by Katherine Mansfield reflects the time, the physical and social setting, but it is overall easy to follow.
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Furthermore, imagery is created through a series of tropes/figures of speech which we outline below:
- Similes
- Metaphors
- Repetition
- Rhetorical questions & Enumeration
- Symbols
Metaphors
Several metaphors further embellish the text. For instance, Mr Woodifield is “boxed up in the house” (p. 743, l. 10), which suggests that he is kept by his family in his house, the expression becoming a metaphor for a loss of freedom of movement.
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Repetition
Repetition is employed mostly to show the way the boss thinks and speaks: “"No, no!" For various reasons the boss had not been across.” (p. 744, ll. 7-8); “"New carpet," and he pointed to the bright red carpet, with a pattern of large white rings. "New furniture," and he nodded toward the massive book-case..” (p. 743, ll. 3-7)
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Rhetorical questions & Enumeration
A rhetorical question is combined with an enumeration to suggest the desolation of the boss, after losing his only son:
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Symbols
Starting with the title, the short story is actually quite symbolical although the narrator renders the events in an explicit manner. But, behind the explicitness of facts lies the author’s intended symbolism.
The fly is the main symbol in the story as it comes to represent both the character of the boss and general ideas about man’s fate. It represents the boss because it struggles for survival just like the man struggled to build up his business and then to deal with the premature death of his son.
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