Although "The Fly" doesn't bluntly state that the it is directly correlated to WWI, there are various implications that lead to the conclusion that it can without a doubt be paralleled to it. I also believe much of Mansfield's systematic use of each character and each meaningful occurance in the story to express some of the sentiments of the time, which is why the story is so short, yet inundated with symbols relating to death, power struggles, war, and ambition or in this case greed. Since Mansfield doesn't bluntly characterize each character, instead using more subtlty almost as if to make the reader dig deeper, the reader is given the opportunity to interpret their own perceptions of why each specific character had a certain "story" to tell about the destitude that resulted from the harships brought on by the physical as well as mental war that was being fought. Each character essentially represents an element of the war in relation to societal attitudes that resulted from the huge loss of soldiers, and their overall sense of frustration with the lack of hope that this "war to end all wars" seemingly lacked.
At first, the story beings with the boss minding his own business at his office, when suddenly senile and cynical Woodifield comes along and infuses the bosses memory of his dead son. That is his beloved only son, whom he dreamed of one day taking over his company. Time passes and the boss carries on about his daily life, yet it is this transcendent moment that sparks a sense of anger and disappointment in his son, and demonstrates his loss of hope for the future. This is prevalent when the boss has an epiphanie and realizes how much disdain he has towards other because of his imminent selfish nature that he has been blinded too, when he says, "How on earth could he have slaved, denied himself, kept going all those years without the promise for ever before him of the boy's stepping into his shoes and carrying on where he left off?"
Once Woodifield leaves the office, the boss is left with the harsh reality that he has lost the most important person in his life, and that he has also lost a part of him as well in effect, which infringes him with anger and disatisfaction. His lack of ability to cry demonstrates not only Woodifields careless and overt nature, but also reveals the bosses inability to feel sadness because he is so stuck on an idea of his life that is incapable of exisiting. This is expressed when reality hits him when: "He wanted, he intended, he had arranged to weep...." It is almost as though he has no sense of self-worth because he gave up not only on himself, but his son as well and feels numb since he hasn't really ever been able to grieve over his son's death, rather he has instead tried to appear to be strong and in control. Instead of facing the truth and letting go of his resentment towards his son.
Along with the bosses frustration towards his sons death re-surfacing, he dismantles his life-sucking discontent with his adversity and the anger that is eating him up inside, onto this fly that symbolizes his dead sons hope and courage. In fact, the fly represents the son as well as all of the men in WWI that were struggling to survive, yet remained that sense of good faith and triumph in spite of the hateful loss and terror that they were threatened with everyday. The boss sees the courage and will-power that he saw in his son, yet is overcome by a sense of powerlessness from the war and betrayal from his son, which leads him to kill the fly with ink. This is expressed in the text when Mansfield says, "But then, as if painfully, it dragged itself forward. The front legs waved, caught hold, and, more slowly this time, the task began from the beginning."The boss kills the fly slowly and painfully, which symbolizes the growing sense of despair and will to hang on that people faced, when courage and determination seemed too unfeasible to some fighting the war on the fronts, as well as in their homes.
At the end of "The Fly," two important factors are significant in underlying the bosses senile nature due to not only his predicament but his old age, which I feel as though are direct indicators of the darkness and despair that death can bring to loved ones left beind. The fact that people were fighting for freedom, yet ironically enough, that is all that the boss really wanted; to pass his job down to his son so that he would be liberated of any burdens or work when he got older. Yet, the fact that he was unable to have defeat, and become a diseased, cynical old man, shows just how much of a toll his sons defeat had on him; much like that of the countries defeated by the war that were left with guilt, rage, and debt. The story closes with a satirical yet overly meaningful line, when the boss is unable to remember that he had been talking about his son for all of that time, and says, "For the life of him, he could not remember." I think that this gives the ending such a powerful and insightful nature because it ends with a more literal meaning, in that this quote shows that his son's death is such a big part of him, that it has legitimately gradually killed him, yet he hasn't even really noticed how sick and senile he has become because he has been so in denial over his death that he hasn't been able to notice that he hasn't really even been living his own life.
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