The following version of this story was used to create this guide: Mansfield, Katherine. "The Fly." American Literature Online. https://americanliterature.com/author/katherine-mansfield/short-story/the-fly.

Note that all parenthetical citations refer to the page number on which the quotation appears.

"The Fly" tells the brief story of two gentlemen, Mr. Woodifield and a man simply referred to as "the boss," who are old friends. Old Mr. Woodifield has recently suffered from a stroke, and his family only allows him out of the house once a week. This week, he has traveled to the boss's office, where the two men exchange pleasantries about the decor. The boss is proud of what he has done with the room and enjoys that Mr. Woodifield is admiring it.

Mr. Woodifield has trouble remembering things he had wanted to say to the boss, and the boss pities him. The boss reveals that he has a small bottle of whiskey, and Woodifield is excited to be able to indulge in something that is not permitted by his family. They share the whiskey and Woodifield remembers what he had wanted to tell the boss earlier. He explains that his daughters were recently in Belgium where they passed by the boss's son's grave. He tells the boss that the cemetery is kept very nice, "neat as a garden" (2). Woodifield then changes the subject.

Eventually, the boss ushers Woodifield from his office. Alone in the room, he reflects on Woodifield's comments about his son. He remembers how he was grooming his son to take over the business when the war began. The boss tries to weep, but cannot. Instead, he observes a fly trapped in his ink pot. He pulls the fly out with a pen, but as the fly recovers, the boss is compelled to drop more ink on it. He repeats this action multiple times before noticing that the fly is dead.

At the end of the story, he asks his assistant for more blotting paper, having forgotten what he was thinking about moments before.