Old Age

One of the earliest themes introduced in "The Fly" is old age and the physical and mental decline associated with aging. This theme is best represented by Woodifield, who has recently suffered a stroke. "Since he had retired, since his... stroke," the narrator says of Woodifield in the first paragraph, "the wife and the girls kept him boxed up in the house every day of the week except Tuesday. On Tuesday he was dressed and brushed and allowed to cut back to the City for the day. Though what he did there the wife and girls couldn't imagine. Made a nuisance of himself to his friends, they supposed" (1). Woodifield introduction is characterized by the perspective his wife and daughters have of him now that he has been made vulnerable by his stroke. These lines underscore Woodifield's frustration with the way his family treats him, as...