Unhealthy Copping Characterism In Katherine Mansfield's 'The Fly'

The idea of death can be, and is an enormously disturbing, unknown issue in which many people can have many different opinions. To some individuals, the process of life can progress painstakingly slow, while for others life moves too fast. In the excerpt We Were the Mulvaneys, by Joyce Carol Oates, a innocent farm boy named Judd Mulvaney has an eye-opening encounter by a brook near his driveway. During this encounter, Judd faces a chain of feelings and emotions that lead to his change of opinion of the issues of life and death, and change as a character. This emblematic imagery of life and death, as well as jumpy, and retrospective tones benefit the development of Judd as an innocent child as he begins to change into a more conscious and aware adult.

She tells the paperhanger that she will hire him to help her look in the woods for her child's body. The paperhanger tells the mother that her child's body is not in the woods, for it has been searched throughout. The mother insists, and the paperhanger brings her to a graveyard. Confused, the mother wants to know why the paperhanger brought her here and protests that he is a murderer by digging the graves. The paperhanger tells the mother to believe in what she wants to believe of him. The reader will soon see that this scene is foreshadowing for later in the

When Mrs. Mallard hears the news of her husband’s death she weeps and feels abandoned while she falls

Lowell’s use of tone, diction, and extended metaphor reveal that experiencing a loss is difficult, but it is more so difficult recovering from loss. Lowell shifts between a variety of negative tones, such as misery and despairing, which help the reader understand the speaker’s difficulty in moving on from his daughter’s death. The speaker’s tone is sad when he compares faith to “a goodly anchor”, indicating his loss of fate when Lowell then shifts to a more sarcastic remark on the anchors use

The despondent mood at the beginning of the story, mirrors the loss of innocence of the narrator because he had to face the responsibility and guilt of Doodle’s death.

He looked at me as if he wished I wasn’t there.” Why is that? What is making poor Gerald so embarrassed? After reading a sentence full of suspense like; “I should tell you here what I found out later at the funeral” we readers start to ask inquisitive questions such as- whose funeral? And what is it that the narrator knows that we don’t? What’s written in the card of the flowers?

Samuel had been digging the grave all night. The task was labored silently, with only the shhks of the shovel being thrust into the dirt and the plops of the earth dropping sounding in the morning air. He would rest this morning if he could and his chores would fall to me. I had been eagerly anticipating them since Tom’s death; I needed a something to do. His passing had been long coming and while he had lain dying I had a job to do. I fed him spoonfuls of water and grain knowing all the while that it was futile and I was utterly useless, but still trying because Tom just couldn't die like that; so young.

After Doodle dies, Brother throws his body on top of him crying and “sheltering [his] fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy of rain.” Brother grows up with Doodle, teaches him how to walk, and is proud of how much he has accomplished. Brother even calls Doodle as his, showing possessiveness. Nevertheless, he feels guilty, that he was the reason his brother died. The act of sheltering Doodle also shows his guilt because previously, Brother did not protect him or show his love. Nonetheless, now that he is dead, Brother is protecting Doodle because he had not done so before. Another example where a remorseful tone is present is as Brother is hearing the oriole singing, he feels sorrowful as the song “seems to die up in the leaves.” The tone the author sets is opposite to what emotions are typically felt about a bird singing. Instead of making Brother feel happy, it is the opposite, creating a feeling of sorrow and remorse. Hurst’s word choice contributes to this. The word “die” gives off a negative connotation, seeming as if the happiness of the song is fading away in the leaves of the tree. The elm tree also has a direct relationship with Doodle, and this reminder causes sadness and guilt in Brother. Clearly, the tone is impactful in conveying Brother’s

6. “Even while he was speaking to O’Brien, when the meaning of the words had sunk in, a chilly shuddering feeling had taken possession of his body. He had the sensation of stepping into the dampness of a grave.”

He had thought his self in a bad mood, he decided to go lay down. He kissed both ladies good night before retreating down the hall. Jackie saw the sad look on her son's face "What’s on your mind True?" he looked at his mother and said "Nothing." She knew that something was wrong with him, but she left it alone. When he was ready, he would talk.

Sequestered in a secret room at the back of Gaines & Son Funeral Home’s crematorium in Erie, she stared at the man, equally annoyed and amazed at his silence. In all her years as a contract killer, she could not recall one single incidence of a mark willing to remain mute under such inhuman pressure.

The narrator had been showing his disabled brother, Doodle, how to walk for quite a while. They would go out and practice everyday, some days would be successful, while others would not go so well. On this particular day they had went on a boat and it had begun to storm and out of anger, knowing that Doodle was not yet ready to run, he began running. Doodle chased after him until he couldn’t anymore. The narrator ran and ran until he ran out of breath and stopped and decided to be wait for Doodle, who never showed. He eventually went back and found him dead under a bush. He then states, “I lay there crying, sheltering my fallen ibis from the hershey of the rain” (Hurst). The author is showing loss and choice. The narrator experiences loss when his brother Doodle, dies. Like any other human after losing a loved one, the narrator is distraught and

Now Jack is ready to finish the job and kill the baby that’s sleeping in the crib. But Jack soon discovers the baby is not in fact in his crib (insert sigh of relief). So, to be really thorough in his work, Jack leaves the house and follows the baby's smell up the hill to the graveyard.

He overwhelms his son by taking control of his future and planning out his life. The boss’s plan for his son is to take over the business which gives the son no other choices or opportunities concerning his future. “Ever since his birth, the boss has worked at building up his business for him; it had no other meaning if it was not for the boy” (Mansfield 508). It seems as though the physical action of the boss smothering the fly is associated with the sufferings that his son has experienced. Both the boss’s son and the fly go through similar yet different forms of suffering throughout their lives. Interestingly, while the fly is struggling to live, the boss utters, “Come on, Look Sharp” (Mansfield 509), just as he would say to his suffering son. Both the fly and victims of wartime fighting (his son) are innocently killed by cruel forces over which they have no control (Schoenberg).

Katherine Mansfield was born October 14, 1888 in Wellington New Zealand. Mansfield was a well-known and respected prominent writer in the 20th century. She attended Queens College in London with her sisters. Mansfield broke barriers for female writers in the early 20th century and even still today. Her stories commonly focus on the theme of reality /world versus human nature while also touching the themes of the darker and more complex sides of life.