Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.

The Fly

The fly primarily symbolizes mortality as flies are numerous and their lives are fleeting. Like the boss’s dead son and the other dead soldiers of World War I, the death of the fly represents just one loss among many. The fly also symbolizes the boss and his struggle with grief. The fly, like the boss, has fallen into a deep, dark pit that threatens to drown it. The boss, projecting onto the creature, pulls it out of the inkwell and gives it a second chance. He admires the tenacity of the fly, cleaning itself up and getting ready to live again despite what it has gone through. So far, the boss has not been able to demonstrate that same courage in dealing with the death of his son, but he projects it onto the fly. This characterization of the fly parallels his own values and desires. The way he describes the capability of the fly recalls the way Mr. Woodifield described the boss as being in charge. The boss gives others the impression that he is capable of handling things despite his internal turmoil. He lends these traits to the fly, hoping that it will overcome the impossible. The fly, though he calls it courageous, is not capable of moving past the drops of ink, similar to how the boss cannot move past the death of his son. Both ordeals prove too much for them, and they succumb. The boss does not move on from his son, and the fly is killed by the weight of the ink.