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The Important Fly by Dave Edgers

Part 1: Introduction

In “The Immortal Fly Is Tired” by Dave Eggers, we find ourselves amid a fascinating adventure with the help of Matthias, the housefly condemned to immortality. In a short yet vivid microfiction, Eggers paints an accurate picture of Matthias’ inner search for the meaning of existence and the ideas of loneliness, sorrow, and purpose in endless existence. The story has a character called Matthias, who is not fly like his brothers, who have short lives because he is given a life sentence. It is by the thought of immortality that he begins with that Mathias considers himself the one blessed, and he finds the idea of living forever very exciting. Meanwhile, Matthias’s former optimism is substituted by the pessimism of eternal loneliness and an infinite chain of hardships and misfortunes. Through the storytelling, Matthias’s inner fight is exposed; Matthias has had this problem since his childhood, and he finds it hard to accept that immortality can be a curse rather than a blessing. The first scene, which we see, represents the world of Matthias to us, and it makes us see the tragedy of our death and the ephemeral nature of life, which then turns us into a philosopher to think and reflect on the philosophy of humanity.

Part 2: Body

Eggers gives us a story with a poignant plot by depicting a little animal, accentuating the theme of hopelessness. The point is that Matthias is immortal, and human beings’ search for meaning and mortality is meaningful. The repetition of the names of the flies symbolizes time passing and the inescapable death, and it also underlines Matthias’s deep sorrow and despair (Eggers, 2005). Likewise, his own heart is the weight he has to carry, and his eternal life is what he loathes. Poetically, the author compares the burden of carrying a piano or an anvil to the emotional and physical fatigue he feels.

Part 3: Body

“The Immortal Fly Is Tired” is written from a different angle, but it also revolves around the same theme of mortality in the microfiction format. Through this way of writing, Eggers creates the feeling of the story being full of complex emotions and irritating questions, which shows the power of conciseness in storytelling. Eggers does this by using Matthias, a fly that can live forever, to see things from the perspective of his readers so they can think about the meaning of life and the consequences of immortality. The story questions our fundamental conceptions of mortality and immortality, making us contemplate life and death differently (Eggers, 2005). The human condition Matthias’s problem of living with the burden of his immortality represents is represented excellently in the allegory and, thus, makes us think about the impermanence of life and our search for meaning in an indifferent universean indifferent universe. Readers will feel themselves in each step of Matthias’s journey and face the problems of isolation, grief, and time that nobody can stop.

Part 4: Conclusion

In conclusion, “The Immortal Fly Is Tired” by Dave Eggers is a mesmerizing microfiction that is more than just brevity; it strikes deep existential themes. Eggers uses the character of Matthias to provoke the readers to reflect on their mortality and to consider what life is when eternity is ahead. Moreover, unfortunately, having left Matthias and his fatigue, we finish with the last questions about the essence of life and the fact of death. As we put on the shoes of a dead fly, we need to revisit our lives and their impermanence or transience. Is it the way Matthias does it that carries the mortality burden? Or is it a way of discovering the beauty in the ephemeral charm of the present moment? On the other hand, the fly is said to be the fly tired because it feels the transience of life that may be infinite.

References

Eggers, D. (2005, March 26). The immortal fly is tired. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/mar/26/shortshortstories.fiction

 

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