Character Relationship Map: The Fly

Characters

• Andre Delambre (played by David Hedison) — protagonist

  1958 inventor whose teleportation experiment merges him with a fly.

• Helene Delambre (played by Patricia Owens) — protagonist

  Andre's wife who tragically kills him after his horrific transformation.

• François Delambre (played by Vincent Price) — supporting

  Andre's brother who investigates the murder and supports Philippe.

• Insp. Charas (played by Herbert Marshall) — supporting

  Police inspector investigating Andre's death in 1958.

• Philippe Delambre (played by Charles Herbert) — supporting

  Andre's son who continues his father's experiments, suffering a similar fate.

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Insp. Charas → Andre Delambre (Professional Death Investigator) — Charas investigates the circumstances of André's death.

  Charas is identified as the inspector in charge of the case concerning André's death.

• Insp. Charas → Helene Delambre (Professional Investigator And Suspect) — Charas treats Hélène as the suspect in André's death.

  Charas investigates André's death, hears Hélène's confession, and deems her insane and guilty of murder.

• François Delambre → Philippe Delambre (Family Uncle And Nephew) — François supports his nephew and spends time with him.

  François is André's brother, and he later arrives to take his nephew Philippe to the zoo.

• Andre Delambre → François Delambre (Family Brother) — François helps manage the aftermath of his brother's death.

  The story identifies François as André's brother.

• Andre Delambre → Helene Delambre (Family Husband) — A marriage transformed by André's experiment and tragic death.

  The flashback depicts André and Hélène as a married, happy family; she later explains the circumstances of his death.

• Helene Delambre → Philippe Delambre (Family Mother) — Hélène cares for her son after André's death.

  The story identifies Philippe as André and Hélène's son, and the ending shows Hélène playing croquet with him.

• Andre Delambre → Philippe Delambre (Family Father) — André is Philippe's father.

  The flashback presents André, Hélène, and their son Philippe as a family; Philippe later asks François about his father's death.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• François Delambre → Insp. Charas (Alliance Investigation Partners) — They jointly verify the extraordinary evidence and decide how to report the death.

  François convinces Charas to inspect the fly in the garden, and they agree to declare André's death a suicide.

• Helene Delambre → François Delambre (Alliance Family Allies) — François helps his sister-in-law protect the family.

  François tells Hélène that he caught the white-headed fly, and later helps prevent her conviction by agreeing to report André's death as suicide.

Story Analysis

André's experiment merges him with a fly, forcing his family to face the tragic consequences of scientific risk and the pursuit of truth.

Plot Progression

1. A Confession Without a Motive — Hélène admits that she killed André but will not explain why. Her fixation on a white-headed fly leads François to claim falsely that he caught it.
2. The Dangerous Invention — A flashback shows André's experiments with the disintegrator-integrator, from an inanimate object to living creatures. After building man-sized chambers, he attempts to transport himself.
3. A Fly in the Chamber — Hélène discovers André's transformation and learns that a fly entered the chamber with him. André asks her to catch it so he can reverse the process, but it escapes.
4. André's Final Choice — As the fly's instincts take over, André destroys his equipment and notes. He leads Hélène to the factory and signals her to operate the hydraulic press.
5. The Garden's Evidence — Charas initially regards Hélène as guilty, but Philippe directs him and François to the trapped fly. Charas crushes the fly and spider, and he and François decide to report André's death as suicide.
6. A Dangerous Truth — Hélène, François, and Philippe resume their lives. François tells Philippe that the search for truth is both important and dangerous.