Short stories by Somerset Maugham

Book review
Short stories by Somerset Maugham.
Abstract.
The book review focuses on the influence of the theories and writings of William Somerset Maugham. This has narrowed down its focus on the only three short stories by Maugham, namely ''The Unconquered'', ''Rain'', ''The Pool''. This book review aims to critically evaluate the compelling themes and motives of Maugham's short stories. In the paper, the national and women's contexts closely interrelated in W. S. Maugham's "The Unconquered" short story (1943) are being examined. While analysing the ground of the conquest and resistance, it is concluded that war conquering and sexual violence are aimed to establish the men's power over certain part of the world. In some ways, capturing a woman and occupying the land are considered equal things under the patriarchal rules. With this in mind, any male conqueror tries to reach both of them not only for the sake of victory, but also for approval his status of a worthy member of a men-ruling society (a nation). Next, the role of stereotypes as an engine of all negative phenomena of national and gender non-understanding, in particular, war and various kinds of inequality, is stressed. Tracing the complex relationship between, on the one hand, Frenchmen and Germans, and women and men, on the other hand, it should be token that the final infanticide is multivalued whereas it means the woman's liberation and revenge for the men's world, as well as is an apogee of national resistance.
Key words: short story, masterpiece, political marriage, mutual understanding, irony, the second world war, marriage value, family happiness. Creatures of Circumstance, The Unconquered.

Introduction.

The Unconquered'', ''Rain'', ''The Pool''.
William Somerset Maugham, British playwright and novelist, was one of the most reputed and well-known writers of his era, and one of the highest-paid authors of his time. ''The unconquered'' is famous short story of Somerset Maugham. Two German soldiers - Hans and Willy - went to a French farm to ask how to get to Soissons (one of the districts of France). The door was opened to them by a young girl who replied that she did not know the way. Then the soldiers entered the house and got an answer from the girls parents. After drinking a bottle of wine, Hans, wounded by the fact that the girl does not pay the slightest attention to him, and is extremely hostile to them, asked her for a kiss, which he received a decisive refusal. Then Hans, fueled by wine, put her hand in her arm and dragged her into another room. Parents tried to stop him, but Hans was stronger. He hit the old father so that he fell. The girls mother threw the German to the wall, where she remained standing, frozen in fear. Hans raped the girl, then she and Willy left, leaving one hundred francs for a new dress instead of the torn one and twenty francs for the wine they had drunk.Hans began to come to this house often. Why - he himself did not know. Maybe because in the service he was ordered to establish relations with the inhabitants of the defeated France? Maybe because this girl seemed special to him? Outwardly Annette was completely not in his taste, but in her there was an education and a French charm. Maybe because during the war, Hans yearned for normal human relations? He did not understand why. ''Rain'' is the sordid tale of what may possibly be the author`s most notorius femme fatale, Miss Sadie Thompson. While not nearly as famous as that companion piece from the collection, it is easy to understand why ''The Pool'' fits perfectly alongside ''Rain'' in this collection. Like that story and, indeed, the bulk of Maugham's imagination. Just as Miss Sadie Thompson's tale of illicit sensuality colliding with judgemental religious hypocrisy is steeped in some manner of fact, so are the events related in ''The Pool'' traceable to a story which entered into the orbit of Maugham only to be seized by the gravitational pull of his idiosyncratic brand of world- making.
Rain. On the way to Apia in the Pacific, a ship stops at Pago Pago. The passengers include Dr. Macphail and his wife, and Davidson (a missionary) and his wife (the story is told from Macphail's point of view). Because of an epidemic of measles (a serious disease for local people) on the island, the ship cannot leave until it is sure none of the crew is infected. The Macphails and the Davidsons find lodgings with Horn, a trader on the front. For most of their stay there is heavy rain which they find oppressive. Macphail hears from Davidson and his wife about the severity of the missionary in his work.
The Pool. The story begins with Chase Ambrose, a 13-year-old boy, in hospital, where it is revealed he is suffering from acute retrograde amnesia. When he gets home, his father is not very caring and only cares when he will be recovered to play football once again.The perspective changes to that of Shoshanna Weber, the twin sister of Joel Weber, a boy who has been bullied by Chase. She is angry at how he treaded her bother and hates chase despite his amnesia.
Discussion.
The Unconquered''. The most awful thing that may happen with the humanity is a war. It crashes people's fates, changes their natures and affects their lives. This problem is thoroughly described in the story named «The Unconquered» written by William Somerset Maugham, who is better known as W. Somerset Maugham. He was a British playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era and reputedly the highest-paid author during the 1930s. The story tells us about a period when France was defeated by Germany. But this story doesnt deal with the dreadful tragedy of the whole country. It is about the misfortune of two particular people. One of them is a young woman Annette who was raped by a young drunk german soldier. And the second person is the very rapist. His name is Hans. When he realized what he had done, he tried to apologize to Annette, to make amends, but all his efforts were vain. Pregnant with his child Annette took an offence and killed the baby.This story is very contradictory. Some people would sympathize with Annette, others would feel sorry for Hans. And some people would also blame Annette , others would accuse Hans. Personally I think that Annete should have forgiven Hans because I believe that every person makes mistakes. And no matter if these mistakes are heavy or not. If person repents sincerely in what he has done, he deserves forgiveness. I think that Annette was a weak, arrogant and cruel girl because she couldnt forgive Hans and did a heartbreaking thing — she killed her own baby. From my point of view, only strong people could forgive people even if they did a lot of harm to them.To put it in a nutshell, this story is very sad, but at the same time incredibly strong and dwells upon a lot of important topics.
Rain''. What a surprise, a man who claims to be the jailer of sin turns out to be sinful and attracted to the gaudy girl. I think Sadie was depicted by Maugham as entirely sincere in her desire for repentance. Her manner of dress conveys that. There is nothing at all indicating that shes putting on a show; rather, all the language of dress and posture says she is beaten. She trembles and says she cant face going back without the strength Davidsons presence gives her to do so. These things are nominally good — she really has evaded a sentence in the penitentiary, she might seek to reform her life and think about what she does. But all of it is done through a cruel manipulation, not an honest or loving concern for her. Its clear to me that it was the reverend, spending so much late night time with her, put a move on her. And also absolutely entirely within the realm of human nature.
The Pool''. The author used the method of narration from the first side for the beginning and end of the story. The main part, the story of love Mr. Lawson with the girl Ethel was written from the first side. Ethel was a daughter of a native woman and a man from Holland. The author called her and people who had mixture parents - half-caste.The plot of the narration took place on the island Samoe, in Scotland and on Samoe again. It is a very touching story about unhappy love, differences between cultures, human weaknesses and prejudices.an ever convinced that a straight life is a sham.
Analysis.
The Unconquered. In the story, two levels—national and gender—display a double gist of the conquest. Certainly, this duality is a special feature of Maughams story whereas national projections of Frenchmen and Germans allow denouncing together the generic vices of patriarchal society, and the horror of Nazism, obviously. Likewise, it reflects the complexity of relationship between a woman and a man in terms of nationalism rooted in the gender inequality, and sexual interaction, the more so it always fixes the strict gender roles inside the society. In order to explore the strategies of national and gender interactions under the power issue, there two literary approaches mainly are being utilized. The first is imagology, which is directed towards inscribed national characters, or ethnotypes, international relation, with national stereotypes as its generic parts. Feminist critics is the second one, which means allow examining the woman question within the framework of national theme. Authors basic assumptions imply the nationalist grounds of Nazi led to generalization of national level within the story. Gender roots of any national struggle is almost undisputable subject whereas it functions ipso facto as the approval of power of the stronger over the weaker, which initially implies gender roles, and stereotypes towards a strong male conqueror, and a weak dependent woman. The fact that this is true women are still believed to serve sexual slaves and mothers of Nations sons regardless of their affiliation and desire.
Rain. Rain, Maughams best-known short story, develops many of these same themes. Pago Pago is unforgettably described, but no one In the story, two levels—national and gender—display a double gist of the conquest. Certainly, this duality is a special feature of Maughams story whereas national projections of Frenchmen and Germans allow denouncing together the generic vices of patriarchal society, and the horror of Nazism, obviously. Likewise, it reflects the complexity of relationship between a woman and a man in terms of nationalism rooted in the gender inequality, and sexual interaction, the more so it always fixes the strict gender roles inside the society. In order to explore the strategies of national and gender interactions under the power issue, there two literary approaches mainly are being utilized. The first is imagology, which is directed towards inscribed national characters, or ethnotypes, international relation, with national stereotypes as its generic parts. Feminist critics is the second one, which means allow examining the woman question within the framework of national theme. Authors basic assumptions imply the nationalist grounds of Nazi led to generalization of national level within the story. Gender roots of any national struggle is almost undisputable subject whereas it functions ipso facto as the approval of power of the stronger over the weaker, which initially implies gender roles, and stereotypes towards a strong male conqueror, and a weak dependent woman. The fact that this is true women are still believed to serve sexual slaves and mothers of Nations sons regardless of their affiliation and desire. could confuse it with the romanticized loveliness of Neilsons island. When the rain is not falling in torrents, the sun is oppressive. Davidson, the missionary, and Sadie, the prostitute, act out their parts with the same furious intensity. Neither is banalized; Maugham neither approves nor condemns. Only the mountains of Nebraska dream foreshadows Davidsons lust. (With its overtones of sexual repression, this dream makes Rain a notable pioneer in Freudian fiction.) Other than that, however, Davidsons sincere religious fervor seems convincingly real, inspired though it is by his mission, yet another example of the white mans burden. In the ensuing struggle between spiritual and heathen sensuality, the ironic stroke is that the prostitute wins; up to the last few pages, the storys outcome looks otherwise. Finally, Davidson must admit that he cannot proscribe human nature, not even his own. Neither saint nor sinner, he is simply human. On a more universal level than either The Pool or Rain shows that in human nature, only its unaccountability is predictable.
The Pool'' offers an excellent example of the way in which Maugham approaches themes related to British colonialism. The story of Lawson and Ethel is quite easily interpreted as a critique of the expectations of assimilation, but what is really unique about it is that the narrative works toward an increasingly ambiguous take on the subject. The body of water which gives the story its title has proven to be far too tempting to many critics looking to find religious symbolism, but another symbolic perspective can endow it with a more politically charged metaphor: a gene pool. Ethel is described as being of mixed-race with the term half-caste and this less than pureblood status makes her great beauty a non-starter for the British men sizing her up. Ive given her the glad eye once or twice, but I guess theres nothing doing, says Nelson. In other words, despite having some acceptably European genes in her pool (via Norway) she is not sufficiently European to consider marriage material. Shes a foreign and dark one at that.That pool in which the native women swim as a group is endowed with a mysterious element which also speaks to the concept of genetic differentiation. There is something off about the pool relative to Ethel: It looked as though there were in this pool some secret which attracted Ethel against her will. Since shes only half-islander, this secret might well be interpreted as the pool drawing her Norwegian genes which is not fully cognizant of the cultural appeal of the pool. At every point in the story, there always seems to be a tension at work between two opposing forces trying to fit together against a force pushing them apart, like when you try to get two magnets to connect and instead they repulse.
To conclude this book review, as I have mentioned above the three short stories of William Somerset Maugham was written in extraordinary and attractive way. There are deep meaning and meaningful opinions under the short stories of Maugham.
References.
1."The Collected Short Stories of W. Somerset Maugham, Vol. 1 by W. Somerset Maugham". LibraryThing. Retrieved on 2022-12-05.
2."The unconquered (Book, 1944)". [WorldCat.org]. Retrieved on 05.12.2022