The happy man

“The Happy man”

The story that I’m going to analyze was written by Somerset Maugham, a well-known English writer. He was born on 25 of January in 1874, he was an English playwright, novelist and short story writer. Somerset Maugham traveled a lot, he was a very experienced man, he was a doctor and quite a good one. Somerset also was one of the most popular and well-paid authors if his era, especially for his novels and short stories. And one of his short stories that I’ve read is entitled “The happy man”.

The genre of the text is a short story, because it has a single plot and small number of characters.

Narrative mode of the text is narration.

The plot structure of the story is interesting one. The exposition of the story starts with the explanation why the narrator does not like to give advices. After the explanation we slowly come to the rising action when a total stranger comes to the narrator to ask for a piece of advice whether he –an English doctor, can have any chance in Spain. After their discussion the main characters come to the conclusion that Stephens, a total stranger, should decide for himself what to do, but if Stephens is not worried about money, he will lead a wonderful life.

Slowly we come to the climax, when the narrator being in Spain suddenly meets Stephens who works in the hospital there. We slowly come to the falling action, when the narrator realized that he advised well. So, we logically come to the resolution when after a short talk the English doctor admits that he would not exchange the life he had had with that of any kind in the world.

Now, I’d like to give you the summary of the story. The story is about how a piece of advice can change our life. The events take place in London and Seville, Spain. At the beginning of the story the author shows the narrator’s attitude to people who like advice other people what to do. The narrator does not support such people and he also does not like to give advices because he even doesn’t know anything of others. But once he advised well, when a total stranger came to him to ask for a piece of advice whether an English doctor could have any chance to get a job in Spain. The stranger had everything for a good life, but he could not stick it anymore. After a long discussion the narrator came to the conclusion that Stephens could stay in London and had a good life but being very unhappy, or could go to Spain and became a poor, but a happy person. 15 years later the narrator happened to be in Spain, but because of some problems with health he had to visit a doctor. It turned out that doctor was Stephens. The story ends with the doctor’s gratitude about the advice that once the narrator gave him.

The main characters of the story are the narrator and Stephens. Speaking about the narrator, the only thing we know about his age that he was young when once he advised well. The method of character drawing is indirect. The narrator is round, static, protagonist character. We can see his wise thoughts through the text. That is why we can say, that he is a wise man. He always knows that it is not correct when one person advise another how to act, because it’s impossible to know another person as well as oneself to give him or her a piece of advice which would be good for him or her. From here, we can say that he is a bold man, because he dares to give advice to the person he sees for the first time in his life. The narrator also is a well-educated person, because he was a doctor and his speech was very polite. And as we know, being doctor you have to study all your life. He is a philosopher, he thinks about the life and the value of life a lot, but he has a pessimistic view about this (“And life is something that you can lead but once or that we are prisoners at the solitary tower…”). He is a good listener and psychologist. So he creates an image of a life philosopher.

As for Stephens, he is round, dynamic, protagonist character. He is a little man, thick-out, stout. He has a round face, small dark bright eyes, black hair. He is a mysterious person, because there was something special in his eyes, and as we know eyes are the mirror of the soul. Stephens is a brave man, because he comes to the narrator to ask for a piece of advice without knowing him. We also can say, that he does not worry what he looks like, though he is an Englishman. As we know English men are said to have a good taste. We can divide his life into two periods: his life in England and his life in Spain. In England he was unhappy, maybe that is why it does not important for him what to wear and he came in a blue suit a good deal the worse for wear. His life bored him to death. Even the damp climate of England where it rains all day long and the sky is grey and cloudy can’t be compared with sunny weather in Spain. In England he creates an image of a ordinary person, but in Spain he feels happy, he hasn’t got a well-paid job, he just a medical officer, he drinks a lot, he has a lover, he is untidy but the main thing is that he is happy and feels free. We can also say that he is a bold man, because he wants to change his life, even to move in another city and he will.

Speaking about vocabulary of the story, it is important to say that the language is simple. That is why it is easy to read. The style of the text is clear and elegant, each paragraph forms a complete thought. There are lots of epithets that make the story interesting, expressive, gripping, such as a dim recollection, an apologetic laugh, a squeamish person and so on. So we can see, that the great merit of vocabulary lies in the wonderful richness and variety of descriptive phrases, that is epithets and other stylistic devices.

It is important to mention, that vocabulary is essentially as simple as the syntax of it. Each sentence is simple and complete. The structure of the sentences is characterized by a strict adherence to logic. The author avoids heavy constructions, that make the story understandable for each person.

As I have already mentioned, to make the story interesting and gripping the author also uses stylistic devices such as metaphors, allusions, rhetorical questions, parallel syntactical constructions, hyperbole.

“A prisoner in solitary tower; journey’s staff; to point the finger of fate” they are all metaphors, the author uses them to show the narrator’s pessimistic views to the life, his thoughts about it.

We also can find a parallel construction such as “there is sunshine, there is good wine and there is colour and there is air you can breath”. Owing this construction we can see what Stephen thinks about Spain, how much he wants to get there.

The author also uses hyperbole “I’ve had with that of any kind in the world”. It can show us what Stephens feels, being in Spain.

We can find rhetorical questions such as “How can one advise another how to act unless one knows that other as well as one knows himself? Or “what shall I do with my life?” – it can show us that the narrator is a great philosopher.

Also we can find allusion – such as Carmen – a symbol of Spain, of freedom, that can show how strong Stephens wants to go to Spain, he dreams about it.

Having analyzed stylistic devises we can describe the atmosphere and tone of the story. In the beginning the atmosphere is nervous, but in the end of the story it is warm, relaxed. The tone in the beginning is serious, because the narrator discusses about the value of life, but then the tone is .

Having realized the story we can easily find the theme and the main idea of it. The theme of the story is happiness. The main idea is that following someone;’s advices we lose and find something, but anyway we take a risk, because it depends only on us what to do.