THE VERGER -SOMERSET MAUGHAM

THE VERGER    -SOMERSET MAUGHAM

     The Verger is a short story, written by Somerset Maugham. The story explains that education contributes to certain purposes but in money-making, it is commonsense that plays a vital role.

     Albert Edward, had been the verger of St.Peter’s church for sixteen years. He was a man of distinguished features, who did his job in a dignified way with great dedication. He rendered his service to the best satisfaction of the fashionable parishioners. After the new vicar was appointed, the verger came in trouble with him. The verger was uneducated so the new vicar called the verger and gave him three months time to learn to read and write. But the verger was not ready to learn anything new. He was satisfied with what he had. The new vicar compelled him to resign his job. So the verger resigned his job left the church.

     While he was walking on the street slowly, he was thinking about his future. To fulfill his basic needs he was badly in need of a job. Because of frustration he wanted to smoke a cigarette. He looked for a shop in the long street. There were no shops nearby. There would be many like him who would like to smoke cigarettes. So he planned to open a shop in the street. He consulted this idea with his wife. First, his wife did not accept his idea, later she accepted it. Soon he opened a shop and turned into a shopkeeper. He worked sincerely to develop his business. In a short span of time, he opened another shop in the next street. In a decade, he owned a chain of shops in London. He became very rich.

     Edward deposited his money in the bank. One day the bank manager called Edward and informed him that he had thirty thousand pounds in his account. He also advised him to invest the amount in shares. To get Edward’s concurrence, the manager asked him to sign in an agreement. But Edward told him that he could neither read nor write. The manager was surprised and wondered. The manager asked Edward that what would he had been if he was educated. Edward replied that he would be a verger at St.Peter’s church.

EARLY INFLUENCES - A.P.J.ABDUL KALAM

EARLY INFLUENCES  - A.P.J.ABDUL KALAM

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Introduction

‘Early Influences’ is an extract from Dr. A. B. J. Abdul Kalam’s autobiography “Wings of Fire”. It narrates his boyhood days and the influence of different man on him during the period.

Jallaluddin and Kalam

     Ahmed Jallaluddin, a relative of Kalam helped his father to build a boat. Later he married Kalam’s sister Zohara. Despite the age difference, Jallaluddin and Kalam became good friends. Every evening they went for long walk. They usually talked about spiritual matters. They would circle the shiva temple with the same reverence as a pilgrim from a distant place.

     Jallaluddin seemed to be able to communicate directly with God, as like partner working together. He had the sense of respect for an unknown and unseen force. He was the only person on the island who could write letters in English. He talked to Kalam about – scientific discoveries, contemporary writing and literature, even about medical science and its greatness. He helped Kalam to look beyond the limited horizons of his life. Jallaluddin was the major influe nce on Kalam’s life at that stage.

STR Manickam and Kalam

    STR Manickam was a militant nationalist. He was against to the Gandhian way of non-violence. He had a huge personal library. Kalam visited STR’s home to borrow books. STR always encouraged Kalam to read more books.

Samsuddhin and Kalam

      Samsuddhin, Kalam’s cousin was one of the persons who helped to shape Kalam’s boyhood. Samsuddhin was the only distributor for newspapers in Rameswaram. The morning train to Pamban brought in the Tamil newspapers. Dinamani was the most popular newspaper in those days. Kalam was not able to read the printed matters but he was able to understand the content with simply looking at the pictures in the papers before Samsuddhin delivered them. Because of the World War the train halt at Rameswaram station was suspended. The newspaper bundles were tossed out of the moving train. Samsuddhin chose Kalam to help him move the bundles.

Kalam’s first earnings

     Kalam was eight years old when World War II started in 1939. The war influenced Kalam indirectly. It provided Kalam with his first earnings. For some reason, there was a sudden demand for tamarind seeds during the war. Kakam would collect the seeds and sell them to a provision store near his house. A day’s collection would fetch him the princely amount of one anna.

Conclusion

     From this part of his autobiography, we could understand Kalam’s boyhood days and how he was encouraged in his studies and religious matters by his relatives and friends. Kalam acknowledges them in his autobiography with sincere gratitude.    

THE PRAISE OF CHIMNEY SWEEPERS – CHARLES LAMB

THE PRAISE OF CHIMNEY SWEEPERS – CHARLES LAMB

     The essay ‘The Praise of Chimney Sweepers’ reveals Lamb’s sympathy for the low and downtrodden. His love towards the chimney sweepers is praiseworthy.

     Lamb says that the voice of Chimney Sweepers remind him of the chirping of the sparrow. The boys in the dark cloths resemble clergyman. These boys preach patience to mankind by their hard work. Lamb used to be shocked at the sudden disappearance of the sweeper within the complicated chimneys. He felt immensely relieved, when the sweep came up on the roof with his brush weaving like a Conjuror’s flag.

     Lamb asks the readers to be generous and give the Sweepers a penny or two. He asks his readers to offer Sassafras tea to the small boys. The tea is made from boiling the wood of sassafras, which emits a repellent smell. If we give them a cup of tea, they will do the work with great enthusiasm and save the chimneys from catching fire.

  While walking along a street, Lamb fell down. By seeing this a chimney sweeper laughed at him. For this Lamb did not get angry because the boy‘s joy was completely free from any malice and was the outcome of innocent mirth. Lamb says that he would have stood there without pain, if the boy is laughed till midnight. He appreciated the sweeper’s white teeth shining in contrast to his black skin and clothes.

     Lamb expresses his belief that some of the sweepers must be from noble families. They must have been kidnapped in their infancy and might be forced to do this work. To support it, Lamb tells a story of a chimney sweeper who had slept on Duke Howard’s state bed. Their civil, courteous behaviour shows their descent from aristocratic families.

    Lamb praises his friend Jem White for his sympathy towards the chimney sweepers. His friend Jim had the practice of giving annual dinner on St.Bartholomew’s Day in Smithfield to the Chimney Sweepers. He used to invite sweepers in and around the city and he would serve them with all dignity. He would conduct the  feast with great care.

    To sum up, this essay show Lamb’s attitude, love and sympathy for the suffering children.

                        

A BACHELOR’S COMPLAINT OF THE BEHAVIOUR OF MARRIED PEOPLE – CHARLES LAMB

A BACHELOR’S COMPLAINT OF  THE BEHAVIOUR OF MARRIED PEOPLE – CHARLES LAMB

     ‘A Bachelor’s Complaint of the Behaviour of Married People’ was published in September, 1822 in London Magazine. In this essay Lamb criticizes at the behaviour of newly married people. Lamb begins this essay by saying that being a bachelor, he has a god deal of time in noting down the infirmities of the married people. To married people, bachelors have lost ‘superior pleasure’ of life by remaining single. But Lamb did not think so. Lamb dislikes married people not because of their quarrels but because of their excessive love showing.

     Lamb says “Many good things can be learnt from learned”. But a bachelor can not derive any good things by watching or listening to the married people. The married people boast about their privilege to others. The married people think, the bachelor as intellectually inferior person. Once, a married woman refuses to discuss the breeding of Oysters with Lamb. She asked Lamb what an old bachelor could know about breeding Oysters.

     The pride of woman is unbearable, if she has children. To Lamb, children are common and not as rare as Phoneix. Even poor people have a number of children, so married should not feel proud just because they had children.

     Lamb loves children because they are engaging. He loves children not because they are the children of his friends. He quotes a proverb, ‘Love me, Love my dog’. One can love inanimate things of one’s friend but not children.

     Lamb complaints that young wives try to separate the old friends of their husbands from him. To separate, they use many cunning methods. One such method is to laugh at everything the friend says and make their husband to think that his old friend is not fit to be his companion. Another method is the exaggeration. By exaggerating the qualities of her husband’s friend, her husband himself became jealous and will cut down his friendship.

     Lamb complaints that most of the wives treat their husband’s friend with contempt. Once, a woman made him wait for long time to serve supper. Another woman served ordinary food to Lamb and some special food for herself and her husband.

      Lamb concludes this essay by warning his married friends to correct themselves. If they fail to do, Lamb says that he will publish all their names.

DREAM CHILDREN: A REVERIE -CHARLES LAMB

DREAM CHILDREN: A REVERIE

                                   -CHARLES LAMB

Dream Children: A Reverie is one of Lamb’s famous essays. This essay shows the character of boy Lamb, his brother and grandmother.

     Children love to listen to stories about elders. Lamb’s little children, Alice and John gathered near Lamb to hear something about their great –grandmother Mary Field. She lived in a big mansion in Norfolk. She maintained the mansion very well. She was very pious. She knew the Psalms of the Bible by heart. In her youth, she had been very tall, graceful and a very good dancer. She was afflicted with cancer and this put an end to her dancing. She was bold enough to live alone in the big house and how she thought that ghosts of two children used to be seen wandering on the staircase at midnight. Mrs. Field’s funeral was attended by many people, because of her cordial relationship with all.

     As a boy, Lamb used to visit his grandmother house very often. He gazed at the busts of twelve Caesars in his grandmother’s house. He used to roam around the big house and spent his time all alone of his own way. He would lie on the warm grass and look at the fishes in the fishpond.  Thus the boy Lamb idled his time.

     Next Lamb told the children about their Uncle John L.  John was little lame but courageous and high- spirited. He loved riding and hunting. He used to carry Lamb on his back many miles. When John died, Lamb missed him badly. Here the children began to cry and requested the father to talk about their dead mother.

     Lamb narrated to his imaginary children how he counted Alice Winterton in ecstasy and despair. Looking at the child Alice, Lamb felt that his child’s eyes and hair resembled his beloved’s eyes and hair. When he narrated his unsuccessful love for Alice Winterton, the imaginary children began to fade away. Before they made it clear that they were not the children of Alice and Lamb. In reality Alice married Bartrum. So the children would claim Bartrum as their father and not Lamb. The children added that they were only figures in Lamb’s dream and were bound to disappear.

     After the figures disappeared, the dream came to an end and Lamb found himself seated in his bachelor arm-chair.

     There is a mixture of humour and pathos in the essay. Lamb’s language in this essay is simple and it also free from obscure allusions.