Rain

By William Somerset Maugham

Author’s Background
William Somerset Maugham

- He was born on January 25, 1874, at the British Embassy in Paris

France, where his father Robert Maugham was a solicitor.
- Maugham was mostly influenced by a German philosopher Arthur
Schopenhauer, playwright Henrik Ibsen and writers Guy de
Maupassant and Oscar Wilde in his writings. His natural settings
were first based upon theatrical, literary and upper class London.
However, his travels especially including colonial spaces enabled
him to meet all kinds of people, which enriched the range of his
writing (Meyers, 2004: 156). Maugham died in Southern France in
1966, at the age of ninety two and his ashes were taken to King’s
school, Canterbury and burried beneath the wall of Maugham
Library
.

Background of the Story

"Rain" is a short story by the British writer W. Somerset Maugham. It was originally published as
"Miss Thompson" in April 1921, in the American literary magazine The Smart Set. Maugham
wrote it during his trip to the South Seas. From the brief lines he jotted down on his notebook,
later published in A Writer's Notebook, he constructed the story.

SETTINGS
1916 year, on the couple of islands in the Pacific Ocean.

CHARACTERIZATION
DR. MACPHAIL
Dr. Macphail is one of the passengers that get stuck on an unnamed Island on his way to Apia
because of a brake out of measles epidemic. Dr. Macphail often disagrees with their strong and
pious opinions, but usually he keeps it to himself. He particularly disagrees with Mr. Davidson's
treatment of fellow traveller Sadie Thomson, an alleged prostitute.
MRS MACPHAIL
Mrs. Macphail is wife of Dr. Macphail. She is a timid woman used to do as her husband bids
her. She gets along with the Davidsons much better than her husband and she spends most of
her time with Mrs. Davidson. Dr. Macphail often uses her to communicate with the Davidsons
indirectly.

MR. DAVIDSON
Mr. Davidson is a missionary from Pacific. He is extremely pious and considers it to be his life’s
aim to bring everyone he encounters to the right path. One of his greatest achievements is
installing a sense of sin in the natives, who in his eyes regularly broke all of the 10
commandments and lead an immoral life. When the travelers get stuck on the island due to
measles epidemic, the missionary is enraged to find out that one of the occupants of the house
they are renting rooms in, is a prostitute.

MRS. DAVIDSON
Mrs. Davidson is wife of Mr. Davidson, also a missionary. It is mostly through her that we learn
about the work that the couple has done throughout their mission. She often praises her
husband, his achievements and determination, and denounces the natives and their lifestyle.
Mrs Davidson also expresses concern about her husband's health, and keeps repeating that he
will wear himself out.

MISS THOMSON
Miss Thomson or Sadie Thomson is a young woman, who gets stuck on the island with the
Macphails and the Davidsons. She rents out a room downstairs from them. We soon learn she
is a prostitute. Mr. Davidson is determined to bring her to the right path and since she does not
yield at first, he manages for her to be sent to San Francisco, where, as it turns out, she has to
face a three year imprisonment. After she is unable to persuade the missionary to let her go to
Sydney instead of San Franciso, she breaks down and spends her days crying, reading bible,
and praying with the missionary. During the night before her departure, the missionary kills
himself and she returns to her old self. When Macphail confronts her about it she exclaims that
all men are the same, they are all pigs.

MR. HORN
Mr. Horn is a half-caste with native wife, so naturally someone Davidsons look down to. He is
the one who rents the rooms to the passengers who got stuck on the island because of the
epidemic. When Davidson learns that Sadie Thomson is a prostitute, he makes Mr. Horn forbid
her to bring her customers in. Mr. Horn is also the one who leads Dr. Macphail to the
missionary's dead body.

THE GOVERNER
After receiving threats from Mr. Davidson, who promised to complain about him in Washington
unless he would yield to his requirements, the governor orders Miss Thomson to leave on the
next ship to San Francisco. He receives another visit from Dr. Macphail, who comes to plead for
Sadie, but he turns him down, as he is afraid that the missionary could cause problems.
CHARACTER WEB
Mr. Horn Dr. Macphail Mrs. Macphail

Sadie Thompson Mr. Davidson Mrs. Davidson

The Governer

PLOT
1. The story starts with the introduction of the white travellers Macphails and Davidsons, who
are on a ship to Apia. Mr Macphail is a doctor and he is travelling there to stay for at least twelve
months with his wife. Davidsons are, however, missionaries, who induce natives to adopt
Christian religion by imposing heavy sanctions upon them such as the prohibition of wearing
traditional Lava Lava, dancing and so forth.

2. When the ship arrives in Pago Pago, something goes wrong and the couples are informed
that there is an epidemic of measles on the island.

3. Due to the quarantine, they are not allowed to enter the harbour to make sure that no
members of the crew have been affected. This means that they cannot use the schooner which
is to take them to Apia and thus have to stay there for at least ten days.

4. Under the heavy rain, they search for a shelter and find a house whose owner is a half caste
with a native wife. Another passenger who goes to Apia to be a cashier named Sadie
Thompson also hires one of the trader’s rooms.

5. When Macphails and Davidsons are staying there, Mrs Davidson’s husband generally talks
about his missionary position and boasts about it by narrating his past experiences with his wife.

6. During these conversations, sounds of gramaphone and men’s voices begin to come from
Miss Thompson’s room. Mr Davidson considers that Miss Thompson lacks a moral behavior
and is a prostitute. He, therefore, tries to encourage the trader to dismiss the girl from his house
and also talks to the governor to forcefully send her to San Francisco on Tuesday.

7. Miss Thompson does not want to go there since she knows that she will face a three year
prison term. Mr Davidson still does not pay attention to the girl’s cryings.

8. Sooner or later, the girl seems to subjugate to her destiny and bewilderingly wishes to be
forgiven for her sins.
9. Mr Davidson voluntarily helps her and believes that her repentance is remarkable. However,
it is very strange that Mr Davidson’s body is found dead on the morning of Miss Thompson’s
departure to San Francisco. Mr Macphail gets confused but soon understands the situation.

10. Even though what happened between Mr Davidson and Mrs Thompson is not certainly
stated in the short story, it can be inferred that Mr Davidson might have been seduced by the
girl or he might have raped her during the confession of her sins, which collapses his stern
allegiance to the God and therefore pushes him to commit suicide.

THEME
Religion
The theme is widely opened in the story: the reader follows the Davidsons, missionaries, who play one of
the main roles here. They seem to be true, righteous Christians. At least, they pretend to be so in their
words. But when watching how they treat Mrs Thompson, it becomes clear that they are not so holy, as
they want to look: they are callous, they are addicted not to their faith, but to the idea of this faith. And this
idea is interpreted by them in their own way: they think that people must become Christians no matter if
they want it or not. Their point of view is clearly implemented in their making Mrs Thompson repent her
sins.

Revenge
The theme of revenge Is presented in two reverse directions in the story: Mr Davidson’s revenge for Mrs
Thompson and her friends’ scoffing at him and successive Mrs Thompson’s revenge for actually Mr
Davidson’s revenge. The first of revenges was Mr Davidson’s making the woman’s soul suffer and be in
constant fear. He went to her room every day and nobody knew what they were doing there, but Mr
Davidson achieved his goal: Mrs Thompson, being first a cheeky woman, has changed into a haggard and
mild-mannered one. As for the second revenge, Mrs Thompson didn’t go to her goal openly.

CONFLICT
The major conflict develops between the Christian (Mr Davidson) who wants to overcome the
evil (it is in the image of Mrs Thompson). But his instrument isn’t the kindness, but cruelty, so he
doesn’t win this “war”.

POINT OF VIEW
“The story is told by the third-person narrator. It helps the author to cover the sides and points of
view of all characters of the story.
SYMBOLISM
Mr Davidson
The man stands here as the symbol of cruelty, which hides behind virtue. He is a missionary,
who must forgive others and be an example of a Christian not just based on words, but based
as well on behavior. He mustn’t force others to come to God, as he had done with the people of
his island and wanted to do with Mrs Thompson. If he was the “light” for those people, they’d
seek his God without any coercion.

Gramophone
The gramophone symbolized depravity. When Mrs Thompson turns it on, her neighbors regard
her as a naughty woman. When Mr Davidson starts to put her on the path of truth, she turns it
off. But when the woman, having killed him, changes into previous Mrs Thompson, she listens
to the gramophone again. The instrument sounds loudly, it rattles in the protagonists ears (and it
seems, in the reader’s as well), thus filling the image of Mrs Thompson up with flashy
immorality.

CULTURAL IMPLICATION
“Rain,” like others of its kind, is an exploration of what happens when East meets West in a
tropical setting. The clash between Pacific and European cultures informs every aspect of
“Rain,” and for each Anglo-Saxon character, the tropics represent some different and alien
reality. The Davidsons see the South Seas as a vast pagan chaos waiting to be colonized and
Christianized.
“Rain” is also a bitter indictment of intolerance, both political and religious. The Davidsons are
self-righteous and an authoritarian, accomplished destroyer of Samoan culture, “Rain” is a
powerful critique of American and Western European imperialism. The story also talks about the
prostitution which is present in our community.

IMPLICATION OF THE TITLE

The rain stands here as the allegory to those events which had happened on the island. First
there was no rain there: all people were quiet and friendly. But when the quarrel between Mr
Davidson and Mrs Thompson begins, when Dr Macphail is angry for Mr Davidson, it starts
raining and it’s continuing harder and harder till the very end of the story, when the story
reaches its pick – Mr Davidson is killed.
 Submitted by:
Aivy F. Ylanan
BEE III- Junior

Submitted to:
Prof. Sofia B. Aloy
Course Professor