Complex Literary Text analysis

The Fall of Edward Barnard

1. About author.
W. Somerset Maugham (born Jan. 25, 1874, Paris, France—died Dec. 16, 1965, Nice),
English novelist, playwright, and short-story writer whose work is characterized by a clear
unadorned style, cosmopolitan settings, and a shrewd understanding of human nature.
His reputation as a novelist rests primarily on four books: Of Human Bondage (1915), a
semi-autobiographical account of a young medical student’s painful progress toward maturity;
The Moon and Sixpence (1919), an account of an unconventional artist, suggested by the life
of Paul Gauguin; Cakes and Ale (1930), the story of a famous novelist, which is thought to
contain caricatures of Thomas Hardy and Hugh Walpole; and The Razor’s Edge(1944), the
story of a young American war veteran’s quest for a satisfying way of life.
Maugham’s plays, mainly Edwardian social comedies, soon became dated, but his short
stories have increased in popularity. Many portray the conflict of Europeans in alien
surroundings that provoke strong emotions, and Maugham’s skill in handling plot, in the
manner of Guy de Maupassant, is distinguished by economy and suspense. In The Summing
Up (1938) and A Writer’s Notebook (1949) Maugham explains his philosophy of life as a
resigned atheism and a certain skepticism about the extent of man’s innate goodness and
intelligence; it is this that gives his work its astringent cynicism.

2. Short summary of the story.

W. Somerset Maugham's short story "The Fall of Edward Barnard" was published in The
Trembling of a Leaf: Little Stories of the South Sea Islands in 1921 (available from Replica
Books). The story is principally about two young men from Chicago, Bateman Hunter and
Edward Barnard, who have been friends since their college days. They are in love with the
same woman, a Chicago socialite named Isabel Longstaffe. For reasons of business, Edward
travels to the South Sea island of Tahiti. He is expected to return in two years and marry
Isabel. But after a while, Edward discovers that he likes living on the island, and he has no
plans to return. Bateman travels to Tahiti and tries to persuade Edward, whom he believes to
be wasting his life, to return to Chicago. But Edward, who has discovered a new set of values
in Tahiti, refuses to change his mind. He plans to marry a Tahitian girl and spend the rest of
his life in this tropical paradise.
Thematically, "The Fall of Edward Barnard" deals with a clash of cultures between East and
West. Maugham uses much irony to ensure that the East, where life is lived closer to nature, is
seen in a better light than the materialistic West, as represented by Bateman and Isabel. The
story also presents ideas about the role the social and cultural environment plays in shaping
human character, and it illustrates Maugham's dislike of conventional morality.

3. Problem raised by author.

The story explores the old debate about whether people are what they are because of certain
innate qualities (nature) or because they are shaped by the environment in which they live
(nurture). 
4. Main idea.
Central to the story is the clash between Western and Eastern values and cultures. Bateman
sums up the Western way of seeing things when he says, in answer to Edward's question about
how a man gets the best out of life, "By doing his duty, by hard work, by meeting all the
obligations of his state and station." Bateman, as an embodiment of the Chicago spirit of the
1920s, values money and power. He justifies this by saying that these assets help to create jobs
for many people.

5. General definition of the text.

Maugham utilizes the technique of the frame story. This occurs when there is a story within a
story. The frame in this story is the Chicago setting with which the narrative begins and ends.
It is largely concerned with Bateman's interactions with Isabel. In between is the story of
Edward and his Tahitian adventure. The frame story is a common technique in both ancient
and modern literature. The best known example is probably Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales.
Maugham adopted, for part of the story, the form of the omniscient third-person narrator,
who can see into the minds and emotions of all the characters. However, much of the story is
told only through Bateman's point of view. This is known as a limited third-person narrator.
The reader only knows events and people as they are seen through the eyes of the viewpoint
character. During the part of the narrative set in Tahiti, for example, Edward and Jackson are
seen entirely through Bateman's eyes, which adds to their mystery and enables Maugham to
deepen the irony on which the meaning of the story rests.
6. Prevailing mood.
Dramatic, melodramatic, emotional
7. Title analysis.
The title of the story “The Fall of Edward Barnard” shows the attitude and thoughts about
Edward from the point of view of Bateman and Isabel. Because Edward didn’t consider that
his life became worse. He thought that he was happier, cleverer and everything in his life
brought him only pleasure. As for me, he had chosen the right way in his life, but his attitude
towards Isabel was awful. He could explain her new values in his life and give her a choice to
be with him or not. But he continued to make her suffer.
8. The composition of the story.
1). The exposition (introduction). Acquaintance with the main characters. Bateman’s
description of Isabel and her personality. Short description of Edward and Isabel’s love.
2) The development of the plot (an account of events) Bateman’s returning to the
Chicago and dinner with Longstaffe’s family. Conversation between Isabel and Bateman (his
story about going to Tahiti). His meeting with Edward Barnard.
3) The climax (the culmination point) Meeting with Arnold Jackson. Discovering
changes in Edward’s character.
4) the denouement (the outcome of the story) The conclusion of the story about
Edward. Bateman and Isabel love.
9. A) Phono-graphical Level.
b) Morphological Level.
c) Lexical Level:
1) Stylistic differentiation of the English Vocabulary
2) Semantic Groups of Words
3) Phraseological units
4) Lexical stylistic devices
d) Syntactic Level of Analysis
1) Sentence Structure
2) Syntactic Stylistic Devices