MR KNOW ALL

Symbolism /ˈsɪmbəlɪzəm/ and Message /ˈmesɪdʒ/

Sa

THEMES
Cultural and racial Jealousy Snobbery Racism
prejudice

From the start, the The narrator’s The narrator was the belief that some
narrator expresses comments about clearly people are superior
his prejudices the number of disappointed about and others are
against Mr. Kelada travel stickers on not being able to inferior based on
for no reason. The Kelada’s suitcases, get single cabin. the racial, religious
narrator does not the size of his This, coupled with or national group.
like anything about wardrobe trunk, his the way he puts As the story
Mr. Kelada. expensive other characters develops, the
When the narrator toiletries, and down in the story, narrator changes
says that there are monogrammed may indicate that from referring to
too many labels on brush, and even his he is a snob. He Mr. Kelada by
Mr. Kelada's apparent popularity labels the doctor as name to using the
luggage it has a with other lazy for not joining term “Levantine",
double meaning: passengers suggest in Mr Ramsay’s which is an insult.
for one thing, Mr. that the narrator arguments with Mr This suggests that
Kelada travels a lot may be jealous Kelada over dinner, the narrator’s
so there are labels because Kelada where it was prejudice against
from different ports appears to be more clearly the doctor’s Mr. Kelada is an
on his suitcases. wealthy and/or job to try to “keep example of racism,
Second, people put sophisticated than the peace” at his which is supported
labels on him so he is. table. Later, he by the fact that he
they are prejudiced describes Mr also refers to
and stereotyped Ramsay as a great Kelada’s oriental
him. In spite of the heavy fellow from smile and possible
fact that Mr. the Middle West, birth in Alexandria
Kelada is jovial, with loose fat under or Beirut.
hearty, and a tight skin, (who) Stereotype – a
sociable, the writer bulged out of his widely held, but
criticizes him. ready-made fixed and
Strangely, all the clothes, and oversimplified
people in the story dismisses Mrs image or idea, of a
feel the same, and Ramsay as a very particular type of
they give Mr. pretty little thing, person.
Kelada the with pleasant
nickname “Mr. manners and a
Know-All”. What sense of humor…
seems good and (who) knew how to
friendly to Mr. wear her clothes.
Kelada seems bad,
pushy, and vulgar
to the others.
Ironically, despite
the cultural
differences
between the
narrator and Mr.
Kelada, they share
the same attitude
toward women.
Both refer to Mrs.
Ramsay as “a
pretty little thing”.

The author does not

name the narrator
for a purpose: the
racist narrator can
be any one of us.
We all may be
guilty of judging
people by
stereotypes and
generalizations
rather than
examining the true
character of people
and getting to know
them as individuals