Tagen oy te edge senor, Stators thes hee, wih father owns a little vineyard here, near the se . : his father and two younger brothers. He takes care of them andl ot ad nursemaid, dressing them when it is time to climb the vineclad hill for y meal, eis The boys live a hard life here. They depend on the sea for their liveli eed However, there harmonious relationship between man and nature. The sea is not an object of fear and apprehension for them. The fishermen get ae their boats and spend the night, catching fish and then row back again to sell the catch in time, The people of this island are industrious and display an utmost commitment in their work. They lead a simple, harmonious life. The island, which is the setting of the story, is full of natural beauty and opulence. The foreigners sit and bask in the warmth of the sun and enjoy the sight of the Italian fishermen at work. Important characters @ Salvatore > Salvatore is the protagonist of the story. The whole plot revolves around his life as a fisherman, his love for the girl which ends in a bitter disillusionment and his marriage with Assunta, a practical woman after which he settles down in his life peacefully, with no grudges. Despite being an ordinary fisherman, by the virtue of the author’s arresting story-telling, he can hold the reader's attention till the end. » Salvatore is more of a flat character in the story. Flat characters are relatively uncomplicated characters who do not evolve throughout the story. They do not change much from the start of the narrative till its end. They possess less emotional depth and psychological complexity. Salvatore is a simple character who fights every conflict in his life with sheer strength and endurance. The complications of life are unable to sour his nature. > He is a simple fisherman, who spends a wretched time in the navy of King Victor Emmanuel. He falls ill to chronic rheumatism and is asked to discontinue his service, Returning back home with high hopes of being united with the girl he loves so deeply, he is met with a bitter rejection due to his physical affliction, » This is enough to break a sensitive man like him. However, Salvatore comprehends the situation and acts with a practical bent of mind though hisdroanis are broken into multiple pieces, He allows her to go to follow her dreams and deals with the rejection stoieally. His physical ailment pre him from getting married to his beloved, however, he is never > Ho suffers a deep lamentation which is Inevitable. Though the girl memories can never be obliterated, he knows that he must sctile for someone eventually > He settles for Assunta, whom he initially calls ‘as ugly as the devil’ | Spends a simple married life with her and settles down in a ‘tiny white washed house’, He is also blessed with children > A rare quality that attracts the readers towards the protagonist is his tremendous effort that he puts into his work. He is extremely dedicated towards his work, Though the doctors said that he can never be well agair he resumes his work without by catching cuttlefish and selling them in t market. He even works in his vineyard. When he is unable to continue further he takes a break from his work. Despite his chronic illness, he works with utmost vigour and energy > Another quality that makes him rare is his exemplary behaviour. He has good manners and is well-behaved. Even his wife Assunta is touched by his ‘gentle sweetness’ : @ Assunta > Assunta is introduced to the readers in the middle of the story. When Salvatore is coping with his romantic disillusionment, his mother tells him about a young woman named Assunta > She is twenty four or twenty-five and has been engaged to a man who died an unfortunate death while doing his military service in Africa. Initially Ivatore finds her ‘as ugly as the devil’ Assunta is a practical woman and knows her needs and desires accurately. She has fallen in love with Salvatore on secing him at the feste. Salvatore takes time to contemplate about the matter agrees to marry her finally. She has saved some money of her own and offers to buy him a boat of his own, They can also take a vineyard, which at the moment, is without a tenant. Finally, they ect married and settle in a tiny white-washed house > Both Salvatore and Assunta are simple, uncomplicated individuals, We must praise Assunta for her sincere love for Salvatore which is not influenced by any material pleasure or physical strength, Their marriage proves to be a successful one. > With the passage of time, Assunta becomes a grim-visaged female with decided features. She looks old for her years. However, she is blessed with fa generous heart and a certain wisdom. She has recognised the intrinsic goodness in her husband. She loathes the gir! whom Salvatore loved becauseof her inconsiderate nature. The girl has failed to see his nobility and is ‘gentle unta has not seen his physiea) inability to be a hindrance and id through thick and thin sweetness’. /\ has always supported her husbi « Title is an important part of a short story. It is either based on the subject matter of the story or the central character, A dull title may hinder in title can accentuate a reader’s curiosity to read ttracting \ reader whereas an interestir the story ¢ Maugham has used a simple yet suggestive title for his story. The whole story deals with the life of an Italian fisherman name Salvatore hence the title is appropriately used here, We read about a simple Italian fisherman named Ivatore, who is laborious in his profession and also takes care of his younger brothers as a ‘nursemaid’ * Life takes a bitter turn when the girl whom he loves deeply, rejects his proposal of marriage. His romantic quest remains unfulfilled throughout inally, he \ssunta and settles for a peaceful life ic style adopted by Maugham is devoid of any unnecessary embellishment whole story is told in a clear and economical manner. The language used is ‘ucicl, easy to comprehend. The plot goes smoothly, depicting one event after the other, taking place in the life of the protagonist, upon whom the story is based Long Answer Question (Solve! (EE Describe the life of Salvatore. Somerset Maugham’s story describes the hard life of the protagonist, Salvatore. He is a young Italian fisherman and just like any other ordinary fisherman, he crests the waves at the crack of dawn to get the best catch and then return to s ell it in the market. The author has portrayed him as a man of unpretentious nature. He is a boy of ‘fifteen with a pleasant face, a laughing mouth and care-free eyes’. He spends the morning lying about the beach with next to nothing on his ‘brown body’. His face reflects innocence and grace. Like the other fishermen, he enjoys swimming in the sea with ‘clumsy, effortless stroke’— His father owns alittle vineyard, Salvatore takes care of his two younger brothers and teaches them their family profession, He is happy and contented in his own life and takes every single day as it comes. When he grows up, he falls ‘madly in Jove’ with a girl who lives on the Grande Marina. She offers him a parallel world of dream and imagination, They are ‘affianced’ but cannot marry till he has engaged himself in military service, Despite his reluctance, he leaves the island to become a sailor in the navy of King Victor Emmanuel, He undergoes intense romantic ‘agony on being separated with the girl, Having no other option, he abides by this. “However, his eyes revolt vehemently and he ‘weeps like a child’, He embraces a life full of bondage and restriction, As a fisherman, he has never been ‘less free than the birds’ and now he is at the ‘beck and call of others’, Instead of nvling in the vast expanse of the island, he is compelled to stay in a limited space, in a battleship with all the strangers. The ‘silent paths and the mountains and the sea’ offer him a greater solace and comfort than the crowded streets. He becomes ‘dreadfully homesick’ and longs to meet his beloved. His passionate ‘young heart cannot endure the ache of separation anymore. He even writes ‘Jong, ‘ill-spelt letters’ where he shares his inner feelings with his beloved. He constantly thinks about her and desires to be with her, He visits Spezaia, Venice, Bari and finally China. He soon develops ‘some mysterious ailment’ and spends a few months in the hospital where he learns about his rheumatism, This renders him physically unfit for further services. However, this does not dishearten him. Instead, his heart pounds in excitement for he is going home. Salvatore becomes excessively elated at this news. Though the doctors tell him that he can never again be quite well, it does not worry him at all. He gets into the rowing boat and is rowed ashore when he sces his parents and younger brothers ‘waiting eagerly for his arrival. However, his eyes search for the girl whom he finds “nowhere near the shore. Eager to know, he asks his mother but receives no proper “response. He visits her home in the evening and finds her sitting on the doorstep with her mother. He feels ‘shy’ on meeting her after such a long span of time. He ‘asks her if she has received his letter. Salvatore is heartbroken to know that the “Girl has bluntly rejected his proposal. She gives more importance to Salvatore’s ‘physical frailty than his noble nature. His romantic adoration for the girl ends ie ‘a fiasco. His pursuing of her and undergoing the bitter pangs of rejection are indicative of human futility caused by the failure to translate his ardent desire into “reality. He comes back home, shattered and broken. Salvatore comes to know that his parents are already acquainted with this ‘on of the girl. He silently bears this utter misfortune with fortitude, With “No guilt or regret, the girl easily rejects him, based on his physical inability and n heard from the ‘island boys’ that he is ill and can never be well again, His and emotions cease to hold value to the girl anymore, His quest remains id. He consoles himself philosophically. He knows that: 4A fisherman’s life is hard and it needs strength and endurance.” ay ailHe does not complain or say a hard word about her. He overcomes this Personal loss with the passage of time and settles down to the common round, working in his father’s vineyard and fishing. His mother tells him about a young woman, who 4s in love with him, Her name is Assunta, Hearing it, Salvatore at once remarks: “She's as ugly as the devil.” She has little savings and can afford to buy a boat for him if he marries her. ‘They can even take a vineyard that is without a tenant at the present moment. He agrees to marry her and they settle for a harmonious life in a tiny white-washed house. Both mature with time. Assunta grows into a ‘grim-visaged female, with decided features’. She looks old for her years. However, she possesses, like her husband, a radiant heart, full of compassion and generosity. She is touched by her husband's ‘gentle sweetness’. With the passage of time, they are blessed with children. This gives a new meaning to their life, Salvatore remains busy. He sets out in his boat with one of his brothers for the fishing grounds. He spends the night in catching cuttlefish and selling the catch in time. He also toils hard in his vineyard from dawn till he is compelled to take some rest. When his physical weakness debars him from doing anything at all, he spends his day, relaxing on the beach, smoking cigarettes and exchanging polite greetings with others. He tries to ignore his pain that racks his limbs. Salvatore plays the role of a warm and affectionate father. He spends time with his children and sometimes brings them down to give a bath. He playfully dips them in water. He dries them with ‘delicate care’. He would seat the naked baby in the palm of his hand and hold him up and would burst into gentle laughter at the baby’s smallness. The author compares his ‘laugh’ to the ‘laughter of an angel’, Even his eyes are as ‘candid’ as his child’s, This is the ordinary life of Salvatore. However, > -H his goodness and incorruptible nature make him a rare gentleman. He is just an ordinary fisherman but far above the mean considerations. He seeks happiness in the little things of life, Though romantically betrayed in love, he bears no grudge against the Ba cartinuesto overcome his hurdles with a smile on his face. This exemplary quality shines in him with a genuine radiance that makes him one of the brightest stars in the human sky. He remains unchanged throughout, He does not let his misfortune affect his inner self. He bears everything with patience and endurance. He becomes 4 ‘big, husky fellow, tall and broad’, However, his ‘ingenuous eyes?’ and ‘trusting, isindly eyes’ remain unscathed. These inherent qualities of the Protagonist attract both the author and the readers.Describe Salvatore as a short story. Somerset Maugham’s short story Salvatore is one of the finest short stories written by him, in the modern genre. The story gives US & glimpse of the protagonist's life as a fisherman, his idyllic love ending in a romant disillusionment and his successful marriage with Assunta, a prac tical woman with a gencrous heart, Salvatore, covering five pages or So, 1S an ideal specimen of economy in length demanded by a short story. It maintains brevity which is one of the fundamental features of a short story. It rec ords a young boy’s love for a young girl which remains unfulfilled. Maugham has presented quite successfully ‘a singleness of aim and unity of effect in documenting a fisherman's simple but tough life. Ashort story must have a catchy beginning. In Salvatore, the protagonist's physical description and his profession unfold the situation. It prosress¢* from his life to his love for the girl and then his leaving the island for his military service without which he cannot get married to her. He comes back only to find that the girl is no more willing to marry him because he is physically unfit, The girl directly tells him about his illness that has taken away from him his capability to work further She has been told by the ‘island boys’ that he is ill and would never be quite ell again. She gives more importance to the things spoken about Salvatore than his inner self. A reversal of fortune takes place and his dreams break into multiple pieces. He consoles himself silently, though a deep lamentation is inevitable. He agrees to marry Assunta and finally lives a comfortable married life ‘A characteristic feature of a short story is paucity of character. There is usually one central character around whom the plot is knit. A short story cannot depict or analyse a character meticulously because of its brevity. single incident or a slice of an event is explored by the writer. The principal figure of Maugham’s story is Salvatore. The other characters are his parents, his brothers. the girl he loves and Assunta, the woman he finally marries. Every character is linked with the life of the protagonist in one way or the other. They contribute to the story’s development despite their limited presence Ina short story, the unity of impression is more important than the plot Salvatore is based on the young Italian fisherman and his life. His romantic attachment ending in disappointment and his successful marriage with Assunta are harmonised into one compact and well-knit plot. Maugham's use of language is the hallmark of simplicity which despite being simple, is adequate to give a penetrating and realistic description of the setting and the central character’s conflicting emotions, The opening paragraph gives a vivid description of Salvatore and his daily routine which is both simple and touchingvee - 1 knew Salvatore first when he was a boy of fifteen with a pleasant face, a laughing mouth and care-free eyes, He used to spend the morning lying about the beach with next to nothing on and his brown body as thin as a rail. He was full of grace, He was in and out of the sea all the time swimming with the clumsy, effortless stroke common to the fisher boys.” n the narrator describes hi: He is completely broken which is evident condition: “He wept on his mother’s bosom. He was terribly unhappy, but he did not blame the girl. A fisherman’s life is hard and it needs strength and endurance.” uing has ended in a failur es that the quest he was pu strated Salvatore reali: He bears this loss patientl However, he does not become angry or He feels depressed but consoles him without blaming the girl for his He continues to work in his vineyard, proving the doctors wrong. He gets marri to Assunta and is also blessed with loving children. He retains his goodness anc innocence, He has not let the hurdles of life affect him. This adds to the significance of the story CER what is the underlying message of Salvatore? (This answer is given in pointform. You can.use these points to frame the whole answer.) = The underlying message of the story Salvatore has been successfully conveyed by the author. Through the simple life of an ordinary fisherman, Maugham has depicted that the beauty of a man lies in his inner si If, not in the outward features. It is defined by his inner world, not by his outer characteristics. = Salvatore is an Italian fisherman who works in the vineyard and also takes care of his younger brothers. He is never seen complaining about anything He is also surrounded by afflictions of life but he does not let them affect him adversely. His path of life may be beset with difficulties but he tries to overcome every suffering patiently, with sheer strength and endurance. = The reason for his unalloyed joy is his undying love for the girl who lives on the Grande Marina. He joins as a sailor in the navy of King Victor Emmanuel because he cannot marry her unless he has done his military service. He lives a life sans freedom in a confined battleship with the other strangers. This new life offers him no thrill or excitement and he longs to go back to his girl. = He even writes ‘ill-spelt letters’ to her, describing his intense adoration and how much he misses her. When he is in China, he develops some ‘mysterious illness’ and is rendered unfit for the job. He is excited to go back and pays no heed to the suggestions of the doctors who said that he can never be well againbw Back home, he finds everyone waiting for him with wonder-waiting However, the girl is not present among them. Anxious and worried, he visits her house only to be bitterly rejected by her. She bluntly tells that she cannot marry him as he can never be strong enough to work like a man His romantic endeavour ends in a failure and returns with a heavy heart He copes with his misfortune silently. This brings about a change in his life He understands that a fisherman's life is ‘hard’. His fanciful imagination 1S Gbstructed by the splashes of reality. He does not blame the girl for this. Instead he dwells in his melancholy with complaining about anything fs His mother asks him to get married to Assunta. Though he finds her ‘as ugly as the devil’, he finally agrees to marry her. They marry and settle down together ina tiny white-washed house. Salvatore matures with time. He becomes a ‘great big husky fellow, broad and strong’. However, he retains his ‘ingenuous smile’ and ‘trusting, kindly eyes’. He has the most beautiful manners, according to the author and this is a rare quality in him which makes him a true gentleman = Assunta recognises this ‘gentle sweetness’ in her husband and loves him for his inner self. The beauty of his inner world endears him to the readers. He is alco blessed with children. He goes out to catch the ‘profitable cuttlefish’ and returns to sell them. He is happy and satisfied in his life. His life is not without obstacles or impediments yet he manages everything with a smile on his face and goodness in his heart. His virtue has filled his life with happiness and perfection. His quality of goodness has given him strength, confidence anc optimism. It acts as a fortified shield against the cruel adversities of life