The story under the title “The Escape” was written by one of the outstanding English writers – William Somerset Maugham. William Somerset Maugham is one of the best known English writers of the 20th century. He was not only a novelist, but also a one of the most successful dramatist and short-story writers. Maugham wants the readers to draw their own conclusion about the characters and events described in his novels. His reputation as a novelist is based on the following prominent books: “Of Human Bondage”; “The Moon and Sixpence”; and “The Razor's Edge”.
Though Maugham doesn’t denounce the contemporary social order, he is critical of the morals and the narrow-mindedness. Realistic portrayal of life, keen character observation, and interesting plots coupled with beautiful, expressive language, a simple, clear, unadored style, place Somerset Maugham on a level with the greatest English writers of the 20th century. In general, Maugham's novels and short stories could be characterized by great narrative facility, an ironic point of view, cosmopolitan settings, and an astonishing understanding of human nature.
The plot of the story is quite simple, though interesting. The protagonist of the story, a young man rolling in money – Roger Charing – fell in love with Ruth Barlow, an unfortunate woman who was twice a widow. They had all the happy and pleasant moments of relationships a loving couple usually has and intended to marry. Then suddenly Roger fell out of love with Ruth. But he found a way to make Ruth release him. He said they would marry the day they found the perfect house for both of them, however, Roger rejected all the orders of the agents offering a new house. At last Ruth lost her patience and left Roger herself.
So, the problem addressed in the story lies in the relationships of man and woman, in the way they get over the quandaries, in the way they treat each other. And I believe this problem is rather vital nowadays as many families divorce because they don’t know how to overcome hardships they face.
The controlling idea of the story is that one should put on his thinking and act very carefully, as sometimes procrastination can give better results than haste.
The same we see in the story. Roger wasn’t hurrying to inform Ruth in his calmness to her, vice versa he kept on taking care of her not even presenting her any signs to doubt in his love.
At the same time he didn’t let the agents stop searching the house, trying Ruth’s patience. The repetition used by the author prove non-interest of Roger to all offers: “Sometimes they were too large and sometimes they were too small, sometimes they were too far from the centre of the things and sometimes they were too close; sometimes they were too expensive and sometimes they wanted too many repairs; sometimes they were too stuffy and sometimes they were too airy; sometimes they were too dark and sometimes they were too bleak”.
So we see the contrastive requirements of the protagonist who made everything to escape the marriage and not to lose his face in front of surrounding people.
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