Pre-dawn around 2:30 AM, I woke up and unconsciously picked the phone to look at the time. My screen indicated a message from an old work friend whom I had spoken to recently. I was happy but not in clear state of mind to understand what it was. I knew she wanted some answer from me, and I had slept early last night so couldn’t pick her message.
She lives in Kolkata and a very intellectual kind of person with strong foothold in English Grammar unlike me. My grammar in any language is a little dicey. So, woke up again at 4:30 AM my regular time and finished my ablutions and sat down to read the short piece by Maugham.
I was super-excited because it was William Somerset Maugham. His works were staples during my library hunt at school. I remember finding a thick tea-table book from Uncle’s classic collection. This story seemed familiar, yet it was the first time that I was reading it.
As always, the magic of Maugham’s words captured my sensitivity to a good storytelling. In this work, I was surprised at every moment of the story. It is possible to misinterpret the story when seen with Indian culturalism. But to step back and the nobleman behind the scar and hardship endured, takes another nobleman
My Point of View of the Short Story
The Man with the Scar | by William Somerset Maugham
William Somerset Maugham (b 1874 – d 1965) is a English Writer, his written works show his intellectual and deep thinking mind. The way he structure his works shows his expertise in the craft he honed until he was 91 years old.
Mr. Maugham creates an eery environment playing around with his appearance and the scar. The Scar which is a character by itself in this short story is trivialised in the end. It adds to the bravado of the character.
The General of the Revolution is an interesting man, because he has a laid-back attitude which camouflages his true character. The fiercer the scar and docile characteristic are then underplayed to his true noble aggression in his characterisation.
If we observe the scene where he is going to be executed that needs careful reading. Right from the moment when his wife walks in the observation of the General San Ignacio and his A.D.C are recorded and not the man’s reactions. Fewer explanation of their interaction is given and the camera shifts to the others in the room.
The wife’s expression and appearance of being fearful and frightened is suggesting that she is struggling with surviving and without him, her life stretches ahead of her. That struggle of hers the general recognises and moves in to solve. The general knows that his wife couldn’t survive after him and it was best to take her life.
“But they were distraught with anguish.” Her face was distraught with anguish these short ambiguous sentences leave the reader mesmerised. There are so many sentences that are suggestive of underlying information or nuances of the General of the Revolution’s choices.
A few possible scenarios overthought that could be the cause for killing his wife
- Running out of ammunitions | Was this because someone had ensured revolution fails.
- The poker games with his revolution mates means conversation of betrayal could have happened, he lost matchsticks which was used as chips, but then did he gain information about his wife.
- Two options, one is his wife is innocent, or two his wife was an informant
- Due to the betrayal the movement got tanked and his men and him were executed
- The kind of torturous live was ahead for the wife could possibly be the reason why he doesn’t want his wife to suffer.
- One more thing to notice is the reaction of the men who seemed interested in her beauty and possible difficulty of her life could have been the reason why the General murdered his wife.
- The General is set free because the expression of love and the need to protect her is seen in his hug and kiss
The remorseless attitude is a cover and his uncaring attitude to make ends meet with selling lottery show his disinterest to live. Is there another revolution in him can’t be clearly said. Is he listless after the death of his wife performed by his hand, no he is not worried because he is sure that his wife is safely buried.
The subtly showcased love of a gruff man with a scar on his face explains the need to understand him and motives that couldn’t be predicted until the end.
The Guatemalan General that the narrator and the listener discuss is almost frivolous because given the scenario there must be revulsion of the man with the scar but there is understanding in some who sees his listless life.
Yes, he loved his wife if you watch this from interpretation that seems to work around the people in the scenes. The executing general observes that the man was very much in love with his wife desired her and so letting him live is far more torturous than to execute him. But then, the dialogue in the execution scene are filled with some tension and nonchalance.
In Conclusion
The story leaves the reader with mixed feeling and often looking at the attitude of various characters is well-maintained. The fact that his revolution failed yet the conversation that happened between the two men in the bar was seen merely as incident report. The final dialogue between them just trivialises the man into an observed product and not a living breathing person.
The nonchalance is all over the story and the detached way the story is spoken leaves a reader whose familiar ground is empathy this story might leave behind some scars in their emotions.
I found this short story’s method revealing and concealing some information and leaving the reader to take a guess at what could possibly be the real scenario. The way I see the structure of the story’s narration is that some writers spend a lot of time trying to explain everything in their short stories but Maugham’s short stories much the stories that William Sydney Porter wrote in his pen name O’ Henry (b 1862 – d 1910). Both these writers’ works are suggestively written and a true joy to read when the surprise element pops up!
Itinerant Storyteller 