The Analysis of Short Story Mabel by William Somerset...

The story under consideration entitled Mabel was written by 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 one of the most successful dramatists and short-story writers. Maugham travelled widely to all parts of the world. He visited Russia, America, Africa, Asia. The technique of short-story writing always interested Maugham. De Maupassant and Chekhov influenced him but he adopted his own unique technique, which is characterized by realistic and psychological presentation of the events. The story in question â€Å"Mabel† develops the following plot. The author recalls the story of a man whose name was George whom he once met on his way to†¦show more content†¦The difficulties are shown like a sketch: â€Å"Mabel’s father died, the war came, George was sent†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Here the author uses parallel constructions accompanied by asyndeton in order to add more tempo and tension. The second structural element, complications, involves the two conflicts the story obtains. The first conflict is called man against man. Seven years later Mabel wanted to marry George and George didn’t want to marry Mabel. And the inner conflict, which George obtained is called obligation against desire. The complications are marked by the convergence of stylistic means to show the inner state of the main character. The author resorts to the semantic field of despair: â€Å"his nerve failed him†, â€Å"he felt a terrible sinking in the pit of his stomach†, George’s â€Å"knees began to wobble† and he â€Å"was seized with the courage of despair†. To underline that George was afraid to marry Mabel but it was important for the society the author uses synonyms: â€Å"then, suddenly, without warning†; juxtaposed repetition: â€Å"he couldn’t, he really couldn’t marry her†; a rhetorical question â€Å"But how could a man tell a girl a thing like that when she had been engaged to him for seven years and had come six thousand miles to marry him?†. The author employs all these stylistic means to emphasize the idea that George should be responsible for his words but he isn’t. To show that George wanted to escape the author deals with an oxymoron: