On the Storytelling Techniques in The Razor’s Edge by W.Somerset Maugham

胡广新

(南开大学，天津 300071)

On the Storytelling Techniques in The Razor’s Edge by W.Somerset Maugham

胡广新

(南开大学，天津 300071)

William Somerset Maugham is an outstanding British novelist and playwright in the 1930s.His skill is called the most perfect expression of the art of narrative in literature.Maugham’slast novel,The Razor’sEdge,is one of the most representative worksutilizing ingeniousstorytelling techniques.Text analysisisadopted asthe major research method to make a detailed analysis of the three storytelling techniquesused in The Razor’sEdge:first-person narrative,spatial narrative and flashback,and to reveal the effectsachieved by them and their contributionsto the novel’sreadability.

Maugham;The Razor’sEdge;narrative;storytelling techniques;readability

0.Introduction

The Razor’s Edge(1944),one of W.Somerset Maugham’s masterpieces,tells of a young American veteran who moves through several settings and finallyseeks reliefin India fromthe horrors ofwar and gains a sense of being at one with the Absolute.In this novel, Maugham brought himself into the story and put a distance between the readers and the characters he described.With keen observation and excellent storytelling techniques,he successfully shaped the image ofLarry,whosearched for and found profound meaningoflife.

Abundant as studies on Maugham’s life and literature creation were,fewfocused on the ingenious storytelling techniques.As a great master oflanguage,Maughamapplied clever storytellingtechniques to portrayhis characters and unfold the plot.

Among the numerous studies at home and abroad,the most representative research work abroad is Ted Morgan’s Maugham:a Biography,which provides a comprehensive introduction to this gifted writer based on his life and works.However,as an introductory work, it fails to elaborate on Maugham’s artistic technique and provide readers with suggestions for writing.On the other hand,the domestic literary studies,according to Gao’s statistical analysis,have long focused on the cultural conflicts and affinities,and the protagonists’spiritual exploration.In recent years,as more and more scholars turned their attention to modern narratology,a lot of studies on Maugham’s narrative techniques have been made.Gu thinks that Maugham demonstrates ingenuity of narrative art and through two perspectives of observation Maugham manages to offer a complete story.In addition,Chen in her journal article discusses two entirely different responses toMaugham’s works and indicates that influenced by modernism,Maugham has important breakthroughs in structure, time and space,and point of view.Although many scholars study Maugham’s works in a new way,they just briefly touch upon the narrative techniques instead ofexpoundingthem.

So far as the recent research is concerned,few previous studies focused on Maugham’s storytelling techniques or gave a detailed analysis of them.Therefore,the research in this respect is of high value.This paper will attempt to provide an in-depth probe into Maugham’s storytelling techniques and explain how they contribute tothe novel’s readability.

1.Major Storytelling Techniques

Stories have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment,education,cultural preservation,and to instill moral values.A true narrative story must have the basic elements such as plot,characters,place,time,conflict,climax and ending.Story writers can use their words to walk others through their experience step-by-step and help themunderstand their point ofview.

Storytelling is the conveying of events in words,images,and sounds,often by improvisation orembellishment.Storytelling techniques are the methods applied to telling a story.They may be used by literary works in order to produce a specific effect on the reader.When a writer wishes to tell a story,he can use a number of techniques to impart the story to readers and create effects to elicit certain emotions fromthe reader or conveyan abstract idea.

The most commonly used storytelling techniques include first-person narrative, third-person omniscient, flashback, foreshadowing,back story,dual narrative,etc.The three prominent storytelling techniques used in The Razor’s Edge are first-person narrative,spatial narrative and flashback.

A first-person narrative is characterized by the writer or a story’s character using his own voice to tell the tale.With this technique, the narrator employs the first person by referring to himself as“I,”and is either activelyor passivelyinvolved in relatingthe events ofthe story.The narrator mayor maynot be privytowhatever action is about tounfold,and he need not be the primarycharacter.

A spatial narrative is a conceptual framework to bring the personal or qualitative experience ofa place together with the analysis and science ofthe space.It captures multiple ways ofknowingabout a place and it can be comprised of artwork,sketches,descriptions,that together tell us more than an objective,scientific analysis or a simple narrative based on past events.

The flashback technique is to take a character back in time to remember or relive an event.Characters in a story can flash back in time usinga varietyofmethods such as dreamsequences and retellingofmemories.Flashbacks interrupt a narrative’s linear time flow.They are ausefulstorytelling technique when implemented in a comprehensible fashion.

2.The Functions of the Storytelling Techniques in The Razor’s Edge

W.Somerset Maugham drew upon a tremendous variety of storytelling techniques to narrate the story in this novel.They are of crucial importance in evolving storyline and figuring personality. Especially the three prominent storytelling techniques discussed above playa significant role.

2.1 The Effects Achieved by the Three Prominent Storytelling Techniques

2.1.1 Keepingthe Thread RunningThrough the Novel

From the early 1920s,Maugham used in his fiction either a character as his spokesman or a character-narrator who closely resembles the author.The third person omniscient thus becomes a first person narrator and at times a participant.In The Razor’s Edge, this character is“Mr.Maugham,”a world-famous writer.

The first-person narrative makes“I,”an indispensable figure, become the thread running through the whole story.The Razor’s Edge describes different lives of people,who are in connection with one another because of kinship,friendship or love.However,if there are no relationships among these people,they will by no means come together.Elliott’s life revolves around prestige and the good opinion of others;near the end of the novel he passes away with satisfaction because he is issued an invitation to a prominent social gathering. Isabel is a conniving,self-centered material girl.Though she loves Larry,she does not understand him,and like Elliott,she considers social position and money extremely important.In fact,she eventually breaks off her engagement to Larry because she does not want to spend her life trying to answer questions people have been asking for thousands of years because,as she contends,“...if they could be answered,surely they’d have been answered by now”.Afterward appear Sophie and Suzanne.But for“me,”a world-famous writer who likes togoaround,all material would be a heap ofloose sand.

In The Razor’s Edge,flashback is mostly used in the narrator Mr.Maugham’s conversations with acquaintances when he pays visits to different cities.As the most important thread running through the novel,Mr.Maugham puts the pieces together and restores the whole story.Nevertheless,he cannot act as a camera,following each character and recording everything they do.Some truths come from someone else.

The tellers offer Mr.Maugham the recollections of their interaction with the main characters and bring readers back to what happen before.For instance,in the beginning Mr.Maugham meets LarryDarrell at a dinner party.Although different facets ofhis life and character are revealed slowly,one thing we learn immediately is that he is a source of frustration to his elders because he does not want to embark on a career.Other facts include the fact that he’s engaged to Isabel Bradley,his childhood sweetheart,he was a pilot in the war, and he is veryreticent about his wartime experiences.In fact,many of the characters comment about how changed Larry seems to be since his return from the war.His most shattering wartime experience is finallyrelated when Mr.Maughammeets Suzanne:

I do not want the reader to think I am making a mystery of whatever it was that happened to Larry during the war that so profoundlyaffected him,a mysterythat I shall disclose at a convenient moment.I don’t think he ever told anybody.He did,however,many years later tell a woman,Suzanne Rouvier,whom Larry and I both knew,about the young airman who had met his death saving his life. She repeated it tome and soI can onlyrelate it at second hand.

Time goes back to World War I,we learn about Larry’s wartime experiences and gradually understand his disinterest in the various offers ofexcellent jobs.

For another example,Larry wanders off to Europe.Maugham encounters him from time to time in Paris and through the conversations learns that he has worked in a German coal mine,where he encountered a Pole who introduced him to the works of the medieval European mystics;that he has lived for a time almost anonymously in Paris,with an interlude in a Benedictine monastery; and finally that he has spent five years in India.Without the flashbacks we would miss some important facts and feel hard to believe what Larry has done.More truth is uncovered and we are gettingcloser toa real Larry.

Near the end of the novel in a long conversation after Sophie’s suicide,Larry recounts his valuable learning experiences in India, explains to Maugham the philosophy he has learned from Hinduism and declares his intention finally to renounce worldly things.He retains a clear memory of those days,and finally provides us with an unexpected decision.Through his recollections readers can better understand his engagement in a spiritual quest for the meaning oflife. All the flashbacks serve as a bridge connecting the story with the reader.

In The Razor’s Edge Mr.Maugham’s conversations with other characters frequently bring the reader back to the past events.Cutting the story into many pieces in disorder,the flashbacks successfully avoid tedium and make readers have a guess about the past events which play a decisive role in influencing the characters.More important plots supplement the story and help build vivid images.The distinct recollections make readers follow the story as it develops. Through the use of flashback,Maugham reveals the truth step by step and Larry’s final destination seems more understandable.

2.1.2 Makingthe Narration More Objective and Reliable

The Razor’s Edge is narrated from the first-person perspective ofMr.Maugham.Though he has limited information about what is going on with the main characters since he can only know a portion of the full events taking place around them,his narration provides the reader with a general understandingofeach main character’s destiny. As he acts as an observer to the story’s events and is less affected by them than the main characters,he is able to offer a more objective, reliable narration.

Making himself a character in his novel was a canny strategy:It adds an improved“verisimilitude to the narrative”.Mr.Maugham is a narrator who seems to stand aside,objectively telling the story.He befriends the main characters,witnesses or learns about the events through others but he is unable toconstruct plots.As an excellent ob-server and trusted friend,Mr.Maugham sometimes freely talks or expostulates with them;praises or criticizes them.For example,when he learns that Larry is not going to attend university,he enlightens him bysaying:

Of course I know this is no business of mine,but I’m not convinced you were right...I never went to Cambridge as my brothers did. I had the chance,but I refused it.I wanted toget out intothe world.I’ve always regretted it.I think it would have saved me a lot ofmistakes. You learn more quickly under the guidance of experienced teachers. You waste a lot of time going down blind alleys if you have no one to lead you.

Mr.Maugham speaks in a grave tone and with sincerity,like an old father talking to his own son.It helps to construct solidarity with the readers.

For another example,when the seventy-year-old Elliott was seriously ill and completely bedridden,feeling extremely sad about not receiving the invitation card,“I”cannot help thinking that“it was lamentable tosee that old man,with the grave yawningin front ofhim, weep like a child because he had not been asked to a party:shocking and at the same time almost intolerably pathetic”.These words not onlyvividly depict a stupid snob who is obsessed with social activities but alsodevelop a sense ofreality.

Mr.Maugham does not intend to be a judge and make arbitrary decisions.What he does is to describe his role and the people he encounters.Although sometimes he is sarcastic,we can learn between the lines that he puts himself in others’position with great tolerance and patience.Referring to himself as“I,”the narrator Mr.Maugham adds an improved verisimilitude tothe narrative and strings all events.

The spatial narrative technique also adds to the novel’s reliability.Reading through the novel we get that the narrator Mr.Maugham almost follows such a pattern:for some reason he goes to a city and encounters some people,then leaves for another cityand meets others. Therefore,he can recount the story in different ways:he can be a witness or a participant,or he can tell what he hears from others.He can always meet the main characters or learn about what happens to them when they visit a city.Time is indicated by Mr.Maugham’s activities (the shifts in place),which creates a sense of reality and makes readers unknowingly associate him with the author,and the reliability of the storyis improved.

2.1.3 Enhancingthe Dramatic Effect and CreatingSuspense

As a successful novelist and playwright,the narrator Mr.Maughamhas his own life and it is impossible for him to chase any character anywhere at any time in order to gain access to the whole story.When visiting a certain place,Mr.Maugham learns about the main characters by encountering them or someone related and through the conversations he manages to collect the fragments of their visits here. Therefore,the time is indicated by the shifts in place.Different events that happen at different times are recounted in the same space,which greatlyenhances the dramatic effect and creates suspense.

W.Somerset Maugham adopts the spatial narrative technique to use space toguide the plot development.The coherent storyis divided intosmall pieces which are juxtaposed in different space;in this waya simple story is turned into an attractive one.In The Razor’s Edge, there are onlytwo places where the author indicates the time:the year of 1919 at the beginning of the novel and the year of 1929 when the NewYork market breaks.

Maughamprovides the reader with a whole story through the description of the shifts in place and the activities of the characters in the same place(Chicagoand Paris mainly,see table 1).

Table 1 The Time and Space Relationship Among the Main Characters

As a participant in the story,the narrator Mr.Maugham cannot be involved in or witness everything.Different events that happen at different times are recounted in the same space,which greatly enhances the dramatic effect and creates suspense.For example,the appearance of Larry is mysterious.The first time Mr.Maugham meets Larry,he is curious about Larry’s charisma.Then he mentions that Larry is unwilling to utter a word about his war experiences.Through the shift of space,Mr.Maugham learns that Larry wants to“loaf”, which makes a false impression that he just idles awayhis time.However,when Mr.Maugham comes toa librarywhere he sees Larryseriously studying,he begins to gain an improved understanding of Larry. The reason why Larry chooses to“loaf”is revealed at the end of the novel.There is noone whopossesses a complete understandingofanother character or the whole story.The scattered dialogues can only reflect part of the fact or provide a certain character’s description of a certain event.In addition to rearranging the events in chronological order,the reader has to boldly imagine and guess the parts not mentioned and finally has a better understandingofthe story.

Byapplyingthe spatial narrative technique,Maughamestablishes the narrative structure and uses space to show time and even to drive the process of narration.He highlights the effect of“space”and makes use of“Mr.Maugham”to create different space to juxtapose different events.Thus an apparent dramatic effect is produced and a good interaction with readers is sparked.Compared with the traditional linear narrative,the spatial narrative makes The Razor’s Edge build more vivid characters and more interestingand attractive plots.

2.2 The Contributionsofthe Storytelling Techniquesto Readability

First-person narrative,spatial narrative and flashback are three prominent storytelling techniques in The Razor’s Edge.Impressive characters,attractive plots and ingenious structure together suggest that W.Somerset Maugham is an extremely professional writer.By bringing himself into the story he puts a distance between the reader and the characters he describes.He,the suave storyteller,is the intermediary,always there to see that things do not get out of hand.Theeffects the three storytelling techniques create enhance the novel’s readabilityand largelycontribute toits success.

2.2.1 Showinga Great Affinitywith Readers

W.Somerset Maugham employs the first-person narrative technique to relate the story by a character that bears resemblance to him and well reflects his public persona in real life.He adopts a casual tone,as speaking to an acquaintance about what he has seen and heard a longtime ago.Except talking about others,as a world-famous writer in the novel,from time to time he mentions his own life or makes brief comments.“In all big cities there are self-contained groups that exist without intercommunication…Of no city,in my experience,is this more true than of Paris”.These words show a great affinitywith readers and improve verisimilitude.

2.2.2 KeepingReaders Glued tothe Pages

Plot is how the author sets up the situation,where the turning points of the story are,and what the characters do at the end of the story.Well arranged plots can be both attractive and impressive, helping to advance the story.In The Razor’s Edge there are many flashbacks in carefully constructed dialogues,which allow the characters’personalities and voices to emerge through unique word selection.Following a main thread to set up the plot like Mr.Maugham’s activities or Larry’s spiritual quest makes the storymore readable.

Conflict and tension develop the plot and appeal to readers.By balancing the opposing forces ofthe conflict,the author keeps readers glued to the pages wondering how the story will end.In The Razor’s Edge Maugham uses spatial narrative technique to juxtapose different events to create conflicts.Larry always does things unintelligible.He gives up an excellent job which Gray offers to him,breaks off the engagement to Isabel and chooses to loaf regardless of the fact that Elliott looks down upon him.

2.2.3 CapturingReaders’Imagination

In a good narrative writing,the writer uses his or her creativity and powers of observation to develop stories that can capture a reader’s imagination.Maugham does not tell the reader what he or she is supposed to think or feel.Instead,he gradually reveals the truth,lets the reader see,hear,and feel the experience directly,and lets the sensoryexperiences lead himor her tothe intended thought or feeling. The reader is kept in suspense about what Larry exactly wants in the end.All the other characters together with the reader do not knowthe truth until Larryfinallyshares with Mr.Maugham.

3.Conclusion

Useful storytelling techniques in literary works can considerably enhance the novel’s readability.The Razor’s Edge is one ofW.Somerset Maugham’s most well-known novels.He utilizes many storytelling techniques in it to create an air of mystery,dramatic effect and suspense and advance his art of fiction.The structure of the novel is quite complex.It covers a period of twenty-four years,from 1919 to 1943,and is set in a number of different locations,mainly Chicago, Paris and the French Riviera.The thread that holds the structure together is the meetings that Maughamthe narrator has with the characters over the years,in which they tell him their stories.This means that the action does not always unfold in a linear sequence.

Maugham successfully portrays vivid characters and writes a fascinating story.His storytelling techniques stand out and provide us with the creative inspiration.First-person narrative,spatial narrative and flashback are particularly prominent.It is no doubt that learning from the great is beneficial to our writing.As an English professor puts it,“Many professional authors will tell you,aspiring writers are often hungryfor advice—eager topick up a tip that will open the door to a successful writing life”.As a literary classic,The Razor’s Edge won countless readers with its plain language,palpable tension,absorbing plots and genuine suspense,which are what we should learn in the future.Adopting proper narrative techniques and paying more attention todescribingdetails,we can find writinga pleasurable thing.

The primary objective of this thesis is to illustrate the effects achieved by W.Somerset Maugham’s excellent storytelling techniques and their contributions to the novel’s readability.In this thesis,text analysis is adopted as the major research method and a detailed analysis of the three prominent storytelling techniques in The Razor’s Edge is conducted.The analysis indicates three effects achieved by the storytelling techniques:keeping the thread running through the novel,making the narration more objective and reliable, and enhancing the dramatic effect and creating suspense.The contributions of the storytelling techniques to readability are also revealed: showing a great affinity with readers,keeping readers glued to the pages,and capturingreaders’imagination.

Although ultimately an analysis of the storytelling techniques in The Razor’s Edge is carried out and the effects are uncovered,the analysis process is not as in-depth as expected before and more techniques may deserve discussion.Maugham employs different storytelling strategies in different narratives,and a comprehensive study of storytelling techniques in more Maugham’s representative works can be ofprofound significance.

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