The Razor’s Edge, a novel written by W. S. Maugham, tells us a story the pursuit of happiness by two generations of American’s during the period of the 1910s and 20s. Larry, Isabel and Elliott are the three main characters, each of whom has a different way to lead their lives. The author, through comparing the three characters’ philosophy in his story, encourages readers to think about what kind of life is the real happy life.
The first character is Larry Darrell, a young man who was a soldier during the WWI. His fiancée Isabel is the second character, who was raised by her uncle and waited for Larry for many years to get married to him as soon as he returned. She was dying to lead a stable and rich life just in Chicago. Surprisingly, Larry had no intention to settle down at once but had planed to go abroad. His decision not only hurt Isabel but also frustrated her uncle Elliott, a third character who is a wealthy snob. However, Larry insisted that he had to travel and find something that he had been searching for since the end of the war. After saying good-bye to Isabel, Larry left America determinedly and began his journey while the other characters also started their own lives. Almost ten years later, when Larry met Isabel and her uncle Elliott in Paris, he had already become a totally different person full of goodness, power and a sense of fulfillment. He also seemed extremely satisfied with his new life despite the fact that he had neither enough money nor a family. On the contrary, his former fiancée, Isabel, who married a then millionaire when she turned her back to Larry ten years ago, unfortunately lost her whole fortune; and even her husband fell ill. Besides, Isabel’s uncle Elliott, although still rich then, was forgotten and abandoned by the nobles whom he had treasured for his whole life and finally died lonely. Below are the reasons why Larry Darrell can finally becomes a strong and happy man but Isabel and Elliott cannot.
Firstly, the method to pursue a happy life is different. Larry’s ‘new body’ made him continuously find out the truth of real life. At the beginning of the story, Larry couldn’t help thinking what the real meaning of life was, and he shouted at Isabel that ‘life is a stupid blunder’; ‘I don’t believe in anything’. That is because he experienced the cruel war, and his ‘new body’ was given to him by his fellow soldier in the battle field of WWI. Absolutely, without other people’s sacrifice for him, Larry could have lost his life forever. This event deeply affected Larry and made him decide to reject a well-paid job and even Isabel’s love to ‘loaf’ in the world to ‘find something’. Then, as he determined, he ‘loafed’ in France, Germany and India, working whole day in a Paris’s coal mine, spending a large amount of money and time on books, practising austerities in India, and eventually, he found the ‘something’ in a place on the top of a mountain guided by an old monk. Finally, Larry ‘got the second chance’ and became an unusual man.
However, Larry’s fiancée Isabel is a selfish woman. Although she urged Larry to take a job to serve the country as other men do, her intention is to want Larry to make much more money for their own little family’s happiness but not for any other people; she even did not care about one of her best friends Sophie when she fell into depression. Besides, she only thinks about the normal daily life itself but not the true meaning of it. Therefore, she always pursues endlessly women’s common lives like man’s love, marriage, babies, clothes and dance. In comparison, Isabel’s uncle Elliot is an old snob man only paying attention to his fame and social position. He also constantly pursues man’s common lives such as honor, reputation and vanity but never mentioned how to contribute to the country and other people.
Secondly, the attitude towards life and love is different. First of all, since Larry found the true meaning of life (which most of it is ‘to give what you have to other people ’ as his fellow soldier did to him), he began to unconditionally contribute his heart and soul to other people. He cured Isabel’s husband (Gray) of his illness with his super power and made their family life happy even though he knew that it was Gray who took his former Fiancée; he created a ‘fake’ invitation card which was the Elliot’s last will and gave his best wishes helping Elliot pass away peacefully; he did his best to get Sophie out of depression and even helped her give up the life of debauchery. And then, Larry had a strong mind of suffering instead of enjoying. He volunteered to work under ground in a coal mine but not in the surface; he preferred to be a taxi driver but not an office clerk. In addition, he dared to choose to sacrifice himself instead of obtaining from other people. The typical action is that he makes up his mind to get married to Sophie, a then middle-aged drunk woman wandering around from one bar to another without any assets and honors, intending to share her sadness and pains due to the deaths of her family members several years ago and to make the rest of her life happy.
On the contrary, Isabel is a woman who always thinks about how to ‘take’ what she needs from other people but never ‘gives’. She asked Larry to make as much money as she wanted when she was still Larry’s fiancée; she discarded her true love just for
the purpose of obtaining ‘a square-cut diamond’; she even dared to scheme to deprive Sophie from her ‘last chance’ to be reborn in order to recover the love from Larry. Besides, she is a woman who only knows the pleasure and how to enjoy life. She wants ‘to have fun’, wants ‘to do all things that people do’, wants ‘to go to parties,’ and wants ‘to play golf and ride on horse-back’. Furthermore, she is also a materialistic woman. She needs a gorgeous house and nice clothes. ‘Can’t imagine what it means to a girl not to be as well dressed as the rest of her crowd?’ is the real intention from the bottom of her heart.
As for Elliot, we have to recognize that he is a generous man. However, the difference between Elliot and Larry is that Elliot’s contribution to other people is limited and conditional. He only donates his money to churches to win his family title. He spent so much money on parties to get close connection with the rich and the nobles to gain popularity. Meanwhile, Elliot regards money, house and social position as the three most important matters in his life and never stops seeking them until he takes leave of life. Besides, Elliot is a snob of vanity which is one of his unique features. The most impressive scene is that even though he was dying on his bed, he dictated a reply with his last breath when he received the fake invitation letter, telling the inviters that he deeply regretted not being able to attend the party.
Thirdly, the life style is different. Larry makes great efforts to ‘loaf’ in the world to make his dream come true. And he always leads a simple and artless life. He stayed at a poor apartment in Paris and ‘had no evening clothes’. He even did not invite Elliot and Isabel to have lunch with him when he met them the first time in France. What is more, Larry makes light of money. He thinks that 3,000 dollars annually is enough for both him and Isabel. ‘To me, money means bondage’. In addition, he is a hard-working man, even spares no effort to take the most dangerous and dirtiest job instead of just sitting in a gorgeous office building.
However, Isabel has a strong desire of a stable family life in a big city with a wealthy husband. She has got used to a gorgeous and joyful life style and cannot suffer any damage like bankruptcy. She values money and materials, so, she could give her body to a man whom she never loves.
Compared to Larry, Elliot is absolutely an old man with a traditional life style. He never moves around to search for something like the truth of life. The only thing he is interested is party. He not only finds the value of his whole life in the ‘party’ but also dies of the ‘party’. However, finally, the ‘party’ did not appreciate his efforts but threw him away—the nobles even do not give him the pass that can lead him to his heaven.
About three hundred years ago, ‘to be or not to be, that is the question’ which led Hamlet a hero prince; however, one hundred years ago, this question became ’why to be and how to be’ which created Larry an American superman. Actually, life is like walking on the razor’s edge. Normal human beings can easily be hurt if they don’t try their best to find the truth of life and discard their selfishness. Only people with great goodness which brings them super power can dance freely and happily right on the edge without any pains. However, the real life is not so simple, and now the question turns out to be: ‘how many people can become such a man with super power like Larry in the modern society?’
The first character is Larry Darrell, a young man who was a soldier during the WWI. His fiancée Isabel is the second character, who was raised by her uncle and waited for Larry for many years to get married to him as soon as he returned. She was dying to lead a stable and rich life just in Chicago. Surprisingly, Larry had no intention to settle down at once but had planed to go abroad. His decision not only hurt Isabel but also frustrated her uncle Elliott, a third character who is a wealthy snob. However, Larry insisted that he had to travel and find something that he had been searching for since the end of the war. After saying good-bye to Isabel, Larry left America determinedly and began his journey while the other characters also started their own lives. Almost ten years later, when Larry met Isabel and her uncle Elliott in Paris, he had already become a totally different person full of goodness, power and a sense of fulfillment. He also seemed extremely satisfied with his new life despite the fact that he had neither enough money nor a family. On the contrary, his former fiancée, Isabel, who married a then millionaire when she turned her back to Larry ten years ago, unfortunately lost her whole fortune; and even her husband fell ill. Besides, Isabel’s uncle Elliott, although still rich then, was forgotten and abandoned by the nobles whom he had treasured for his whole life and finally died lonely. Below are the reasons why Larry Darrell can finally becomes a strong and happy man but Isabel and Elliott cannot.
Firstly, the method to pursue a happy life is different. Larry’s ‘new body’ made him continuously find out the truth of real life. At the beginning of the story, Larry couldn’t help thinking what the real meaning of life was, and he shouted at Isabel that ‘life is a stupid blunder’; ‘I don’t believe in anything’. That is because he experienced the cruel war, and his ‘new body’ was given to him by his fellow soldier in the battle field of WWI. Absolutely, without other people’s sacrifice for him, Larry could have lost his life forever. This event deeply affected Larry and made him decide to reject a well-paid job and even Isabel’s love to ‘loaf’ in the world to ‘find something’. Then, as he determined, he ‘loafed’ in France, Germany and India, working whole day in a Paris’s coal mine, spending a large amount of money and time on books, practising austerities in India, and eventually, he found the ‘something’ in a place on the top of a mountain guided by an old monk. Finally, Larry ‘got the second chance’ and became an unusual man.
However, Larry’s fiancée Isabel is a selfish woman. Although she urged Larry to take a job to serve the country as other men do, her intention is to want Larry to make much more money for their own little family’s happiness but not for any other people; she even did not care about one of her best friends Sophie when she fell into depression. Besides, she only thinks about the normal daily life itself but not the true meaning of it. Therefore, she always pursues endlessly women’s common lives like man’s love, marriage, babies, clothes and dance. In comparison, Isabel’s uncle Elliot is an old snob man only paying attention to his fame and social position. He also constantly pursues man’s common lives such as honor, reputation and vanity but never mentioned how to contribute to the country and other people.
Secondly, the attitude towards life and love is different. First of all, since Larry found the true meaning of life (which most of it is ‘to give what you have to other people ’ as his fellow soldier did to him), he began to unconditionally contribute his heart and soul to other people. He cured Isabel’s husband (Gray) of his illness with his super power and made their family life happy even though he knew that it was Gray who took his former Fiancée; he created a ‘fake’ invitation card which was the Elliot’s last will and gave his best wishes helping Elliot pass away peacefully; he did his best to get Sophie out of depression and even helped her give up the life of debauchery. And then, Larry had a strong mind of suffering instead of enjoying. He volunteered to work under ground in a coal mine but not in the surface; he preferred to be a taxi driver but not an office clerk. In addition, he dared to choose to sacrifice himself instead of obtaining from other people. The typical action is that he makes up his mind to get married to Sophie, a then middle-aged drunk woman wandering around from one bar to another without any assets and honors, intending to share her sadness and pains due to the deaths of her family members several years ago and to make the rest of her life happy.
On the contrary, Isabel is a woman who always thinks about how to ‘take’ what she needs from other people but never ‘gives’. She asked Larry to make as much money as she wanted when she was still Larry’s fiancée; she discarded her true love just for
the purpose of obtaining ‘a square-cut diamond’; she even dared to scheme to deprive Sophie from her ‘last chance’ to be reborn in order to recover the love from Larry. Besides, she is a woman who only knows the pleasure and how to enjoy life. She wants ‘to have fun’, wants ‘to do all things that people do’, wants ‘to go to parties,’ and wants ‘to play golf and ride on horse-back’. Furthermore, she is also a materialistic woman. She needs a gorgeous house and nice clothes. ‘Can’t imagine what it means to a girl not to be as well dressed as the rest of her crowd?’ is the real intention from the bottom of her heart.
As for Elliot, we have to recognize that he is a generous man. However, the difference between Elliot and Larry is that Elliot’s contribution to other people is limited and conditional. He only donates his money to churches to win his family title. He spent so much money on parties to get close connection with the rich and the nobles to gain popularity. Meanwhile, Elliot regards money, house and social position as the three most important matters in his life and never stops seeking them until he takes leave of life. Besides, Elliot is a snob of vanity which is one of his unique features. The most impressive scene is that even though he was dying on his bed, he dictated a reply with his last breath when he received the fake invitation letter, telling the inviters that he deeply regretted not being able to attend the party.
Thirdly, the life style is different. Larry makes great efforts to ‘loaf’ in the world to make his dream come true. And he always leads a simple and artless life. He stayed at a poor apartment in Paris and ‘had no evening clothes’. He even did not invite Elliot and Isabel to have lunch with him when he met them the first time in France. What is more, Larry makes light of money. He thinks that 3,000 dollars annually is enough for both him and Isabel. ‘To me, money means bondage’. In addition, he is a hard-working man, even spares no effort to take the most dangerous and dirtiest job instead of just sitting in a gorgeous office building.
However, Isabel has a strong desire of a stable family life in a big city with a wealthy husband. She has got used to a gorgeous and joyful life style and cannot suffer any damage like bankruptcy. She values money and materials, so, she could give her body to a man whom she never loves.
Compared to Larry, Elliot is absolutely an old man with a traditional life style. He never moves around to search for something like the truth of life. The only thing he is interested is party. He not only finds the value of his whole life in the ‘party’ but also dies of the ‘party’. However, finally, the ‘party’ did not appreciate his efforts but threw him away—the nobles even do not give him the pass that can lead him to his heaven.
About three hundred years ago, ‘to be or not to be, that is the question’ which led Hamlet a hero prince; however, one hundred years ago, this question became ’why to be and how to be’ which created Larry an American superman. Actually, life is like walking on the razor’s edge. Normal human beings can easily be hurt if they don’t try their best to find the truth of life and discard their selfishness. Only people with great goodness which brings them super power can dance freely and happily right on the edge without any pains. However, the real life is not so simple, and now the question turns out to be: ‘how many people can become such a man with super power like Larry in the modern society?’
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