Susan Lee: A Decision

The story of 'The lotus eater', written by Somerset Maugham, tells the story of Thomas Wilson who visited Capri Island located at the Bay of Naples. He was so enchanted with the place that he resigned from his job, sold his house and then used his savings to buy the annuity. He decided to live which would enable him to live the rest of his life without any cares on Capri. He saved just enough money to survive for a set period; and, he lived happily for twenty-five years in a cottage. After his annuity expired, he remained in the cottage until the owner finally told him that he had to leave. Then he tried to commit suicide unsuccessfully by setting fire to the cottage. Assunta, the land lady, and her husband helped him to survive. Finally, he became misfit and antisocial; after six years later, he died under the beautiful moonlight. The Thomas Wilson's tragic end was the result of his choice.

Tomas Wilson may have wanted to avoid boring lifestyle, so he was in pursuit of leisurely life in Nature. Wilson's life led in his adopted home of Capri was a boring daily routine. He was a common place bank manager and he wanted to escape the monotonous life. Also, before his wife died, he had never left his home because his wife did not like travelling. Also, he thought that he felt lonely until he was thirty-four years old; therefore, he could not do exactly what he wanted. He was really cautious about his decision to go to Capri and then he settled the matter after he read a history book, Marion Crawford. He fell in love with the beautiful place at first sight and made up his mind to leave his London life and income behind in exchange for enjoying a leisure time on Capri.

However, Tomas Wilson suffered from very difficult time as a result of his decision. He lost living expense when his annuity expired but he could easily borrow money for some years. As time went by, he could not have any credit anymore; besides, it made him lose his dignity in his relationship with other people. He had no mental capacity, so he was taken to the hospital. After that, he lived in horrible condition. Assunta, the land lady, and her husband took a pity on him, so they let him stay in a woodshed and shared their food to repay his kindness. However, Assunta's husband drove him too hard as a servant so that Wilson had to carry water and clean up the cow-shed and other hard work. Futhermore, he became the antisocial.

Maugham describes Wilson as enjoying his life on the island for the first fifteen years; however, he never shows any sign of regret for the fateful decision that which he made . However, I think that the Wilson's choice to spend his life following a life of leisure on Capri brought his tragic end. Life cannot be led without money or circumstances. In fact, many people can take controll of their lives by managing money and mastering their circumstances. From this point of view, Tomas wilson could not control all his possession.