Of Human Bondage Essay

‘Of Human Bondage’ is a story about Philip Carey, a man with a clubfoot. He was orphaned when he was nine years old, and lived with his vicar uncle and aunt in Blackstable. His stay there was lonely and miserable. His uncle lived a religious and monotonous life, while his aunt was a typical Victorian Era wife, submissive to her husband. But while his uncle was always strict and rigid, his aunt sometimes showed him affection and love. His handicap made him feel isolated and an outcast, especially when he entered preparatory school in Tercanbury. But he was able to graduate and enter King’s school. There he met Mr. Perkins the headmaster, who was quite unpopular because he came from a family of linen drapers. Philip was encouraged to learn because Mr. Perkin commended his intelligence. He even made a friend named Rose, who was everything that he was not, popular, liked, and an unintelligent boy. But due to scarlet fever, which made him go home to Blackstable, their friendship suffered. It is at this episode that Maugham will start to clearly point out what his novel is about, classifying human experiences between bondage and freedom. The analysis of the novel will be seen through the classification of the experiences of the main character as he transferred from one place to another. Up to this point, it was all about bondage; Philip has to conform to the rigid and unaffectionate life with his uncle and aunt and to the unforgiving cruelty of young people when he was in the preparatory school and King’s school. But when he decided to transfer to Heidelberg, he started to experience freedom. In Heidelberg, Philip was influenced on how to think, and learned so many things. He lived in a boarding house by Professor Erlin, and he was able to meet new friends, with different qualities and approaches in life. When winter arrived, he decided to go back to Blackstable. He is then subjected to bondage again when he got into an affair with Emily Wilkinson, a guest in the vicarage. Being older than him, she was possessive and demanding which made Philip tire of the relationship easily. But thankfully, she left the vicarage for Germany, enabling Philip to decide about what to do with his life. His uncle then convinced him to go to London and become an accountant. Philip found London to be dreary and lonely. He did not like the silence and self-centeredness of the people. We can then deduce that Maugham intended to show London as a form of bondage for Philip; he had to conform to his uncle’s intentions for him to live a respectable but also a boring and rigid life. He broke off from this bondage and decided to transfer to Paris, with his aunt’s help. Paris was a combination of freedom and bondage for Philip, freedom because he made new friends and was able to expose himself to all kinds of ideas. However, he also experienced bondage because he discovered that he cannot become a great artist. His friend committed suicide because of the same realization. With the news that his aunt died, he immediately went back to Blackstable. His uncle was a disappointment because he did not show any sign of mourning, he even ate a big meal. But being able to see beyond his uncle’s hypocrisy, he accepted his uncle’s recommendation to enter the medical profession. He then goes back to London. After being responsible with his studies for a while, he met Mildred, the person who will be the biggest obstacle for him to succeed. He became obsessed with her, even to the point of stopping his medical study so he can give expensive gifts to her. After a series of betrayals by Mildred, he finally realized that he can let go of her. Philip then entered a financial slump; binding him with poverty. Thankfully, the Althelny’s were able to help him get a job. His uncle then died, leaving him with six hundred pounds, enough to let him continue his studies. He experiences a feeling of freedom after he finishes with his medical studies, and repaid the Athelny’s for their kindness. He decided to marry Sally, the oldest daughter and live a life happy ‘bondage’ with her in Dorcestershire. Reference http://pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/pmOfHuman01.asp