The Verger by Somerset Maugham - another look at this great story is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-verger-by-somerset-maugham.html - 10 out of 10

 

The Verger by Somerset Maugham - another look at this great story is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-verger-by-somerset-maugham.html

 

10 out of 10

 

There are only six pages in this tale, and I wonder if this would be classified as a ‘flash story’, or that is just a few lines long – notwithstanding the classification, this is more than worth reading and so easy to get to the end

 

Albert Edward Foreman is the hero of the narrative, he is The Verger, he had occupied that position for sixteen years, devoted to it, he keeps all the paraphernalia, the gowns used in the official capacity, even after they have been decommissioned

In the first few lines, the man is asked to see the vicar that had been recently appointed – the main character does not like this fellow, who is clearly not a man of God – not in my reading, with his intolerance

 

The vicar had found that the verger does not know how to read and write, finds this outrageous, in his arrogance, despite of the fact that he is informed that his predecessor had no objection, thought ‘there is too much learning anyway’

Our hero is told to stop being illiterate, start learning to read and write, show some progress within three months – I mean you can read this at https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/Maugham_The_Verger_0.pdf

 

Maybe it says there that he has to read and write in three months, but that sounds like an exaggeration, and I will not bother to check, since you have the link now, and then it is preposterous nonetheless, and we have the confirmation

The verger says that he is too old to start this education at his age – he has not felt the need to write letters, newspapers have photos now, and hence he can figure what is going on from that, he does not need reading

 

The pompous vicar speaks about the ‘danger’, what if there is something the man can’t understand, he would not have that, so the verger says he will present his resignation, as soon as they find someone to replace him

When he walks down the street, he finds there is no shop from which he can buy some tobacco ‘Albert Edward was a non-smoker and a total abstainer, but with a certain latitude; that is to say he liked a glass of beer with his dinner and when he was tired he enjoyed a cigarette…’ he would like to have now, and he could not

 

He was depressed, the news has been very bad indeed, he did not have enough to live on, and being unemployed is one of the most traumatic experiences, as we find form the classic Stumbling on Happiness…

Harvard Professor Daniel Gilbert is the author of this marvelous work https://realini.blogspot.com/2013/06/stumbling-on-happiness-by-david-gilbert.html which exposes myths of happiness

 

People think that they would be so happy, if only one thing or another were to happen, a frequent example if moving to California, a Caribbean or Pacific Island – only once there, the relocated find it is not the Eden they anticipated

That is due to the phenomenon called Hedonic Adaptation – humans adapt to the great things, palm trees, ocean, splendid beaches, and moan about the traffic, prices and other downsides, though there is an advantage here

 

Just as the bliss does not last, because we get in the habit of having it, when bad things affect people, they also adapt, and research has confirmed that, with the exceptions of losing a loved one, loud noise, unemployment

This is where I get back to Albert Edward Foreman, who is no longer young, lost a position of importance, independence, there are all the reasons for him to suffer from PTSD aka Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

 

Only he is a resilient man, and this experience turns into a PTG aka Post Traumatic Growth, because he opens a Tabacco shop, then another, and he becomes a multi-millionaire – he has thirty thousand pounds, but that is millions today

Evidently, there is another side to this tale, I would argue that this is what makes the Somerset Maugham works so magnificent – and indeed, others that have multiple facets, you have different conclusions

 

Aside from the simple protestation, the man opened a poison shop, then a few others, so he killed people with his trade, which is countered by the fact that they did not know then that tobacco is lethal, it took centuries to find it

I would attack the hero on the point of his illiteracy, just like the pretentious vicar, and say that, well there is EQ, which is more important than IQ, but education is vital, and if this was one of those rare cases where the protagonist is a success, even without knowing his letters, still, look at the cult of Orange Jesus, and what poor training can do to the whole world, from 2025, we could be in for the coming (again!) of the monstrous Trump

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

 

‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

 

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”