This kind of literature also often gives a warning, explicit or indirect, to uphold Victorian morals and values and avoid assimilation into the native culture: "...a cautionary message to white men and women of the very real danger of 'going native' in Malaysia" (Nuraishah Ahmad, 2014). Can you find these two characteristics in The Force of Circumstance? Are they obvious or subtle? What do you think Maugham's message is?
Trivia: W. Somerset Maugham was never in the British Civil Service (though he was later recruited for the British Secret Intelligence Service; although he was very interested in training to become a civil servant, his uncle forbade it, saying that the Civil Service was no profession for a gentleman. Why not?
43 comments:
Noor Gudden DENS3A
The portrayal of the colonial area as a garden paradise can be found in several passages of the story. It can be found in this part for instance (quote by Doris): ‘When the little coasting steamer set them down at the mouth of the river, where a large boat, manned by a dozen Dyaks, -was -waiting to take them to the station, her breath was- taken away by the beauty, friendly rather than awe-inspiring, of the scene. It had a gaiety, like the joyful singing of birds in the trees, -which she had never expected.’.
As for the Victorian morals and values and avoid assimilation into the native culture, this story is obviously a warning to not mingle with the indigenous people of Malay. It is not a subtle message but an obvious warning that no good comes of relationships between the English and the Indigenous people. This quote clearly shows that Guy doesn’t feel very much affection for the children he has with the Indigenous woman he used to be with: ‘When the first one was expected I thought I’d be much fonder of it than I ever had been of its mother. I suppose I should have been if it had been white. Of course, -when it was a baby it was rather funny and touching, but I had no particular feeling that it was mine- I think that’s what it is; you see, I have no sense of their belonging to me.’
I believe that another message in the story is that life in the colonies seems like a paradise but it is not. It can be very lonely and men (and women) have to be very strong in order to survive the hardships such as having a small or no social circle at all. It is hard to trust anybody when you are arrive in a country where everything is different and you have no social network to rely on. On the orher hand it also shows the weakness of a man that cannot bear to be by himself.
The characteristics are quite obvious. The writer uses colours to contrast the protagonists new tropical surroundings. The writer uses words such as “ashy” to describe the influence of the heat. In the beginning of the story she is seperated from the “new world” by blinds. The blinds also act as a safe border between her room and the outside world. She can not keep out the sounds though. There is also a passage wherin a birds sings, reminding her of her of her native country. The bird reminds her of the English blackbird. In the beginning of the story, the protagonist is very enthusiastic about her new home and her feeling s about her new home are positive.: “When the little coasting steamer set them down at the mouth of the river, where a large boat, manned by a dozen Dyaks, was waiting to take them to the station, her breath was taken away by the beauty, friendly rather than awe-inspiring, of the scene. On each bank of the river were mangroves and nipa palms, and behind them the dense green of the forest. In the distance stretched blue mountains, range upon range, as far as the eye could see (247).”
This changes when her husband Guy breaks the news about his relationship with the native woman. Her feelings suddenly become negative and the writer uses symbolism to emphasize this. One example of this is the use of the river which becomes something threatening and dangerous: “at her feet, with a mighty, formidable sluggishness, silent, mysterious, and fatal, flowed the river. It had the terrible deliberation and the relentlessness of destiny”.
Throughout the story she also makes changes to her living room as if the native stuff in the room (i.e. the Dyak shields and parongs) are not good enough, they are unclean. The presents she receives from her wedding have a more positive quality for her and give her new life more status.
I think what the writer is trying to show the reader is the impact a foreign country has on a outsider, in this case a “white” protagonist. An outsider might think the new country is beautiful and exotic but they do not quite understand the customs nor its traditions and society. It (the story) deals with the difficulties of change. Another important aspect of the storiy is the duality of Guy’s character. He is a man caught between two worlds which causes difficulties with his new wife. She is unable to understand his situation and position.
Hamilton Sousa Pires
Claudia Crenshaw DENS3A
The Force of Circumstance
In this short story, the tropical environment where the protagonists begin their lives together as a married couple is lush, hot, fertile and very remote. Maugham paints a picture of a place that abounds with the sounds of birds and monkeys, and that initially appeals to Doris because of the fact that it is everything that England is not. As she herself describes her new home one gets a sense that she is enraptured by the mystery of its natural beauty. For example, “her breath was- taken away by the beauty, friendly rather than awe-inspiring, of the scene. It had a gaiety, like the joyful singing of birds in the trees, -which she had never expected. On each bank of the river -were mangroves and ninpah palms, and behind them the dense green of the forest. In the distance stretched Blue Mountains, range upon range, as far as the eye could see. She had no sense of confinement nor of gloom, but rather of openness and wide spaces where the exultant fancy could wander -with delight. The green glittered in the sunshine and the sky -was blithe and cheerful.” The reader gets the sense that she will be very happy in her new home, but Maugham also paints a picture of the couple’s lives nine months later that is homebound and based on ritual. In essence, they are happy to follow lives that are removed from their environs. Doris is a contented woman who feels pride in her husband and her home. Her initial excitement for living in such an exotic place is replaced by her satisfaction in being a good wife.
Maugham’s message about the perils of the native culture in Malaysia is not subtle. The author portrays the native characters in a rudimentary fashion. They serve and care for the English, but are not otherwise given an identity. They are necessary to help Doris and Guy maintain their lifestyle, but are otherwise peripheral characters who appear when summoned. Maugham provides little detail into the Malay characters, and they remain foreign to us, much as they do to Doris. When Guy finally reveals to her about his relationship and children with the Malay woman, her world falls apart. He initially tries to convince her that being a father to three children means nothing as they are half-castes, but after six months, Doris still cannot accept his prior relationship with the Malay woman and thus decides to leave to save herself. The safety that she felt with Guy in this world disappeared, and she had to return to England where she would live without him, but well within her values and morals. Doris never fully assimilated in her new world, and was thus contented. When the two worlds clashed, this proved to be disastrous for the couple, “It’s a physical thing, I can’t help it, it’s stronger than I am. I think of those thin black arms of hers round you and it fills me with a physical nausea. I think of you holding those little black babies in your arms. Oh, it’s loathsome. The touch of you is odious to me.” Maugham is giving a warning to the dangers of mixing native and English cultures. Doris must abandon her marriage, and Guy is left alone. But, not for long, as his loneliness would tempt him again to lead the life he had before meeting and marrying his English bride.
At first, I did not realize that the story contained Victorian values. I believed that Doris lived an ordinary life in a different milieu, however, bearing in mind ¨western values¨, Doris remains true to her British origin. She is at peace with the fact that Guy never had a Malay wife, since intermarriage was not acceptable during colonial times.
’I’m not hard. But I’m thankful you never had a Malay wife. I should have hated it. Just think if those two little brats -were yours.’
Although an ideal image is sketched at the beginning of story, something does not seem to be right. Maugham describes the couple as if they are integrated into the Malay society. But the opposite is true, especially when I read the sections below. They dehumanize the inhabitants, for example by calling the children half-caste children.
’Oh, Guy, there were two little boys watching him -who were much whiter than the others. I wondered if they were half-castes. I spoke to them, but they didn’t know a word of English.’
’There are two or three half-caste children in the kampong,’ he answered.
Even Guy avoids assimilation, while he pretends to be attached to his country.
’After all England’s a foreign land to me,’ he told her. ’My home’s Sembulu.’
Furthermore, I belief that he behaves hypocritical and superior (like most colonizers) by taking a Malay woman in his house out of loneliness. What surprises me the most is that he does not even want to take care of his offspring.
’I wasn’t in love with her, not even at the beginning. I only took her so as to have somebody about the bungalow. I think I should have gone mad if I hadn’t, or else taken to drink. 1 was at the end of my tether. I was too young to be quite alone. I was never in love with anyone but you.’ He hesitated a moment. ’She lived here till I went home last -ear on leave. It’s the woman you’ve seen hanging about.’
One cannot go into a reading of The Force of Circumstance without coming out on the other side with a whole lot to unpack, as is the case with most colonial literature. However, when considering authorial intent, it helps that Maugham was not at all subtle. The Malaysian environment is, as seen through a colonist's eyes (in this case Doris), described in only positive terms. Through emphasis of the vibrancy found in the flora and fauna, as well as the sheer expanse of their surroundings, the story paints an idyllic scenery that reflects the contemporary ideals of "colony life"; wide open wilderness just waiting to be used. What's interesting about that idea is that, at least in this story, the same lens is used to view the Malay people.
Colonialism on this historic scale requires a degree of othering, if not outright dehumanization of the colonized peoples to function. Consider that the conflict central to the story -- Guy's past relationship with a Malay woman, kept secret from his wife -- is predicated entirely on their views of the indigenous population as a whole. Given an appropriate amount of distance, the English-born Doris quite enjoys watching the local society go about their daily lives. She explicitly makes an effort to learn the language. When she first sees the Malay woman, she even manages to appreciate her features. When things are how they're "supposed to be", she is happy. The moment, however, she realizes that woman had three children with her husband, it completely disrupts her sensibilities to the point where she can no longer carry on with that life.
As the only "true" English person in the story, the argument is easily made that Doris is a stand-in for the audience, and her choice is presented as the correct option. Since Guy has "gone native", and thus lost his status in her eyes, she is justified. This reflects the common moral of the time (and of this tale) that the colonies were a paradise, as long as one remembered one's innate superiority to the natives.
It also sheds light on something that is either much more subtle or not the intended message. The fact that Guy, on the same night of Doris' departure, has the Malay woman and his three children move back in with him, is indicative of a certain power and (dare I say) privilege afforded by his position in that society. Of course, that could be my modern interpretation of it. If we assume it to be intentional, however, it would imply that even after "going native", just being a white man still puts him a class above the original inhabitants. One could construe the final message to warn not against getting too comfortable with one's subjects, but rather the disdain from the "civilized" world that follows such fraternizing.
Martin Steegmans – Dens2A
The portrayal of the colonial area as a garden paradise becomes obvious in Doris’ description of the environment when she first travelled inland. She says that she “loved the country at once”. She also explains that the “formed an impression of a sombre land” through the novels about the Mayal Archipelago. But “her breath was taken away by the beauty, friendly rather than awe-inspiring, of the scene.” Doris continues to describe the colony as a lush, abundant scenery.
She does however think that Guy his bachelor life has led him to assimilate too much with the natives. This becomes clear when she describes the house where he lived alone before their marriage. In this scene it also becomes clear this is not the way proper English gentleman and women are supposed to live. So after Doris has redecorated the house and arranged this the way they should she “felt an inordinate pride because it was her house”. This is of course a subtle way to make the distinction between the natives and the proper Victorian values.
An obvious distinction can be found in “physical nausea” that fills Doris when she thinks of the native girls arms around Guy. And the fact that she has slept in the same bed and gave birth to his children before they were married. It isn’t spoken aloud by Doris, but she feels that Guy has become too much of a native through his experiences and actions. Doris clearly wants to distance herself from the ‘understandable and normal’ way natives (and lonely white colonials) behave in the colony. She doesn’t want anything to do with that, though she does understand it and doesn’t blame Guy. Doris wants to uphold the Victorian values and tries to while living with Guy for another six months, but can’t seem to uphold this way of living. Guy has become a native in her eyes and after her leave Guy endorses this judgement and actualization by letting his Malay wife and children move back in with him.
Maugham’s uncle thought the Civil Service was unfit for a gentleman because a new law stated that applicants had to pass an entrance examination. Surely that wasn’t fit for a proper gentleman.
The story is not written in the first person. However, it is a narrator who tells the story.
The force of circumstance is a story which tells about the life of a man (guy) and his wife (Doris). The live in Malaysia. After he finished his school he went to Malaysia and has lived there for many years before leaving again and returning with his wife Doris.
When guy was young he felt really lonely at night. A boy recommended him to bring over a girl and who can live with him. In the beginning, he doubted this idea, but in the end he thought it was actually a good idea. So, he had a Malaysian wife with whom he had three children. After several years he sent her back to her family because he was leaving and their relationship was sort of over. After a while he returned to Malaysia with his white wife Doris, but she leaves him and his former Malaysian woman returns.
This message is not a subtle one. The author makes it very clear through his writing that the two worlds are very different and that they should not be mixed.
- Guy taking a Malay wife out of loneliness but not caring for his offspring is one example.
- Doris leaving Guy because of said relationship obviously represents the Victorian moral of avoiding
assimilation into the native culture and perhaps is used to teach the reader this lesson.
- Guy’s living conditions prior Doris’ arrival in the house and after she redecorated the house are a subtle
way of showing the difference between going native and upholding the Victorian morals.
Marieke van Lith DENS3A
I feel like Doris never feels at home in Malaysia. She walks around, loving the nature and scenery, yet always looking over her shoulder. Commenting on things that aren't proper. Whether it is the way a family should be run or people coming in and out of houses they don't live in. Of course her suspicions are eventually true and the woman she sees, is actually on old lover of her husband whom he had children with. She tries to live her life there and accepting the fact that her husband has other children but eventually leaves. She is too English and proper for this it feels.
He, however stays and allows his first wife to come back. He is more native than she could ever hope to become. He just wants to live his life, have someone that will take care of him and he doesn't care about proper cared for gardens or dinner parties or afternoon tea. He doesn't seem British anymore at all.
Saliha Ballah 0860327
In the short story ‘Force of Circumstance’, the author writes that he thinks a white person/man should not go native. We see this in the way how he describes Doris and her husband Guy. Doris stays true to her British origins and manages to live her ‘normal’ lifestyle in a completely different environment. She redecorates their house to the Victorian standards or the way proper English people live. According to Doris, British people must be self-restrained and act in a certain way. Guy, on the other hand, loses himself and ‘falls in love’ with a native woman, whi gives birth to his children. Living in another country is hard, therefore people have to adapt tot he surrouding. Personally I think that the author is trying to show us that British people would fail to live in a colony if they do not adapt to the natives. This makes them no longer be a human, according to the living standards of the European society.
VENS3E
0893572
Gaby Roosenburg
This book is clearly a warning to uphold Victorian morals and values. “ ‘What have you been doing this morning?’ he asked. ‘Oh, nothing much. I went for a little walk.’ ‘Through the kampong?’ ‘Yes, I saw a man send a chained monkey up 2, tree to pick coconuts, which rather thrilled me’ “ – This shows that even after living there for quite a while, she still isn’t used to things that are normal there. You would think that after having moved to another country, you would get quite used to their ways after a while.
There is also a subtle warning to uphold Victorian morals and values. “Under the breathless sun of midday, it had the white pallor of death. A native was paddling along in a dug-out so small that it hardly showed above the surface of the water. The colours of the day were ashy and wan. They were but the various tones of the heat. (It was like an Eastern melody, in the minor key, which exacerbated the nerves by its ambiguous monotony and the ear awaits impatiently a resolution, but waits in vain.) The cicadas sang their grating song with a frenzied energy; it was as continual and monotonous as the rustling of a brook over the stones; but on a sudden it was drowned by the loud singing of a bird, mellifluous and rich; and for an instant, with a catch at her heart, she thought of the English blackbird.
This passage describes a certain kind of paradise, yet she can’t help but to thing about something English – in this case, the blackbird. This shows that even though she lives in a beautiful country and while she lives a rather careless life, she can’t let go of the things she was used to.
I think the view on culture is quite obvious in this short story. The Victorian morals are the ones to uphold and should not be mixed with the native culture. The reasoning of Guy when gets married not for love but out of loneliness is an example of that. That marriage ending is a clear message of the fact that a intercultural marriage will not stand. Nonetheless, no marriage will stand when it's not out of love.
The way the living conditions are described is also an example of the destinction that the writer makes in this story. Although the environment is beautiful, there is always feeling of 'homesickness' towards England.
Bea Viergever DENS3A
When I think of Victorian morals the first thing that comes to mind is the almost sacred union between husband and wife. Separation was not often heard of during those times, “ Doris: I want you to let me go”. Doris, to me, is a woman who values her personal morals over that of the Victorian ones by making the decision to separate from Guy. In contrast I find that the insinuation that every young man is in one way or the other involved with a local woman and how this is deemed as something acceptable due to the environment en circumstances a common picture of the morals of men and women during this era.
From the story I think that Guy always kept in the back of his mind that he would marry an English (white) woman due to the fact that he sent away the mother of his children before ever meeting Doris. Due to the decision to let her and their children back in on the same day Doris leaves him gives the impression that a realisation of the accepted wayward way of keeping local women for company is passively accepted as his fate.
The two characteristics are not expressed in a subtle way but are painfully stated throughout the story in sometimes, derogatory language, “ half-cast boys”. The message I believe Maugham wants to get across are the choices people are faced with regardless of times, circumstances and the roles of men, women and heritage. In a way this story is about the values that women seem to cling to. For Doris it is the fact that she can’t accept her husband’s past and for the woman who mothered Guy’s children by retaliating against her disposition after Doris’ arrival.
In 'The force of circumstance' the portrayal of the colonial area is somewhat different to the typical way surroundings are described in British Colonial writing. The story is set in a fictitious sultanate of Malaysian Borneo, where Guy is stationed. Although Doris, Guy's newly wed wife, doesn't have 'a sense of confinement nor gloom when she arrives in this country', the story starts off with a reference to sickness and death: 'Under the breathless sun of midday it (the river) had the white pallor of death....the colours of the day were ashy and won' These descriptions are used as metaphors for the soon emerging threat that will blemish the marital bliss of the young couple.
At the time this story was written one could interpret it as 'a warning not to assimilate into the native culture' but I do think there is more to it. The writer makes the reader understand why Guy has lived with a native woman; the loneliness was simply unbearable. Even Doris understands this.
The chief immorality of Guy's actions lays in the fact that he has not told her earlier about his past, out of fear of being rejected. This makes it impossible for Doris to ever trust him again. The tragedy is that she has no other choice than to leave him, by 'the force of circumstance.'
The title refers to the fact that both Guy's actions as well as Doris's response, are evoked by the force of circumstance.
Arwen, Dens 3a
I believe the two characteristics were quite obvious in the short story. The area in which the couple lived was painted off as a wild land. Doris describes the moment she arrived and what she thought of the area, at that moment it is clear that she did not expect it to be paradise-like. This description becomes clear in the next quote: “…her breath was taken away by the beauty, friendly rather than awe–inspiring, of the scene. It had a gaiety, like the joyful singing. Of birds in the trees, which she had never expected. On each bank of the river were mangroves and nipah palms, and behind them the dense green of the forest. In the distance stretched blue mountains, range upon range, as far as the eye could see. She had no sense of confinement nor of gloom, but rather of openness and wide spaces where the exultant fancy could wander with delight. The green glittered in the sunshine and the sky was blithe and cheerful. The gracious land seemed to offer her a smiling welcome.” on page 4 of the story.
Next to that, Guy and his life and choices might be a perfect example to give people a warning to keep their Victorian standards high. In the beginning of the story he talks about the woman with the children in the village to Doris, in his explanation he expresses that English wives are the goal and that the women from the villages are only a way to pass time. When Doris finds out and he tells her he has been one of the men that felt lonely and picked a native woman for company, it is clear this was not a good thing to do. Not only that, he also tells her about the fact that he was not happy, the women and his children were only there to fill up void in his life. The message the writer may have wanted to convey could be that even though you make the choice to ‘go native’ in Malaysia, in the end it will not even be worth your while or will even make you unhappier.
Ercan Yilmaz DENS3A
Somehow it feels as if things were very adventurous, romantic and not very real to Doris. After having found out the truth, her ideas about being in a different culture and an unknown environment changed pretty fast. Victorian morals about families and their households were very clear and needed to be respected. The father was the head of the family and the household, he needed to be respected by the children and so on. The mother would be around the house and would be spending her time on the family. Maybe this was how she expected things to be later, after having children with him. This would mean that she could not have a Victorian marriage to start with, because there is another family. It feels as if her desire to live up to these Victorian morals became much stronger after she found out the truth.
I think the author of the novel indicates that no matter where you are and what life you live, you should always stay true to yourself and respect yourself. This would mean Victorian to Doris and she was proud to be more than an assimilating woman in a different place and wanted to have her own family. Guy doesn’t want to be alone and wants someone to take care of him, and that’s what he did.
Dagmar Dubois DENS3A
This short story has several examples of the idea of “going native” and “staying true” to Victorian morals. As we get to know the characters Doris and her husband Guy, we are soon confronted with their stark differences in how they each approach their situation. The story gives us a notion that Doris never quite feels fully at home in Malaysia and is always kept on her toes. The not so subtle comments she makes about the comings and goings of other people in other houses and about how she believes a household should be run give us the idea that she is never truly at ease with her surroundings. I believe that despite her efforts to continue with her life there and to accept that her husband has another family, she holds on to her English roots in every way she can. On the other hand, her husband, Guy, makes clear efforts in trying to mingle and make Malaysia his own. He eventually falls in love with a native woman and fathers native children. The author makes it rather obvious that these two worlds shouldn’t be mixed as they are far too different to make it work.
The danger of ‘going native’ is indeed a big subject in this story. When you look at what “Victorian standards” actually mean, you find out that in the Victorian Era, heritage and the continuity of your family line were of great importance. The Force of circumstance can be seen as a warning to uphold these values for it gives the reader an example for what could possibly happen when one intermingles with the natives. In this particular story the husband ends up separated from the wife that he loved so fondly and is left with no choose but to except that he has to spend the rest of his life with three children that he doesn’t want and a wife who in measures of importance to him, can be explained as a plan-B.
I do think the message (or warning) for white people to not date native people is very clear in the short story. Not only makes the short story clear to (in this particular case) white man where their weaknesses lie e.g. loneliness, but it also points out what possibly could happen when men give in to these weaknesses.
The story left me a little in doubt if it comes to answer the last question: What I think that Maughams message is. On the one hand I tend to agree with everything I mentioned above and want to say that his story acts as warning or something like it, to inform white people about the hardships that they may endure when living abroad. On the other hand, is it also possible that the writer wanted to point out the particular point of view of people living in this part of time not as a warning but as an informative story for people of the twentieth century and after.
Loïs Berghout
VENS3C
In The Force of Circumstance, the contrast between the Malaysian wilderness and the Victorian gardens is very obvious. Doris and Guy have a big house which is surrounded by the wilderness of Borneo. Even though the house on the inside looks like an Victorian house, the surroundings are nothing like the beautiful gardens in England.
It is full and the couple does not really have a garden. Their house is, on one side, surrounded by the trees and on the other side, a big river flows.
The upholding of the Victorian morals and values, was also quite obvious. It is visible in the behavior of Doris, but for me this shows that she is not used to her new surroundings yet and therefore, is still behaves as if she’s in England while Guy is completely adapted to the live in the wilderness.
The message Maugham wants to show with this is that even though a British native lives abroad, he’s still British and will always act this way. A British native will never completely adapt to the new country that he lives in. He will try his best but he will always go back to his roots, in behavior or even actual going back.
When I read the story without the “Victorian values” in mind, I simply thought it was a racist story of its time. But with the Victorian glasses, I’ve experienced the story differently. I could understand better what the writer was illustrating. Things that I thought prude and misogynistic… well, they were still that but with more context. For example, how Doris talks about how wonderful it is that Guy hasn’t had a Malay wife. The most obvious message here being the criticism of interracial marriage in Victorian times. But I also believe it expresses the role of women in Victorian times, being a good a proper wife all too happy with their husbands.
’I’m not hard. But I’m thankful you never had a Malay wife. I should have hated it. Just think if those two little brats -were yours.’
Another theme in this story is the superiority of English values, promoting the “good” colonialism does. The Malay and their culture in the story are dehumanized. The most poignant examples are the treatments Guy gives his offspring as if they are an unimportant side issue, not worth his time or energy; and the way Doris feels and talks about Guy and his May woman and children.
Andrea Moreira Santos
0765744
Salim 0880341
The two characters, which are obviously shown through the story, are Guy and his wife Doris. Doris stays true to her roots, however Guy slips into the Malaysian culture. He falls for a native woman and get more accustomed to the native culture of Malaysia. Doris tries to stay true to the Victorian morals which are in contrast to the customs and morals of the new country she lives in. Even when confronted with her husband’s past and trying to live with this shocking news, she fails to adjust and stays true to herself. Trying to live in another country where things aren’t the same as where you grew up, might let you end up adapting and adjusting to that new country’s lifestyle. If not, you will end up rejecting that new lifestyle and you’ll return to what your own morals are.
One can definitely find these two characteristics in the short story of Maugham, which therefore answers the other question at the same time: no, they're not very hard to recognize.
Guy and his newly wife Doris live in Malaysian Borneo. In the beginning, they adore each other, although their love appears to be vulnerable. Certain elements in the story, like the living room of their house and especially the furniture, symbolize 'Englishness' and staying true to their roots. But the roots of Doris are slightly different than the roots of Guy, since he is not born in Britain. She is not happy in her new home, showing in her descriptions of the situation in the beginning and when she finds out what Guy has been keeping from her, she cannot do anything else but hold on to her own, well known morals and values, resulting in leaving him.
Guy shows some willingness to adapt to his new home, to the native culture, by marrying a Malay woman and having kids with her, even though he seems to have a definite preference for an English wife. When he decides to leave her and marry an English woman, he took the uncalculated risk that his ex would not accept that new situation. The 'going native' part was not very successful and in the end, he lost everything...
Ymke Went (DENS3/4A)
Seda Ozdemir (0914789) VENS3E
Maugham’s message is quite obvious because of his choice of words. He makes it very clear through his writing style that the two worlds, the native Malaysian and the white Victorian world, are totally different and that the two should remain completely separate from each other. He visualizes this by the telling the reader about the lives of the white men, Guy, and woman, Doris, whose marriage is not the best of its kind. The writer also creates symbolic situations to represent this idea in which Doris is literally seperated from the ‘new world’ by blinds. The blinds, in this case, function as a border between her safe room and the unsafe outside world. However, Doris eventually leaves Guy because the relationship represents the Victorian moral of avoiding assimilation. Guy simply does not avoid assimilation and in fact has three children with a native woman. I think the author mainly used this event to exemplify and thus ‘teach’ the reader this lesson of how ‘dangerous’ it is to ‘go native’ in Malaysia.
All-in all, the novel itself represents an obvious warning: do not mingle with the indigenous people of Malaysia.
Debbie VENS3C
The Victorian standards are held in high regard by Doris, although not so much by Guy. This is clear from the way Doris speaks about the half-caste children, wondering how someone could do such a thing while also having a wife.
Later she also upholds the Victorian standard by pretending that everything is fine for 6 months after Guy admitted he himself has 3 half-caste children.
In the environment we can see the stark differences between the wilderness and the Victorian gardens. There is a tennis court, but also the river that appears to be fairly close by. There's also the wilderness that's mentioned where Guy goes to tire himself out, taking his rifle with him. It seems though that the bungalow that Doris and Guy live in is relatively quiet and far away from the rest of civilisation.
Mehmet Coskun (0908868) VENS3C
The colonial areas seem to be described as some kind of paradise. Maugham seems to be a very proud British man, who feels that a true Brit will stay true to himself and never change. This is portrayed by Guy who tried to change and adapt to his Malaysian surroundings instantly. Even though Guy tried to change for the woman he had fallen in love with, in the end he did not feel a real connection with the country or the children he had fathered (because they didn't look white). This book seems to show the big differences between the Victorian lifestyle and the Malaysian lifestyle and also seems to double as a way of telling people that the two should not be mixed.
Wednesday, November 1-11-2017
The short story “The Force of Circumstance” is about Guy and his wife Doris who lived in Malaysia. Doris doesn’t feel at home in Malaysia, she holds on to her English roots in every way. For example she redecorated the house to the Victorian standards.
On the other hand, Guy is in between two worlds which leads him to difficulties with his new wife. The native Malaysian and the Victorian are written as totally different worlds. The main subject of this short story is the danger of going native. The clearly written message for the white people is not to assimilate with the native culture in Malaysia.
Meryem Öztürk
0913990
VENS3C
Maugham’s short story titles “Force of Circumstance”. It tells us a story about the lives of the white men, named Guy, and woman, named Doris. They live in Malaysia. The difference between these two is that Doris stays true to her roots she tries to stay true to the Victorian morals, and Guy slips into the Malaysian culture. He falls for a native woman and get more accustomed to the native culture of Malaysia. The story is not written in the I-person, it is a narrator who tells the story. The language is normal and the tone of voice is a little ironic.
Guy and his wife Doris live in Malaysian Borneo. In the beginning of the story they truly love each other. Doris love for Guy is so strong that she was ready to leave her widowed mother and shifted to a foreign country. Guy on the other hand has accepted his wife’s English customs.
In the story there is also another character which is the Malaysian woman who is the reason for the break up between Guy and Doris. She appears numerous of time in their lives in order to make Guy confess the truth to Doris.
When the truth was told Doris could not accept that Guy had had an affair with a native woman and had 3 children with her. Although this happened before he married Doris. She asked Guy to give her six months to think about it but eventually Doris left him.
In the end of the story it quote” It was finished. Finished! He surrendered.” It shows that he himself brought this upon him and now he has to deal with his circumstance by letting his Malaysian woman and his children back in his live.
All in all, this short story is about making difficult decisions for yourself in hard circumstances.
VENS3C - Besha Mahmood
Babette Sutter
0913306
VENS3C
There are many ways in which the colonial area is described as a paradise. For instance, Doris instantly falls in love with her new home when she arrives on the boat. She describes the landscape as ‘awe-inspiring’. Even though Doris doesn’t have any friends, she claims to her husband that she never feels lonely, because she is so in love with the place they live in. She says how her house in England was much smaller than the beautiful house she lives in at the moment. Everything feels like a beautiful dream to the reader.
The message from the story is that nothing good will come out of becoming friendly and familiar with the local natives. They really are portrayed as if they are a lower type of human, without personal characteristics. None of them are described to have some kind of personality. Guy also says that he would have probably loved his children more if they had been born white. Because of their dark skin colour, he was unable to love them as if they were his own flesh and blood. Even though he lived with the native woman for ten years and had three children with her, he had no problem casting her aside for a white woman, who he proposed to less than a month after they met. Doris, in return, feels sick at the thought of the native woman having given birth on their bed and wrapped her arms around him. This is typical for the strict Victorian morals and standards, where the white race is still seen as superior to all other races.
Dalina Mahmood VENS3C
In the short story you can see a few things that shows assimilation into the native culture for example; Doris is willing to learn the Malay language, they are living in a bungalow just like the natives, Guy adapt his way of dressing(topeee) However, they also shown British culture throughout the story. Doris decorate their house in a British style, they play typical British sport(tennis).
Maugham portraits the characters quite obvious, we can see this in the way he describes Guy and how he describes Doris. According to Maugham a white man and woman need to stay true to their origin and never change. However, this doesn’t count for Guy.
Guy is not exactly the best example of a model British colonial official. I think during the whole story what he was uncomfortable about was mainly, his identity. He wasn’t clear on to what extent the place he lives in had changed him. The place he was at pulled him closer to the natives and their culture he “feels more home in Sembulu than in England. However, Doris embodies” Victorian Values” she stays true to her Origin. When Doris find out about the Malay woman, she thinks is better to be honest and to leave Guy than to lie to him and stay with him against her will. She decides to go back to England. When it comes to Going native both characters show different attitude.
At the end the circumstance that drove The couple apart the bridge between cultures.
The force of Circumstances depicts multiple characteristics of upholding Victorian morals and “going native”. The narrator describes the colonial area as a paradise on earth. There is a paragraph where a bird is singing. This bird sounded just like the English blackbird which made Doris think about her birthplace. Doris got reminded again at how difficult it is to adapt to Malaysia and its culture. This is reflected in the way how she feels about Malaysian people visiting each other in their houses. Doris holds on to the Victorian values even when she marries a native man.
The marriage of Doris and Guy was not based on love but rather an act of selfishness. Both were terrified to end up lonely. Having said that, they decided to marry and even enjoyed their honeymoon.
However, Maugham believes that white people should not assimilate with the natives of their colonies. Several elements in the story show the influence of the English culture in Malaysia. For instance, Doris refused to let her identity go so she chose to design her home with a touch of the Victorian style.
Unfortunately, the marriage between Doris and Guy could not last long. Their happiness was demolished by a Malay woman, who happened to be the mother of Guy’s children. Doris left Guy and so did her influence of her culture. Guy let his family move back in and got back with his own culture. This pictures the huge differences between the cultures and the inability of living with each other. We even might consider it as a warning to avoid assimilation into the native cultures. However, I do believe that there are always exceptions in life.
Zeynep Çabuk
vens3C
Lisa Aalmers (VENS3C)
When Doris first arrives in the Malay Archipelago, she is breath taken by the beautiful inspiring landscape. Maugham's thoroughly describes Doris’ amazement when she encounters the dense green forests and the stretched blue mountains. This is a typical example of is the portrayal of the colonial area as a garden paradise.
Then there is the contrast between the upholding of Victorian morals and the assimilation into the native culture. Before Guy married Doris, he lived quite a different life from the time when he was married to Doris. For instance, he was much close to the natives. While working he talked a lot to the Dyaks and in the evenings, he was companied by a native girl with whom he later had three children. He also didn’t care for the codes of conduct like dressing for dinner and dressed himself comfortably in natives’ clothes.
I think Maugham is trying to explain how easily people change their way of life under different circumstances and how hard it can be to uphold certain morals in a totally different environment.
0890497 VENS 2B
Cornelis van der Klooster
Not too far into the story the country is described from a ' newcomer' perspective. ''her breath was- taken away by the beauty, friendly rather than awe-inspiring, of the scene.'' the image of a paradise compared to a shitty flat in Brixton has been realised in this story as well. The following quotation sums up this contrast perfectly:
''She had no sense of confinement nor of gloom, but rather of openness and wide spaces where the exultant fancy could wander -with delight.''
At the point where Guy unfolds his life prior to Doris we come across the clear distinction between natives and general white folks. There really isn't any subtlety to be found in this piece of writing. Any and all natives are kept as vague characters and we never hear them referenced by name (except Abdul). I found the following passages to portray the general opinion about the natives decently well.
''Of course I should have liked a white man to gas to, but they were better than nothing.''
When Guy talks about having the need to banter about with people.
''I -was fed up with it. I told her I was going to marry a white woman
’But you hadn’t even seen me then.’ ''
This is what Guy said about leaving the Malay woman. He ended the relationship with her and within a month of meeting Doris he had proposed to her. Not only does it show that it was clearly an upgrade to marry a white woman, but Doris' comment on this makes it more apparant how little the native lives meant to the white settler.
''I thought I’d be much fonder of it than I ever had been of its mother. I suppose I should have been if it had been white.''
I've seen this quote mentioned a fair bit for obvious reasons.
Yessica van der Veere, VENS3C, 0893804
The force of circumstance had a lot of detailed descriptions of the jungle, but not only did W. Somerset Maugham describe the lively jungle, he also made use of several stylistic devices as shown in the following quote:
“The green glittered in the sunshine and the sky -was blithe and cheerful. The gracious land seemed to offer her a smiling welcome- They rowed on, hugging a bank, and high overhead flew a Pair of doves. A flash of colour, like a living jewel dashed across their path. It was a kingfisher. Two monkeys, with their dangling tails, sat side by side on a branch. On the horizon, over there or, the other side of the broad and turbid river, beyond the jungle, was a row of little white clouds, the only clouds in the sky, and they looked Like a row of ballet-girls, dressed in white, waiting at the back of the stage alert and merry for the curtain to go up.”
The fact that Doris sees the two boys who, later on in the story, turn out to be her husband’s sons was an obvious foreshadowing for me. As was Guy’s response:
“Oh, My dear, that’s the sort of question we think it a little dangerous to ask out here.’ He paused. ’A lot of fellows have native wives, and then when they go home or marry they pension them off and send them back to their village. -”
Doris’ described behavior in the first month after the found out about Guy’s family is a good portrayal of keeping up the appearances of upholding the Victorian morals and values.
“Women conceal their feelings better than men and a stranger visiting them -would never have guessed that Doris was in any way troubled”
“But it was evident that she -was merely playing a part...”
In my opinion her leaving shows the avoidance of assimilation with the native culture:
“He put out his hand to take hers, but she drew it away. ’I want you to let me go home.’
’You?’ he cried, aghast. ’When? Why?’
’I’ve borne it as long as I can. I’m at the end of my tether.’ ’How long do you want to go for? For always?’
’I don’t know. I think so.’ She gathered determination. ’Yes, for always.’”
Bart Neven VENS3C
Well, Guy is being "punished" in this story by the women of his dreams, because he slept with a Malay woman in the past. I feel like Doris is acting irrational, but I cannot imagine what I would do when I found out my husband has 3 kids with a random woman.
The beauty of the colonial period is clear in this story. There are almost no accounts of slavery or barbarism. There are only descriptions of the beautiful surroundings and nature. However, this can also be explained by the focus on the characters. Maugham might not have wanted to make a "max havelaar", but a message that it is in the human nature to have companionship. Even if it was against the norm at the time, the fact that we as humans need comfort and warmth from other humans does not make a person inherently bad. We even see that in the story when Doris explained that she does not fault guy over it. She even understands why he did it, However, her prejudice makes sure she cant stay with a man that has laid his fingers on a native woman. She even has trouble kissing him because it makes her feel sick.
The beauty of the colonial period is not the main focus of the story. It is how people looked at other races, the prejudice the people had and the look on "half-castes" in that period. I think Maugham wanted to show people what the mindset of that time was.
In the end, the Malay woman got what she wanted.
Kristine Trimon VENS3C
Throughout the short story, you can see on various occasions how it was hard for Doris to adapt to her new environment. She does find the place beautiful but she misses her home. An example of upholding Victorian values and morals is when Doris changed the decoration of the house and made it more like home in her opinion and also it was explicitly mentioned that the house had Dyak shields and Dyak cloths. However, it was easier for Guy to adapt since he said in the beginning that “My home is Sembulu” (Maugham) and that is the place where they were living after they got married.
Maugham, W. S. (1951). The complete short stories of W. Somerset Maugham. London: Heinemann.
Felicity Postma 0881014 Vens3C
A non-native citizen, mixing with native people brings trouble.
This is an example of avoiding assimilation into the native culture.
The native people are treated like slaves of the British people.
The British people take advantage of that, willingly or not.
Doris's departure shows that mixing brings trouble.
Though Doris tries hard to fit in, she doesn't. which is obvious from the scene where a boy walks in and says something Doris could never understand, even if she spoke the language. Maybe she was trying too hard. She realized Guy was at home there, and she could never be. She could also never be like a Malay woman which is probably the reason she left after she found out about the children and life Guy had before her.
This was the most boring book I've ever read.
Tamara Salem - Vens3C
During the entire story, I could feel Doris didn't feel like she was home. She feels alone and has a hard time fitting in. I think the story Guy told her about the native woman he has three children with, was the straw that broke the camel. It was then when she realised that she could never be a native wife. At one point Guy says to her: ’But that’s awfully unfair to me, Doris.’. And she replies ’Don’t you think it -was a little unfair to me to bring me out –here in the circumstances ?’.
I think she made a good point there. If he didn't want Doris to know about his previous wife, he shouldn't have brought her out there in the first place. To be fair, he knew this could happen.
I think Maughum's message is that a white woman should never be brought into a native society.
Joline Hooker
VENS3C
0892901
Doris is a woman who comes from England and we can safely assume that she is Homesick. In other words, she is a stranger in a strange land. I assume this because of lines such as “but on a sudden it was drowned by the loud singing of a bird, mellifluous and rich; and for an instant, with a catch at her heart, she thought of the English blackbird”
However I believe she ignored her longing for Great Britain simply because she loved her husband and she felt as if she would be happy by creating a new home with him.
Doris brings her English ways and values with her to Malaysia along and never assimilated into their world. To me, she even looked down on them and saw them as savages. They are only necessary to serve them but nothing more. Guy used the Malaysian women as play things while keeping Doris as his main wife. He had 3 children and referred to them as half castes. Guy is cold even towards his own flesh and blood. He cannot seem to see them as humans even if they are his children. To top it off, Doris decides to leave and return back to England. This shows that she never developed a love for the land or had any close bonds to the people who lived there. To me, this shows that they do not view the indigenous people as equals therefore never truly assimilating to their culture. Perhaps they felt like the Malaysians must serve them and assimilate to their own ways.
This kind of literature also often gives a warning, explicit or indirect, to uphold Victorian morals and values and avoid assimilation into the native culture: "...a cautionary message to white men and women of the very real danger of 'going native' in Malaysia" (Nuraishah Ahmad, 2014). Can you find these two characteristics in The Force of Circumstance? Are they obvious or subtle? What do you think Maugham's message is?
From reading this short story, it has become very clear that the author is trying to convey a message stating that, as a white man/woman it is very hard to live in a country like Malaysia if you do not adapt to the way life of this country. There are quite a lot of characteristics in The Force of Circumstance, and they are all quite obvious. It also seems like upholding Victorion morals and values are of importance, look at Doris, for example, decorating the house to fit Victorian standards.
Zenab Zamil
0909703
VENS3C
We dive straight into the characteristics, W Somerset portrays the colony as a lively and colourful jungle, a strange place in Doris' eyes. She even speaks of the language as "Something I couldnt understand even if she tried" worst part is, that she doesn't at all until a MAlay woman makes a fuss upon their territory.
She tells Guy that and hears that the woman is apparently the one her husband has slept with and three hildren with. "Those are your sons" to which Guy repies tht he doesnt care for them nor the woman much, but that he might've had the children been white.
Doris starts distancing herself from her husband and then ends up going home. This, in the entirity of the story, is the as subtle as a hand grenade warning that white people shouldn't go 'native'.
Yesse
VENS3C
For starters, the vast nature is clearly and beautifully described in some passages, especially the part where Doris describes herself arriving. This in contrast to the stiff and Victorian home they have, with even a tennis court. The Author isn’t subtle about it.
Furthermore I think that the Victorian morals are pretty apparent in the story.
For example, Doris doesn’t want to leave Guy, even though she’s physically is repulsed by him, because “he did nothing wrong”. He had built a life and had children with another woman, what in our day and age is a huge betrayal of your loved one, but she accepts that.
The story is a warning not to mingle with the natives, but sees it more as a necessary evil. It is frowned upon, but everybody does it. It also shows the lack of empathy and ethical standards towards the locals. The women that keep the English men company are seen as a service. Even though they sort of build a life together, even have children as soon as the man wants it to stop he sends her back to the village with some money to pay her off, as if nothing ever happened. This again is a sign of the colonial way of thinking about natives.
So in the end there is kind of a moral to the story, although the ridiculous romanticising of Doris’ love for Guy and his feelings for her moved me more. This really sucked me in, so far that in the end I feld really sorry for both of them and I didn’t want them to split up.
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