Mr Kelada With A Reputation example essay topic

354 words
An important scene in 'Mr. Know-It-All' by Somerset Maugham is the returning of the hundred dollar bill. Mr. Kelada with a reputation of being a 'know all' gets not a heated argument on whether the pearl necklace worn by Mrs. Ramsay, another passenger on the ship, is real of fake. Being an expert in the field, he bets a hundred dollars that the necklace is infact genuine and very expensive. With the words "they " ll never be able to get a culture pearl that an expert like me can't tell with half an eye". he is about to triumphantly announce he is right when his perceptiveness senses Mrs. Ramsay's uncomfortable and desparate glances. he ultimately sacrifices his 'know all' image when he realises that a hundred dollars and a reputation is less important than a marriage. The returning of the money is a small act but highly significant as it proves us the theory of Mr. Kelada's that Mrs. Ramsay was not as modest as "a flower on a coat" is correct as she had had an affair.

This shows us just how first impressions are insufficient enough to form a judgment on a character such as Mr. Kelada or even Mrs. Ramsey. First impressions do not determine a character's personality and we are taught not to be biased. We also learn that the narrator is a shallow judge of character and he jumps to hasty conclusions because of his rejudiced views. he sees Mr. Kelada as "one of King George's many strange subjects" and secretly believes that "Mr. Kelada was born under bluer sky than is seen generally in England". Mrs. Ramsey is not a faithful or modest person she is seen to be. She has an aff iar while Mr. Ramsay is away and receives a genuine pearl necklace as a gift. She then lies to her husband that it is a cheap imitation.

The even is important beacuse of the reality of character it brings us and the fact that Mr. Kelada is really a 'know all' after all.