Mr Know-All – Literary Analysis

Setting

Mr Know-All takes place on a passenger ship sailing from San Francisco to Yokohama, shortly after the end of the First World War. The importance of the ship is that it is a closed environment. On land the narrator could have easily avoided Mr Kelada. On a ship, this would be impossible. The significance of World War One is twofold:

First, it explains why the narrator and Mr Kelada had to share a cabin: The war had just finished and the passenger traffic in the ocean going liners was heavy. Accommodation was very hard to get and you had to put up with whatever the agents chose to offer you. You could not hope for a cabin to yourself and I was thankful to be given one in which there were only two berths. The suggestion here is that the narrator would have preferred a single cabin, but was forced to share with someone that he did not know.
Second, it may help to explain the narrator’s use of the word Levantine in describing Mr Kelada. The term, which means “Eastern Mediterranean” in French, was originally a positive one used to refer to the (mostly French and Italian) Christian Europeans who settled in the old Ottoman Empire to conduct trade. To understand why the narrator may have viewed the term in a negative context, read our comments under “Themes” below.

Point of View and Tone

The story is a narrative told in the first person. A very important part of reading a story like this is trying to understand the narrator’s position in relation to the story being told as quickly as is possible. In Mr Know-All, the whole meaning will be lost if the reader fails to see the narrator’s prejudice about Mr Kelada’s ethnic origins from the very first paragraph. The language (tone) of the story is formal and many of the descriptions of what it means to be British are sarcastic.

Themes

The major theme of the story is prejudice. From the very first paragraph, the narrator expresses his negative feelings about the man with whom he must share a cabin on the ship. Later, we learn that he dislikes Mr Kelada’s name, his belongings, his appearance, his manners and even his pride in being British.

Another of our stories, Shooting an Elephant, deals with prejudice due to differences in class. In Mr Know-All, the prejudice has nothing to do with class. The narrator and Kelada are sharing a cabin in the same passenger class, and both are given the honor of sitting at the “doctor’s table” at dinner.

As the story develops, the narrator changes from referring to Kelada by name to using the term Levantine. When Britain took over part of the Levant at the end of the First World War, some in the new government used the word “Levantine” as an insult to local people of mixed Arab and European blood. This suggests that the narrator’s prejudice against Mr Kelada is an example of racism, which is supported by the fact that he also refers to Kelada’s oriental smile and possible birth in Alexandria or Beirut.

A suggestion I have seen on another website is that Maugham could actually be describing religious prejudice. At the time the story was written, the word Levant was apparently a “code word” used to refer to people who were Jewish. Kelada’s great pride, forceful personality, and description as being dark-skinned, with a fleshy, hooked nose all fit with what may have been the then popular stereotype of a successful Jewish businessman.

There are two possible minor themes in the story, which may or may not have been in Maugham’s mind as he wrote. These are:

Jealousy: The narrator’s comments about the number of travel stickers on Kelada’s suitcases, the size of his wardrobe trunk, his expensive toiletries and monogramed brush, and even his apparent popularity with other passengers suggest that the narrator may be jealous because Kelada appears to be more wealthy and/or sophisticated than he is.
Snobbery: The narrator was clearly disappointed about not being able to get a single cabin. This, coupled with the way he puts other characters down in the story, may indicate that he is a snob. He labels the doctor as lazy for not joining in Mr Ramsay’s arguments with Mr Kelada over dinner, where it was clearly the doctor’s job to try to keep everyone happy at his table. Later, he describes Mr Ramsay as a great heavy fellow from the Middle West, with loose fat under a tight skin, (who) bulged out of his ready-made clothes, and dismisses Mrs Ramsay as a very pretty little thing, with pleasant manners and a sense of humor… (who) knew how to wear her clothes.

Characters and Conflicts

The Protagonist: The Narrator. Although the narrator’s main problems are with Mr Kelada, he is at times critical of each of the other characters with the notable exception of Mrs Ramsay. It is only in the last sentence that we see a grudging respect develop towards Mr Kelada for his actions over Mrs Ramsay’s necklace, but one wonders how long this will last.
The Antagonist: Mr Kelada. Kelada is a successful, widely-traveled businessman. It is therefore difficult to believe that he does not understand the normal conventions of polite “British” behavior. His ship-board informality can perhaps be put down to trying a little too hard to be liked and accepted socially by other passengers.
Minor Characters: Mr and Mrs Ramsay, the doctor.
Internal Conflicts: 1. Mr Kelada’s struggle with himself in not telling the true value of Mrs Ramsay’s pearls. 2. The Narrator’s struggle with himself in putting aside his prejudices about Mr Kelada.
External Conflicts: 1. The Narrator’s dislike for Mr Kelada. (Man vs. Man) 2. Mr Ramsay’s arguments with Mr Kelada at the doctor’s table. (Man vs. Man) 3. Mr Kelada pushing himself to be accepted by the passengers. (Man vs Society) 4. The debate over cultured pearls. (Man vs. Nature)

Dramatic Structure and Moods

Exposition: The Narrator’s problems with Mr Kelada and the daily arguments between Mr Kelada and Mr Ramsay over dinner are explained. Mood: Calm and at times Humorous
Rising Action: Mr Kelada and Mr Ramsay have a heated argument about cultured pearls. At last something that Ramsay said stung him (Mr Kelada), for he thumped the table and shouted. Mood: Tense
Climax: Mr Kelada examines Mrs Ramsay’s pearls and declares that they are not real. She was staring at him with wide and terrified eyes. They held a desperate appeal; it was so clear that I wondered why her husband did not see it. …Mr Kelada stopped with his mouth open. He flushed deeply. You could almost see the effort he was making over himself. “I was mistaken,” he said. Mood: Suspenseful
Falling Action: Other passengers make fun of Mr Kelada. The story spread over the ship as stories do, and he had to put up with a good deal of chaff that evening. It was a fine joke that Mr. Know-All had been caught out. Mood: Amused
Denouement: The truth comes out and the narrator changes his opinion of Mr Kelada. At that moment I did not entirely dislike Mr. Kelada. Mood: Enlightened

Examples of Literary Techniques

Hyperbole: 1. Tell them you’ve got a pal who’s got all the liquor in the world. 2. He was everywhere and always. 3. They’ll never be able to get a cultured pearl that an expert like me can’t tell with half an eye.
Irony: 1. Mr Kelada is forced to say that he was wrong about the pearls, when in fact pearls are the one thing he could truly be said to “know all” about. (Situational) 2. Kelada, who is originally presented as a pushy person concerned mainly with appearances, turns out to be sensitive, considerate and noble. Mrs Ramsay, who is described as modest and possessing a quiet distinction, turns out to be a shallow, selfish adulteress. (Situational) 3. The name Mr Know-All, given to Kelada by the people on the ship. (Sarcasm)
Metaphor: Mr Kelada was born under a bluer sky than is generally seen in England.
Oxymoron: 1. …the best hated man in the ship. 2. Ramsay smiled grimly. 3. …a perfect damn fool.
Personification: 1. …my heart sank. (also an idiom) 2. …a row of flashing teeth. 3. It shone in her like a flower on a coat. It is interesting to consider here just what the “it” is. Most comments I have read say that it refers to “modesty”, because this what the narrator suggests. However, a first person narrator does not necessarily see things as they really are. Rather than modesty, I think it more likely that what really shone in Mrs Ramsay was a quiet feeling of self-assurance that came from knowing she had seduced or been seduced by a millionaire and owned a pearl necklace which in today’s terms would be worth well over $250,000.
Simile: …like a flower on a coat.
Symbolism: 1. The most important symbol in the story is pearls, which represent the idea that appearances can be deceptive. On the outside, all pearls look the same. Some (natural pearls) are pure on the inside, while others (cultured pearls) are not. You don’t know which is which until you examine them further. 2. Another symbol is mentioned in the first paragraph: It (Mr Kelada’s name) suggested closed portholes and the night air rigidly excluded. This refers to the uncomfortable atmosphere and limited conversation that the narrator believes will exist in their shared cabin during the voyage.