Larry Darel Analysis

Submitted By Celzey11
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Larry Darrel does not let a horrible experience ruin his life. It is hard to imagine what he must have felt after seeing his best friend die in his place. At first, Larry was extremely distraught: “Then I saw a dead man with my own eyes. The site filled me with shame... I didn’t sleep that night. I cried. I wasn’t frightened for myself, I was indignant; it was the wickedness of it that broke me”(Maugham 252). After personally experiencing the horrors of war, Larry was greatly depressed to the point where he did not want to work anymore. However, Larry did not let this event ruin his life. Instead of simply giving up, he began to think about how his life could be more meaningful. The quest for meaning and understanding took Larry over ten years. He traveled across the world and worked in a number of manual labor jobs, although he had no real need for more money. He felt that hard work helped clear his mind after spending all his time gathering knowledge by reading or studying. Larry was not only concerned with his own life, he was very intent on helping others. Sacrificially,he tried to help Sophie turn her disastrous life around. That endeavor was not successful, but he still desired to enlighten other people. One way Larry tried to do this was by living his life as an example for others to follow, in hopes that “A few people will see that [his] way of life offers happiness and peace, and that they in their turn will teach what they have learned to others”(Maugham 281). Larry did not let the storm of his friend's death prevent him from enjoying the world, instead it helped him become a better person. Like Larry, Gray's story is another example of how "This too shall pass." Following the stock market crash, Gray effectively lost everything because his well-paying job was the most important thing to him. Almost overnight, Gray went from a highly successful businessman to a father barely able to provide for his family or to meet Isabel’s high expectations. He also sank into a deep depression for a time and was was almost completely immobilized. For a while it seemed like he may not even recover. However, when the opportunity to start a new career in financing arose, he was back to his old self, saying: “Gosh, it will be great to get back into harness again, I’m feeling my oats already”(Maugham 306). Some people cannot imagine life beyond the cloud. In the life of Sophie MacDonald, we see this tragic phenomenon. At one point, she was enjoying a perfect life in
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