The Yellow Streak, a Story by Somerset Maugham
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- Опубликовано: 28 июн 2024
- "The Yellow Streak" follows the journey of two white men, Izzart and Campion, navigating the rivers of Borneo. Izzart, an experienced traveler in the region, and Campion, a mining engineer, are weary after weeks of travel and look forward to the comforts of civilization. As they traverse the lush, tropical river, their prahu encounters the formidable tidal wave known as the Bore. The boat capsizes, and in the ensuing struggle for survival, Izzart's .....
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A classic example of Maugham's writing . Thank you .
One of his best short stories. Rich in action, theme and location. I'm getting used to Maugham's often abrupt and ambiguous endings that require me to reconsider what I have just heard.
Thank you for your gift of making these wonderful stories auditorily. Perfect for folks who can't sit down to read.🙌👍
*Spoilers**
I begin with caveats.
Note: This short story touches on colonialization and racial issues. I limit this essay to an analysis of this short story only. I'm not taking any side in political, geopolitical, or racial controversies.
Note: This short story references EurAsia. In the context of this story that refers to all the combined people groups from the vassal states of Great Britian.
Note: EurAsia is a controversy of its own and one that is not allowed to be discussed in American academia, as academia insists that there is no such thing as EurAsia (or EurArabia and other such controversies). However, it is a part of this story, therefore, I will use that term.
Note: Suzerain means the dominant power. Vassalage refers to tributary state, aka vassal states. Suzerainty controls foreign policy, while the vassals exercise internal autonomy. Both the suzerain and the vassalage have limited powers; and limitation is the primary difference between sovereignty and suzerainty; and independence and vassalage.
Note: The bore refers to the tidal bore, meaning tidal wave - a wall of water caused by the moon.
The moral of the story was that we overlook the faults of our companions in the hope that they will overlook our flaws when it's our turn to fall short of glory. The theme of the story was the difficulty of feeling like an accepted member of society.
This was a story about cowardice. The Yellow Streak was a symbol of cowardice. This was not a story about race or geopolitics. The EurAsians were the brave men who rescued Campion. Men are often required to risk their lives in order to earn a living. In this story the men were earning their living in a stunningly beautiful world that was always willing to kill them. Men, therefore, place a high value on bravery. Bravery in themselves and bravery in other men. It 'separates the men from the boys.' Izzart was frequently having to fight the childlike urge to cry.
Izzart was a half-cast (bi-racial), and that overshadowed his life. He and Campion had been through a lot together, yet Izzart dwells on his inability to fully bond with his British companion, Campion. Together they visit Hutchinson, who had a child by a native girl. Hutchinson's show of fatherly affection for his mixed-race child, does not make Izzart feel more comfortable. It starts Izzart on an internal dialogue about his own difficulties in feeling accepted. Izzart thinks to himself, "They've got no right to have them." Them being mixed-race children who have a foot in two worlds and can never feel they are fully accepted by either. As Izzart continued to ponder his own sense of 'other-ness.' He wondered what difference that one-drop of native blood made. At timestamp 19:57 he says that difference was " ... the expected failure at the critical moment." Izzart then wondered if natives didn't fail because they were expected to fail.
A variety of warnings about the bore wave were given. Izzart drinks far more than he should have given the potential danger that they may encounter. Grogginess caused by drunkenness fogs Izzart. He delays their start for far too long, which he later chides himself for. Nevertheless, even as Campion alerts Izzart to the coming bore wave, Izzart was nonchalant about the danger. He incongruously expected that he could count on native prisoners that were compelled to crew the boat to safely manage any hazard from the bore wave. The bore wave capsizes the boat and puts all in peril of their life. Izzart hears his friend's desperate calls for help, but he chooses to save himself. Izzart is dismayed by Campion's rescue by natives. He was tormented by thoughts of how to mitigate his cowardice during the retelling of a life-and-death crisis. Although Campion had been careful in all his retellings of their capsizing in the bore, to only what happened and what he knew of, and he did not editorialize or judge the actions or possible failings of others. Izzart wishes his friend had died so that he could tell a heroic version of what happened without fear of being judged a coward or called a liar. It was an accepted axiom that men do not seek safety when the lives of others were in danger. Izzart felt ashamed. Although, they had a victory - they survived the bore, some victories don't leave one feeling victorious. Izzart felt sensitive about his shortcoming. He felt that he should've lived up to a higher standard of behavior during a crisis. The story ends with Izzart telling Campion of his cowardice for not doing more to save his companion. Campion understands Izzart's concern of being labeled a coward. He generously asks Izzart to not let others know how afraid he, Campion, had felt during that crisis. "When you tell the story of our upset," Campion says, "I should be grateful if you wouldn't make out that I had behaved badly. I wouldn't want the fellows here to think that I'd lost my nerve." "Why should I do that?" asked Izzart. "The yellow streak," replied Campion.
The truth is that at any time we could be the one who needs a friend to 'cover' for our own less-than-stellar behavior. We forgive people when they let us down, partly because we are painfully aware of our own short-comings, and that it'll be no time at all before we are the one who was at fault. And also because that's what friends do -- they forgive each other.
keep 'rm comin'
When you are drowning sometimes the only thing you can do is save yourself. I think of the movie Ordinary People and see a similar theme although in a very different setting. How we cope psychologically with our failings or perceived shortcomings as humans changes the focus from cowardice to something else.
I believe that Maugham was employing his usual cryptic analysis of character-to show us, once again, that “character is destiny”…In this case, a Eurasian man (Izzert) who, while believing himself to be both the equal of his White comrades, and far superior to the “natives” he works with, is shown to be the inferior of both at the critical moment….
Through his inner dialogues, we get to know a vain, bitter, small-minded & insecure man-one who places great emphasis on the superficial, yet little on character; one so lacking in it that he wishes another man’s death, rather than that the truth about his actions be made known….Most of his energies are consumed in “passing” as White, thus everything is superficiality with Izzert-smoke & mirrors…
According to Maugham’s 19th-Century worldview, Izzert possesses neither the character nor the values to merit inclusion in either “club” - neither the ethics of the strict, British public school code, nor the “simpler” values of the Malays : duty and bravery….….(In other words, Izzert is a failure in both worlds)….
Mainly 20th century.
@@user-ev4ie2wx7k ….Although he only spent the first 25 yrs of his life in the 19th Century, Maugham’s friends & peers repeatedly emphasized that his worldview was Victorian …
@Shineon83 Maugham was above obvious racism, and well aware of racial attitudes of his time. The Victorians take a lot of abuse from those who are superficial, unhistorical and intellectually lazy. Maugham's work shows this repeatedly. If you want an eye-opener of what we might take as modern viewpoints of human nature to be found early in the Nineteenth century, read the journal notes of Charles Darwin and Dana's "Two Years Before the Mast". A lot of supposed prejudice is actually sourced in greed and orthodoxy.
The guilty conscience and the price we pay. Reminded me of Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment. Brilliant story by Maugham, he understood human nature.
Beautifully told story with a happy ending, a delight, thank you!
🇬🇧 A powerful, but subtle story.
Classic Maugham
Does anyone know the name of the actor narrating these short stories?
As above. AI.
His name is “artificial intelligence “
AI for short
@@Riklott1111”AI” is technical Latin for “spooky voices.”
🇬🇧 Simon S.... can't quite remember the name at the moment, + AI
Simon Stanhope. He has his own non AI channel
@BitesizedAudio. Recomended
Thank you🫡🩰
The internal monologue of the character is a wonderful ability of Maugham's writing. I wonder if it will diminish in the multiple viewpoint/ sourcing/ editing in these modern days of storytelling.
Listening 14 July 2024
To many adds
Lets see what you upload then without ads
Pay for premium or quit whining
Just add an adblocker extension to your browser, duh.
Ask for your money back. Oh wait! It’s free…
I really did ruin the story being interrupted so many times!