The Razor's Edge

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1944

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Part 1Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapters 1-4 Summary

The author, Somerset Maugham, opens by explaining that he calls this story a novel only because he doesn’t know what else to call it. It ends with neither a death nor a marriage, so it hardly seems like a story at all. He frames it as a personal account of people he knew and interacted with. Maugham informs the reader he is about to tell the story of a young man—Larry Darrell—whom he encountered at intervals over the course of many years. He chooses to tell the story of this particular young man not because Larry is famous—in fact, Larry will likely leave no impression on the world when he is gone from it—but because Maugham is impressed with Larry’s character. There’s something about him, both strong and sweet, that may yet spread a subtle influence like the ripples of a stone dropped in still water.

The first character Maugham introduces is Elliott Templeton. Elliott is a wealthy American living primarily in Paris where he cultivates the company of the wealthy, the titled, and the influential in European society. He is invariably agreeable and entertaining to everyone in the upper social set, and if a wealthy or noble family should be in financial straits, Elliott can be trusted to discreetly buy and resell some of their valuables so that no one need ever hear of it. He is both an inveterate snob and a kind and generous friend to his family and to the people he accepts into his social circle.

Elliott was converted to Catholicism by an abbot who made it sound like a very select gentlemen’s club. He is as generous to the Church as to any of his charities or his friends. His piety and generosity eventually earn him the title of Papal Chamberlain, a mostly honorary position, although it requires him to visit Rome one week out of every year to serve the Pope during official ceremonies.

Part 1, Chapters 5-7 Summary

Maugham happens to be in Chicago when Elliott invites him to meet Elliott’s sister, Louisa Bradley, and his niece, Isabel Bradley. At the Bradleys’ dinner party, he meets Isabel and her fiancé, Larry Darrell. Larry is a quiet young man with a magnetic voice and an aura of sweetness. Isabel jokes that she sat on Larry’s doorstep until he finally agreed to marry her. Maugham also meets Sophie, a “drab girl” who has very little to say. The only other person who stands out is Gray Maturin, the only son of one of the wealthiest men in Chicago. He has been in love with Isabel for years.

After dinner, Isabel and her friends go off to pursue their own plans for the evening, and their elders discuss Larry. He has been offered several jobs since his return from the war and has refused them all. He has a small inherited income, but it’s not enough to support the lifestyle to which Isabel is accustomed. Elliott is convinced that Larry will never be any great success in life; Gray, he says, would be a much better match.

The next morning, Maugham encounters Larry at the library reading Principles of Psychology by the philosopher-psychologist William James. When Maugham asks why he is reading it, Larry replies that he feels himself to be very ignorant. Maugham has the sense that Larry is searching for something he can’t identify. He asks Larry what he wants to do with his life, and Larry replies, “loaf.” Maugham passes the library again several times that day, and each time, he sees Larry there, still reading. He is left feeling that he has met a very interesting and unusual young man.

Part 1, Chapters 8-9 Summary

Maugham goes to lunch with Elliott and Henry Maturin, Gray’s father. Henry mentions that he offered Larry a job in his company and Larry has given him a courteous refusal. Upon returning home from lunch, Elliott reports Larry’s refusal to his sister and Isabel; Isabel determines to talk things out with Larry. When Isabel returns from meeting Larry, she announces that he has decided to spend two years in Paris, and Isabel has promised to wait for him. The next evening, Maugham sees Isabel at a dinner party. He mentions his encounter with Larry at the library. She asks what Larry was reading, and when Maugham tells her, she seems both puzzled and relieved.

Part 1, Chapter 10 Summary

Isabel makes a pretext to speak to Maugham alone. She asks him why he told her about seeing Larry at the library. He says that he thought she might want to know what Larry meant by “loafing.” Deducing that Maugham has already heard part of the story from her uncle Elliott, Isabel gives him an account of her conversation with Larry:

Larry wants to do more with his life than sell bonds. Isabel delivered an impassioned speech telling him he should be proud and happy to be a part of the great American experiment. He agreed that he probably should, but money just doesn’t interest him. When Isabel asked him what he wanted to do, he struggled haltingly to communicate his thoughts. The sight of death in the war has left him wondering if there is any sense or meaning to life.

Maugham interrupts the narrative to tell the reader that while none of Larry’s acquaintances at this point know of the incident that changed Larry, Maugham will learn it many years later: When Larry first entered the air corps, an older airman, Patsy, took him under his wing, and they became close. They were engaged in a dogfight with a couple of German planes, and Patsy shot down the plane that was on Larry’s tail, saving Larry’s life. On returning to base, Larry found that Patsy had been wounded in the fight. Larry arrived on the scene just in time to see him die.

Part 1 Analysis

Despite Maugham’s misgivings as to whether the story qualifies as a novel, Larry’s role takes the shape of a heroic quest with a goal and a resolution; so, while it doesn’t result in a “traditional” ending, the text is clearly a novel. The author’s misgivings, therefore, are those of Somerset Maugham the fictional character distinct from Maugham the actual author. Although Maugham introduces the novel as the story of Larry Darrell’s quest for enlightenment, Larry doesn’t appear in these first four chapters. Instead, Maugham embarks on a character study of Elliott Templeton. Elliott’s primary role in the story seems to embody the opposite of Larry’s worldview. He measures worth—his own and others’—by the visible trappings of money, influence, and title. In contrast the things Larry values are internal. The other characters, in their interpersonal philosophies, each fall somewhere between Larry and Elliott, though most seem nearer to Elliott’s extreme than to Larry’s.

Maugham’s affection for Elliott and tolerance for his faults establishes Maugham as a reliable narrator—one with a balanced and objective view of those he observes. Where other characters’ evaluations of one another may be colored by their emotions and preconceptions, the reader can trust Maugham to provide an accurate interpretation.

Even after the reader is finally introduced to Larry, he takes no action to move the plot in these three chapters. Even his engagement to Isabel was more at her instigation than his. Instead, he creates conflicts for the other characters. They all expect things from him that he is unwilling or unable to give. They try to push him into motion and fit him into their model of the world and society—a model that involves work-based livelihood.

There is an irony in this emphasis on work: Everyone involved in the conversation, including Larry, live off the interest from invested capital. In fact, Elliott’s brokering of valuables for cash-strapped nobility veers dangerously close to trade—a working-class activity, nearly as “bad” as working in a garage as Larry suggests. By 21st-century standards, Larry’s income would be enough to support a family if their material needs were small. Isabel, however, is used to spending much on luxuries. She would never be content to live on Larry’s income.

Gray represents another complication and a potential obstacle to Larry marrying Isabel, and his character further introduces a major theme in the novel: society’s attitudes toward masculinity and work. Gray is everything Isabel’s family wants Larry to be—hard-working, ambitious, and successful. Gary adores Isabel, and she is fond of him. The question raised in these first few chapters is how Larry will be able to meet the requirements of Isabel’s family, but his values seem entirely incompatible with theirs. Eventually, we see Larry’s conflicting desires come face-to-face, but he is still passive. His only action is refusal to act; for example, by declining Henry’s offer of employment. It is Isabel who forces the issue, finally giving him permission to pursue his quest. Isabel possesses great force of will, and perhaps if she had pressed him, he would have surrendered, given in to his doubts, and done what was expected of him.

Part 1 ends with the romantic conflict fully established. Larry is gone on his journey of self-discovery, leaving Isabel behind with Gray, her faithful suitor. Isabel’s and Larry’s differing ambitions and perspectives seem irreconcilable unless one or both characters change dramatically. Neither is likely to adapt to the life the other wants.