The Razor's Edge

W. Somerset Maugham

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1944

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

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

Symbols & Motifs

Elevation and Enlightenment

The idea of elevation, both a symbol and motif, appears each time Larry experiences oneness with something greater than himself—first when he is high above the clouds in his plane, then in his transcendent experience on the mountaintop where he feels all his questions to be answered. Being high above the world represents renunciation, which the reader is told is necessary for enlightenment and true happiness. Height might not be necessary for everyone. Larry’s need for distance from the earth may be a function of his inability to fully understand other people. Only in the heights does his sense of being an outsider disappear.

The Honeymoon in Greece

Larry’s idea of a honeymoon in Greece symbolizes the engagement with the world that he repeatedly fails to achieve. He has always wanted to go there but never finds the opportunity on his own. When Larry proposes to Isabel, he suggests they might spend their honeymoon in Greece. Then, when he announces that he and Sophie are to be married, he again plans their honeymoon there. Had either marriage taken place, it would have led him in a different direction—an entirely different part of the world—from the one he ultimately takes. Larry never expresses regret at not seeing Greece, but still, he has missed an experience he clearly dreamed of. It suggests that despite the peace and satisfaction he finds in enlightenment, he has nevertheless missed other experiences that might have given him equal happiness.

Larry as a Christ Figure

Pursuing the theme of enlightenment, the motif of Larry as a Christ figure recurs in several places throughout the novel. When telling Isabel what kind of work he would like to do, he mentions an interest in carpentry. Like Jesus, Larry receives enlightenment on a mountaintop (Matthew 17:2). Later, when Larry prepares to sacrifice himself for Sophie’s salvation, Maugham recounts to Isabel his version of the temptation story when Jesus falls to the temptation of saving the world. Larry, too, has been wandering in the wilderness and returns with the power of healing, and like the Jesus in Maugham’s version, Larry falls to the temptation of saving Sophie. Sophie even describes herself as having been Mary Magdalene with Larry in the role of Jesus Christ. In the end, Larry winds up traveling his homeland—teaching and healing whoever is drawn to him.