2. Plan of presentation
• short summery and genre of the story
• Characterize main characters
• Main idea of the story
• What was the purpose
• Creative device with examples
3. Little about the writer
• William Somerset Maugham is a 20th century short story writer,
novelist and playwright. He wrote the story ‘Mr. Know All’ in the year
1966. The story is a brilliant read and concentrates of racial prejudice
and stereotypes. It also tells people that looks can be deceiving,
which is why we should not jump on to make opinions about people.
On the other hand, the other side of the coin is that one should make
impressive first impressions instead of the ones that can make people
around you uncomfortable.
4. summery
All is a story with a moral lesson. The subject
is simple. A rich British merchant of Oriental
origin, called Mr. Kelada, meets a group of
Westerners on a ship sailing across the
Pacific Ocean. His cabin-mate, a British
citizen who is the Nameless narrator
of the story, dislikes Mr. Kelada even before
he sees him. However, at the end of the
story Mr. Kelada, the Levantine jeweller,
proves to be a real gentleman when he
sacrifices his own pride and reputation to
save an American lady’s marriage. As a
result, he earns the respect of the narrator.
5. Main plot and sub-plot
• Mr. Max Kelada: He is the central character in the story, known for his
confidence and know-it-all attitude.
• The Narrator: The unnamed narrator serves as the storyteller and
observer of the events that unfold during the voyage.
• Mrs. Ramsay: A fellow passenger on the ship who becomes a key
figure in the story due to her involvement in a bet concerning Mr.
Kelada.
• Mr. Ramsay: An overconfident and argumentative person who is
travelling with his wife to Japan. He is the only person on the ship
who matches the antics of Mr. Keleda
6. The narrator
the narrator was being racist
towards him, because he had a
slightly black skin then any of these
people in the ship, as he says that
everyone hated him on the ship, it
doesn’t means they disliked him
only for his color though, but it was
a start of it. Then, due to the fact
that, he had every answer of every
question, he never backed down
and stood his ground, he loved to
chat a lot and actually was very
skilled, especially with rare and
beautiful rocks, he was friendly and
almost too nice as well
7. Mr. Kelada
Hi is kind young gentleman, who is
kind of annoying our main
character, who is kind of annoying
our main character, the narrator,
didn’t even met this man and he
already doesn’t like him, at first a
reader, might think that it is
because, he sticks his nose
everyone’s business or perhaps it is
due to the fact that he has a more
of a dark color skin then others.
8. Mr. Ramsay
Mr. Ramsay was in the American
Consular Service and was stationed
at Kobe. He was a great fellow from
the Middle West, with loose fat
under a tight skin. If one could
describe Mr. Ramsay they would
say, that he is a kind of a man who
thinks that nobody would dare go
against him at all, he thinks highly
of himself, a little bit arrogant but
knows how to keep a conversation.
9. Mrs. Ramsay
Mrs. Ramsay, as narrator describes
her is a pretty little thing, with
pleasant manners and a sense of
humor. She knows how to dress up
simply, but at the same time know
how to wear her clothes, due to the
fact that, even though protagonist
doesn’t want to stare at her, he says
that something about Mrs. Ramsay
drives him in and he states that she
possess some qualities that women
nowadays doesn’t have. It is
implies, that she, indeed, has a
lover, beside her husband.
10. The content theme in the story and symbolic
representation
• Prejudice- unreasonable feelings, opinions, or attitudes, especially of a
hostile nature, regarding a racial, religious, or national group.
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. He dislikes Mr. Kelada’s name, his
belongings, his appearance, his manners and even his pride in being
British. When the narrator says that there are too many labels on Mr.
Kelada's luggage it has a double meaning: First, Mr. Kelada travels a lot so
there are labels from different ports on his suitcases. Second, people put
labels on him so they are prejudiced and they have stereotypes about him.
11. • Racism the belief that some people are superior and others are
inferior based on racial, religious or national group. As the story
develops, the narrator changes from referring to Mr. Kelada by name,
to us in the term “Levantine", which is an insult. 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.
• Stereotype- a widely held, but fixed and oversimplified image or idea,
of a particular type of person
12. Example from the text
• The closed portholes – These represent the close-mindedness of the
narrator towards people from other societies.
• The cabin – On a boat people live in confined quarters The small
living area represents the closed (small) mindedness that our narrator
has when it comes to people of different backgrounds from his.
• The labels on the suitcases – While the labels on Mr. Kelada’s
suitcases tell us that he travels a lot, the labels also represent the
labels, that prejudiced people place on other people.
13. • A lack of a name for the narrator – The author does not name the
narrator for a
• purpose: the racist narrator can be any one of us. We may all be guilty
of judging people by stereotypes and generalizations rather than
examining their true character and getting to know them as
individuals. Thus, the moral lesson of the story is to avoid stereotypes
and prejudices and to judge people as individuals
14. The symbol of the story
• The most important symbol in the story is the pearls
• The message of the story is that looks can be deceiving and
misleading. We mustn’t judge people according to stereotypes and
preconceived prejudices. Maugham urges the readers to have open
minds and to be willing to change their minds about preconceived
notions. This story exhibits the fact that first impressions can be
misleading and that first appearances are often wrong. In other
words, Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover.
15. Creative device
• Irony
First, Mr. Kelada is forced to say that he is wrong about the pearls,
when in fact pearls are the one thing he can truly be said to “know all”
about. Second, Mr. Kelada, who is originally presented as a pushy
person, concerned mainly with appearances, turns out to be sensitive,
considerate and noble. However, Mrs. Ramsay, who is described as
modest and possessing a quiet distinction, turns out to be an unfaithful
wife.
16. • Dialogue-
"Do you mind just throwing them out of the porthole?"
I did as he asked, and then I looked at him with a smile.
"No one likes being made to look a perfect damned fool," he said.
"Were the pearls real?"
"If I had a pretty little wife I shouldn't let her spend a year in New York
while I stayed at Kobe," said he.
• A metaphor- "at the end, it turns out the Mr. Kelada is the real pearl"
• "he decide to forsake his need to save Mrs. Ramsay"
• "He has a kind heart "
