Question #43531
1 Answer
Salvatore is the story of an Italian fisherman who, despitea life filled with misfortune, embodied the quality of being good.
Explanation:
The story is told from the view of the author, Maugham. The first words are "I wonder if I can do it," as Maugham attempts to tell the story of an Italian fisherman named Salvatore.
Salvatore's life was full of dissapointments: From his horrible time spent in the King's Navy, constantly pining for his home island of Ischia, to his chronic rheumatism in China which got him kicked out of the navy. Even when Salvatore comes home, his sweetheart tells him she cannot marry him, because her parents won't allow her to marry someone of such little riches, and because she could never marry someone who could not even work like a man.
Despite all this, Salvatore never complains. He remains as humble as ever, having the rare wisdom to know that these events are outside of his control, and there is no use blaming others for what has happened to him. Maugham ends the short story by saying that he wanted to write a story portraying a
"quality that is the rarest, the most precious and the loveliest that anyone can have... And in case you have not guessed what the quality was, I will tell you. Goodness, just goodness.”
http://theroadtocharacter.com/blog/purpose-i-wonder-if-i-can-do-it/
I hope I helped!
