The Lotus Eater

"The Lotus Eater" is a short story written by Somerset Maugham in 1945.

Plot

It is set in 1913 and the story begins when the narrator visits a friend on the Island of Capri in Italy. There, he is introduced to the character of Thomas Wilson, who came to the island for a holiday 16 years ago. Since then, Wilson had given up his job in London as a bank manager to live a life of simplicity and enjoyment in a small cottage in Capri. Since he had saved just enough money to purchase an annuity that would last exactly 25 years, he had also decided to commit suicide once his money runs out. The narrator of the story is stunned by such a bold decision and he decides to have a chat with Wilson. During their conversation over dinner, the narrator discovers that Wilson is so enchanted with life on Capri. What seems a dull life to the narrator is but pure pleasure to Wilson. The narrator then leaves Capri and nearly forgets of his encounter with Wilson until 13 years later, when he re-visits his friend on Capri.

It is during this visit that the narrator is told of how Wilson exhausted all his resources when he had reached 60 and then tried to continue his life on Capri by borrowing small sums of money. He, however, did not use this money to pay the rent but used it to sustain his carefree life. He continued living on the goodwill of the landlord who owned his cottage and did so for a year. By then, the landlord demanded that he pay the rent. In desperation, Wilson shut himself in his cottage and lit a charcoal fire in an attempt to kill himself. He survived the fire but became insane. The landlord was kind enough to let Wilson live in their shed and have him feed the animals. Wilson lived this miserable life for 6 years before he finally died, lying on the ground overlooking the beautiful Bay of Naples which he so loved.

Analysis

The irony in this story is that Wilson traded a life of boring routine in London for an equally mundane life in Capri. However, this irony is only on the part of everyone else except Thomas Wilson, for he enjoyed his life on Capri thoroughly. What is definitely sad, is that he lived a wonderful 25 years of pleasure and ended the last 6 living like a wild animal. Somerset's stories are often rich with ironies, as well as other subtle lessons about human nature. Wilson's choice to leave his London life behind in exchange for a life of leisure on Capri is at once awesome as well as tragic. It is awesome because it resonates with every young traveler who has gone abroad and marvelled at the comparison between some wonderful new place and the routine dullness of his familiar life at home but it is also tragic because he did not provide himself with enough funds to live well into his natural time of death. In this, Somerset reveals the downfall of making such hasty decisions such as the one Wilson made. If Wilson had carefully planned his retirement from his banking job, saving enough money in the process, the last 6 years of his miserable life might well have been avoided.