Mr.Know All Four Levels and Question Answers
Four Levels of Mr. Know All
-W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)
1.LITERAL COMPREHENSION :
The writer was traveling from San Francisco to Yokohama (Japan). He was going to share a cabin with Max Kelada for 14 days. However, he was prepared to dislike Kelada even before he saw him. When he went on board, he found Mr. Kelada's luggage suitcase and trunk (large box). He hated them. He guessed Kelada might be a Patron of Monsieur Coty (a manufacturer of perfumes). While he was playing patience/ solitaire, Kelada arrived and introduced himself. He claimed that he was an Englishman. He was short, sturdy, clean-shaven dark-skinned young man with a fleshy hooked nose and very large lustrous liquid eye. There was nothing like an Englishman in him. So, the writer suspected that he might have born somewhere under blue sky, not in England.
Max Kelada offered him cocktail though such hard drinks were prohibited in the ship. He claimed that he had got all the liquors in the world. He was quite chatty. He discussed about plays, pictures and politics. He was a good mixer. In three days he knew everyone on board. He managed lotteries, conducted auctions, collected money for prizes at sports. He was probably the best hated man. Everyone in the ship ironically called him Mr. Know All but he took it as a compliment. At the mean time, he was the most intolerable man. He knew everything better than anybody else. He wouldn't drop a single subject, however unimportant, until the listener agreed to him.
Traveling by the same ship was an officer named Mr. Ramsay with his wife. He was in the American Consular service at Kobe. His wife Mrs. Ramsay was a very pretty woman with pleasant manners and a good sense of humour. She dressed simply but achieved an effect of quite distinction. One evening, at dinner time, the conversation by chance drifted to the subject of Pearl. Newspapers had written about Japanese cultured Pearl. Max Kelada told them all that was to be known about Pearls. He informed them that he was going to Japan just to look into the Japanese Pearl business. He claimed that
he knew all the best pearls in the world. He pointed to Mrs. Ramsay's chain and said that he could tell its exact price. Since Mr. Ramsay had not bought that chain, he was interested to know its price. Kelada calculated that it surely cost fifteen to thirty dollars depending on where it was bought. But Mr. Ramsay laughed and revealed that Mrs. Ramsay had bought it only at 18 dollars from a departmental store. He bet Kelada 100 dollar. His wife suggested him that he shouldn't be so sure about it so he shouldn't bet on certainty but Mr. Ramsay didn't listen to her. With some hesitation, she let Kelada examine her chain through a magnifying glass. With a smile of triumph, he was about to declare that it was real Pearl, he noticed Mrs. Ramsay's pale face with terrified eyes that seemed to be desperately appealing him not to reveal her secrecy. Mr. Kelada felt sympathy for her. So, he handed a hundred dollar note to Mr. Ramsay without a word.
The story of Mr. Know All's defeat spread over the ship. He had to tolerate many jokes However, next morning, to his great surprise, the writer saw an envelope with a hundred dollar note in the name of Mr. Kelada. It was dropped by Mrs. Ramsay for his generosity. The writer knew that he was not only a decent man to save Mrs. Ramsay's face in front of the people but also a good critical thinker. At that moment, he didn't entirely dislike Mr. Kelada.
2.INTERPRETATION :
The story is trying to depict that individuals should not be judged by their appearance. The dark skinned unattractive Mr. Kelada was a very decent man who saved Mrs. Ramsay's relationship at the cost of his self respect. Rare people can become selfless like him. The story might have suggested us to be critical thinker like Mr. Kelada who understood Mrs. Ramsay's secrecy and helped her to keep it away from her husband. It may also have implied that some people might really know a lot about many things as Max Kelada. He seems a real genius.
3.CRITICAL THINKING :
This is a fine, interesting story which is talking about racial discrimination. However the readers may question how Mr. Kelada could bring hard drinks in the ship if it was prohibited. Why did he dedicate himself despite being hated? Moreover the writer seems to have made a mathematical error at the end of the story. If Mrs. Ramsay's Pearls were genuine, Mr. Kelada won the bet and according to the agreement he should get 100 dollar from Mr. Ramsay. But he got 100 dollar only which was his own.
4.ASSIMILATION : After reading this story I understood the nature of women. They are really curious to know the other's secrecy. I also knew the honest characteristics of black people.They are really good human beings.We should not judge anyone by their physical appearance .
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Question Answers of Mr. Know All
Q.1. Briefly sketch the character of Max Kelada.
ANSWER : As described by the narrator in the short story "Mr. Know All" by W. Somerset Maugham, Mr. Kelada's physical characteristics include a sturdy build dark black skin, a hooked nose, lustrous eyes and curly black hair. He speaks the language fluently and uses elaborate gestures. He is well travelled traveled, well educated, patriotic, overly familiar and over bearing.
Q.2. Why Mr. Kelada was called Mr. Know-All?
ANSWER : Mr Keleda called Mr. know all because he seemed to know everything and was involved in everything. He discussed about plays, pictures, and politics. In three days, he knew everyone on board. He is very talkative. His talkative nature became intolerable to others. So, they ironically called him Mr. Know All.
Q.3. Mr. Know-All presents a conflict between two travelers, Max Kelada and Mr. Ramsay.
i) Describe the conflict.
ii) Explain the reason for this conflict?
iii) How this conflict gets resolved?
iv) Why the narrator of the story at the end decided to change his mind?
ANSWER : Mr. Know All is a story with moral lesson. It is written by W. Somerset Maugham. Mr. Keleda and Mr. Ramsay are the two of the main characters of this story. There are conflict between Max kelada and Mr. Ramsay on the topic Pearl.
i) One evening, at dinner time, the conversation by Chance drifted to the subject of Pearl. Mr. Kelada said that he was a jewel dealer. He knows about the quality of pearl. kelada saw pearl on Mrs. Ramsay's neck and Mr. Kelada said that pearl of Mrs. Ramsay is original and costs between 15 to 30 thousand dollar. But Mr. Ramsay said that it was duplicate and cost 18 dollar. Then they bet for one hundred dollar. This is the conflict between Mr. kelada and Mr. Ramsay.
ii) The pearl of Mrs. Ramsay was real and gifted by her boyfriend. Mrs. Ramsay had not told her husband reality, she had told her husband that this necklace was duplicate. Therefore, Mr. Ramsay was unknown about the Pearl and same thing told to Mr. kelada. Thus the reason for this conflict is that Mr. Ramsay was unknown about the pearl gifted by his wife's boyfriend.
iii) Mr. Kelada was given the Pearl to examine whether it was real or not. When he was about to declare that it was real pearl, he noticed Mrs. Ramsay's Pale face with terrified eyes that seemed to be desperately appealing him not to reveal her secrecy. Mr. Kelada felt sympathy to her. Then Mr. kelada accepted his defeat though pearl was real. He handed a hundred dollar note to Mr. Ramsay. • Thus, this conflict gets resolved.
iv) The narrator of the story at the end decided to change his mind by seeing the good work of Mr. Keleda. He was a good human being. When Mr. Kelada was going to reveal the Pearl that it was real, he felt nervousness of Mrs Ramsay. Then he understood the reality of Mrs. Ramsay. He didn't want to break up the relation between Mr. Ramsay and Mrs. Ramsay. So he accepted his defeat though that pearl was real. He had to tolerate many jokes. The writer knew that he was not only a decent man to save Mrs. Ramsay's face in front of the people but also a good critical thinker. Before or at the beginning of the story the narrator used to hate the Mr. Keleda but at the end he didn't entirely dislike Mr. Keleda.
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