"Of Human Bondage" by W.
Somerset Maugham "He saw what looked like the truth as by flashes of lightening on a dark, stormy night you might see a mountain range.
He seemed to see that a man need not leave his life to chance, but that his will was powerful; he seemed to see that self-control might be as passionate and as active as the surrender to passion; he seemed to see that the inward life might be as manifold, as varied, as rich with experience, as the life of one who conquered realms and explored unknown lands.
" Of Human Bondage is a very enlightening study of human situation by Somerset Maugham.
The novelist weaves a web of events around the main character, Philip who has lost his parents and is under the guardianship of his uncle, a vicar in a church.
Philip is a complex character who tries his best to know the main driving force of his life but most of the time truth escapes him and he finds himself in a void.
But he is a strong character too.
He never bows down before the forces of chance and destiny rather he fights his way out of the quagmire of his uncle's over religiosity and his own never dying passion for Mildered, the forsaken and pregnant women whose infatuation always haunts him.
Philip travels to Germany, France and then back to London to find his true spirit.
His uncle sends him to London to be a chartered accountant but Philip realizes that he is wasting his time and money in a wild goose chase.
He returns back to Blackstsbles.
He later on decides to be a painter but is told by his Professor that it was useless to be a mediocre.
He leaves painting and returns back to England to join a medical college.
Doctoring was also the profession of his late father.
He has to face and live quite a dejected life of poverty and misery when he is abandon by Mildered for whom he has already broken off with Norah, a writer in love with Philip.
During his house job he comes across a patient named Athelny who invites Philip to dinner.
The Athelnys help Philip during the rainy days.
Philip falls in love with Sally the eldest daughter of Mr.
Athelny.
She is quite a simple girl with a potential to be a good house wife.
The novel also portrays the miserable conditions of the painters, writers and poets who are trying their best to survive in the unfavorable social and economic conditions in the cities of Paris and London.
Of Human Bondage is a novel which the parents must read who try to impose their decisions on their children and force them to take up the profession of their choice.
Philip revolts against his uncle, Christianity and the established values in order to live in accordance with his own passions but his physical deformity and cruel forces of nature make him bow down.
He shows a matchless strength of character and ultimately succeeds in controlling his passions and starts leading a happy conjugal life with Sally.