Salvatore- ISC workbook solutions: aptness of the title

Echoes


Salvatore


Question: How apt is the title of the story ‘Salvatore’?


Answer : The title of the story ‘Salvatore’ by W. Somerset Maugham is direct and apt. The title suggests us that the story is all about Salvatore, who is the main protagonist of the story. Salvatore is an Italian name which means ‘saviour’, which literally means of someone who is kind, generous and filled with goodness. The protagonist of the story, a humble fisherman, had all these qualities to be called ‘Salvatore’.



      Maugham’s  ‘Salvatore‘ is a short story which is actually a biographical account of a common fisherman from an Italian island, in a chronological order.

    The story is about the boyhood of Salvatore as a fifteen years old boy who passed his days lying about in the beach. It is about his youth when he fell in love with a young girl and was engaged to her. Then the story goes on to tell us how homesick he was during his service on foreign lands, how much he wanted to come back, how he fell ill and finally reached home, disqualified to work any longer due to rheumatism. The story further  tells about his disappointment in love when he cannot marry his fiancee and left with no option but to marry another woman and settled down in life.

     The story tells us how Salvatore got over the trouble of his life by his mental strength, calm and accepting attitude and finally spent his life with his wife and two children.

    The narrator then directly addresses the readers to convey his message about why he told this story. He says that Salvatore is an ordinary fisherman who possessed nothing except a rarest quality of goodness. He is an epitome of goodness, the inner beauty of a man. This makes Salvatore so special in the eyes of the narrator as well as the reader.
        Thus, the title Salvatore is  perfectly suitable.


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