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Of Human Bondage Essay

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Kristina Griffiths Ms. Faris Honors English IV 18/29 May 2015 A Dragging Feeling Every human has their own unique form of bondage from which they must break free. In Of Human Bondage, William Maugham uses main protagonist, Philip Carey, as a mortal character that serves as a thin line of difference between the world within the novel and one that Maugham himself lived in. Both Philip and Maugham serve as a parallel to each other, each portrayed with their own form of bondage tied to their humanity. From the analytical standpoint of a biographical criticism, the novel serves as a reflection of Maugham’s own life experiences, in which Philip struggles with a physical deformity over the course of his lifetime, just as Maugham struggles with his sexual identity. The comparison between Philip and Mr. Carey, his uncle, is also a paper-thin screen between Maugham and his own uncle after being orphaned at a young age on both parts. All of their struggles reflecting each other like humanities mirror, only to come to a conclusion that allows a feeling of clarity that brings them to a happier resolution about their life as a whole. Philip and Mr. Carey are the two characters that held the most resemblance to Maugham’s real life in selfness and to that of his own uncle. William Maugham was born in France, birthed as an Aquarius on January 29th, 1874 and the younger to his brother Viscount Maugham. (The Famous People) He had a Mother and Father by the names of Edith Marry (née

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