Faith

by W. Somerset Maugham

The moon shone fitfully through the clouds on to the weary face of Brother Jasper kneeling in his cell. His hands were fervently clasped, uplifted to the crucifix that hung on the bare wall, and he was praying, praying as he had never prayed before. All through the hours of night, while the monks were sleeping, Brother Jasper had been supplicating his God for light; but in his soul remained a darkness deeper than that of the blackest night. At last he heard the tinkling of the bell that called the monks to prayers, and with a groan lifted himself up. He opened his cell door and went out into the cloister. With down-turned face he walked along till he came to the chapel, and, reaching his seat, sank again heavily to his knees.

28 pages, Paperback

First published March 14, 2013

About the author

William Somerset Maugham was born in Paris in 1874. He spoke French even before he spoke a word of English, a fact to which some critics attribute the purity of his style.

His parents died early and, after an unhappy boyhood, which he recorded poignantly in Of Human Bondage, Maugham became a qualified physician. But writing was his true vocation. For ten years before his first success, he almost literally starved while pouring out novels and plays.

Maugham wrote at a time when experimental modernist literature such as that of William Faulkner, Thomas Mann, James Joyce and Virginia Woolf was gaining increasing popularity and winning critical acclaim. In this context, his plain prose style was criticized as 'such a tissue of clichés' that one's wonder is finally aroused at the writer's ability to assemble so many and at his unfailing inability to put anything in an individual way.

During World War I, Maugham worked for the British Secret Service . He travelled all over the world, and made many visits to America. After World War II, Maugham made his home in south of France and continued to move between England and Nice till his death in 1965.

At the time of Maugham's birth, French law was such that all foreign boys born in France became liable for conscription. Thus, Maugham was born within the Embassy, legally recognized as UK territory.

Reviews

[Katerina Koltsida · Rating 5 out of 5]

Υπεροχο διήγημα.

[Forked Radish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strange that they should have buried him. They could have put him in a tun of alcohol and sold drops of Jasper juice elixir for lots of lucre.

[Bhuwan Chand · Rating 5 out of 5]

Organized religion has little to do with actual spiritual upliftment of human, it is just a business...

That's what is revealed in this short & insightful story by Somerset Maugham - what happens when a Believer finds it hard to believe in the very core of his faith? It is not enough that he is mentally traumatised, the people around torture him even more and yet celebrate him as a martyr once he is gone.

Didn't Jesus also suffered the same fate?

[Andrew Troske · Rating 5 out of 5]

Faith - Two head monks in this story are parables of religion. Old blind head monk - believe - doubt is natural - practicing is what matters good will save you. Young with piercing black eyes - believe because you will be punished - your soul is in eternal damnation. Neither are satisfying. Most like religion for those who lack faith.

[Pamela Fernandes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this author in school. His short stories were part of my curriculum. So when I picked up "Faith," I was looking for an easy short. This short story is a struggle of a priest, who wavers between faith and the lack of it. "Help me, grow my faith," he tells his rector and the rectors says its not up to us, but up to God to increase it. His journey from being shunned and whipped to being revered as a saint, is filled with turmoil. Even in his own mind he can't seem to rest until he has an ecstatic vision. Not a simple, easy story, but that's what makes short stories brilliant.