The Kite, written by Somerset Maugham, is one of the greatest short stories of all time, having significance in the field of literature as well as human psychology. It follows the story of a man, Herbert, who lived with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Sunbury. Since Herbert was a child, kite flying was a major part of their lives and was his only activity except for studies. He fell in love with a woman, Betty, but his mother did not like her.
They still got married,
and Betty forced Herbert to leave the kite flying, so he started flying it in
secret. Betty saw him and forced him out of the house. He came to live with his
parents again and did not go to his wife. Betty, in her anger, smashed his
kite, and Herbert refused to pay her any financial support, which landed
him in prison.
The Kite is considered a story of freedom and human life. A kite is
allowed to soar far into the skies even if it is bound to the tether. It is
constantly under the control of a human and falls if its tether breaks. This
also represents how human beings form emotional connections with the people
around them and represents people as social beings. A kite represents the
connections in relationships and friendships that let a person achieve great
heights but also not let them loose.
The connection between people is also portrayed in The Kite, where the kite is symbolic of relationships. Asking for a kite was the first desire Herbert ever showed to his parents when he was a child. This shows that as people get older, they develop needs and wants.
The characters of Mrs. Sunbury, Herbert, and Betty are closely related to the symbol of the kite. As Herbert gets older, he wants the freedom to live in the world while making his own choices and choosing his own ways. He thus closely relates to the freedom a kite shows while soaring high in the skies. But a kite has a tether that connects it to the people on the ground, which happened with Herbert. In his case, he was influenced by his mother all his life and idealized her.
Through Mrs. Sunbury’s character, Maugham showed the control of
a kite flying in freedom, meaning Herbert's wishes and decisions. This can have
another meaning as well that societal norms bind people, and even if they make
their own decisions and live a life of their choosing, they still have to obey
the values and standards of a society. In Herbert’s case, he lived under his
mother’s control as she gave him limited access to the outside world and did
not let him make any friends.
Betty, Herbert’s wife, was a new character who influenced his life in different stages. Herbert fell in love with her and married her despite his mother wishing otherwise. Mrs. Sunbury did not consider her to be of her son’s standards, but Herbert went through with his decision. Betty forced him to leave his parents and live in a separate house with her; she was an obstacle in his relationship with his parents. She left her job after the marriage, which compelled Herbert to support her in every way. But her control extended far beyond that; she also forbade him to fly kites, which had remained a significant part of his life.
When Herbert returns to his parents and refuses
to come back to Betty, she smashes his new kite, which is symbolic in a few
ways. Firstly, it represents how Betty tried to take away his “freedom”, which
is symbolized by the kite. Destroying the kite also represents how Betty
might have wanted to sever Herbert’s connection with his mother and had wanted
him to remain only with her.
Through the scenarios mentioned above, Somerset Maugham
represented freedom, social values, emotional connections, and relationships
with a thing as small and seemingly insignificant as a kite.
This article is written by Tayyaba Noor, one of the contributors
at the School of Literature.
