STARTING POINT AND FUNDAMENTAL PROCESSES. “The starting point for ‘In
Maulmain, Fever-Ward’ is in the first four words of the tale: ‘Flood
time on Salwin River.’ Flood time! Then the flowers are rioting, the
traders are coming in and of course all things else follow.
“Of course, I’ve read Poe’s ‘Descent into the Maelstrom.’ Who has not?
I do not believe that had anything to do with my use of the whirlpool
in the story. The situation had been created; it was inevitable that
the agent of the priesthood of Siva, most subtle of all in the whole
world, would bring the two, or the girl, into the folds of the python.
But where? Surely, the only place for this to happen was in the
profundities of the whirlpool, traditional abode of the mother of all
pythons of that whole region. Hence the necessity for the flood itself
to climax the action, to form the whirlpool at its most tremendous
phase, to take them down. I wasn’t thinking of Poe when I sent them
down into the abyss. I went with them--and brought them out.
Did I know a person who had made a whirlpool descent? Yes; myself. A
fearless swimmer in youth, I often dived under the swirls of falls and
at the tails of rapids, looking up to admire the way the whirls refract
light and to listen to the curious overtones the reverberations of the
water take on, and the singing of the gravel as it churns ceaselessly.
... The superstitions--I call them the religious phases of the
tale--are taken from the real life of those people. I could give you a
map of the region, drawn to scale. And there’s a temple in a certain
Karen town, and in that temple a god with a necklace of human heads,
or was, once in a way. (There never would be, however, a snake, I
think, in a chest in a temple of Siva. Neither do they worship the
snake, _per se_. They look upon it as one of the agencies by which the
Destroyer works and will not even kill a snake that gets into a house
or bed.) When I say Karen town, there are many, for the Karens are a
race and have many towns. Of course, I didn’t specify which one I meant
in the story. And I guess there isn’t such a whale-swallowing whirlpool
in that gorge, but I needed one right there and what a fellow needs in
fiction, he takes.”--_George Gilbert._
PLOT. An excellent construction, the framework reveals only one or two
crudities to the eye of the critic. The author has motivated every
act, which is followed by a logical effect; and in the presentation of
the story, he has chosen the order best calculated to win the reader’s
interest, curiosity, feeling of suspense, and finally of satisfaction.
_Initial Impulse_: Pra Oom Bwhat invites the man who calls himself
Paul Brandon to visit the temples of Karen. (Motivation: He hopes
Brandon will free Nagy N’Yang. Where, in the story, does the reader
learn this motivation?)
_Steps toward Minor Dramatic Climax_: Paul loves Nagy N’Yang; she
will prove to him why it is folly. (Follows the capital temple
scene.) It is clear that she belongs to Siva. She leaves the temple.
Paul learns that she is married, but has been claimed by the priests
on her wedding day. He makes known the conditions on which she will
be freed. The priest threatens: “I can call her back or kill her”....
Paul crushes the cobra, thereby drawing upon himself the curse of the
priest.
_Minor Dramatic Climax_: He takes Nagy N’Yang away. In the first
struggle, Paul has been successful, but has unwittingly incurred the
enmity of Pra Oom Bwhat. This enmity motivates a deferred major
dramatic climax.
_Steps toward Major Dramatic Climax_: Nagy N’Yang tattoos Paul’s head
with the mark of Siva. (What is her reason?) Pra Oom Bwhat arrives.
(How does the author apparently motivate his entry upon the scene?
At what point in the narrative does his real motive become known?)
Nagy N’Yang is afraid. (Does the reader guess why?) The rains come.
Pra Oom Bwhat wears an air of mystery. Ali Beg presents Paul with
a throwing knife. (Thrilling dramatic forecast.) The stream roars;
flood-tide approaches. (A fine harmony, in that the dramatic climax
approaches with it.) Pra Oom Bwhat presents Nagy N’Yang with a gift.
(What is the effect on the reader, who is at the moment ignorant
of the real nature of the gift?) He asks her to walk apart. Paul
supposing he is Nagy N’Yang’s “brother” permits them to go together.
The succeeding steps, not immediately presented, are these: Pra Oom
Bwhat binds Nagy N’Yang to a teak log and leaves her to be swept down
the whirlpool. He returns to kill Paul, but in the struggle, or
_Dramatic Climax_ (the real turning point), Paul kills him with Ali
Beg’s throwing knife. Before he dies Pra Oom Bwhat lays the curse
of Siva upon Paul. This curse motivates, then, further steps in the
action.
_Steps toward the Climax of Action_: Paul rushes out to rescue Nagy
N’Yang, but finds that the teak log, bearing its dark burden, has
swung farther out. He notices the chest and momentarily hoping it may
be a boat lays hands on it. As he raises the lid, the giant python
glides out and disappears at the river brink. (Here is an obvious
manipulation, although the average reader will lose sight of the
management. Is it likely that Paul would have tarried to open the
chest?) Paul then swims to the log and crawls upon it just before it
takes the whirlpool plunge. In the bottom the python coils about the
trunk and Paul. As they emerge, Paul contrives to kill the python
with Ali Beg’s knife which he has taken from the dead body of Pra Oom
Bwhat, but not before the snake has given him the glancing blow on
the brow, over the tattoo mark. Ali Beg finds Paul and Nagy N’Yang,
unconscious, and takes them to the hospital. Paul tells the story,
himself learning from the nurse the detail just stated.
_Dénouement_: He receives the scale from the python and burns it over
the night taper, so removing the spell. He learns that Ali Beg and
Nagy N’Yang are with him, and says he and Nagy will not go up-country
again.
THE NARRATOR. The first person is preferable; for since Paul learns but
tardily certain steps of the complication, the reader (who knows only
what Paul knows) must remain in suspense. Try telling the story from an
objective point of view, placing every step in its chronological order.
What does the story lose?
CHARACTERIZATION. Compare the characteristics of these Oriental figures
with those in “A Simple Act of Piety.” What have they in common? Why
does Mr. Gilbert choose a half-breed as his narrator and hero? Point
out every example of Paul’s fearlessness. Why does he not appear
conceited or egotistical, as the first person narrator is in danger of
seeming? What is Pra Oom Bwhat’s distinguishing trait? Point out all
examples of his duplicity; of his religious or superstitious nature.
Show that love, in one guise or another, largely motivates every stage
of the action, with certain exceptions, which result from thwarted
love. To what extent does religion motivate the acts?
Is the python a “character”? What is Nagy N’Yang’s chief rôle? Is Ali
Beg’s part too obvious?
LOCAL COLOR. Why and how does the author emphasize the setting in
the first paragraph? Where is the snake _motif_ introduced? Trace
its progress, not only for its plot value, but for its contribution
to the reader’s realization of setting. Where are the rains first
mentioned? What inanimate objects contribute to the local color? What
customs? What beliefs? Is the story primarily one of setting, plot, or
character; or have the elements been harmonized into an evenly balanced
narrative?
ATMOSPHERE. Is the mood or “feel” of the story a trifle too near
melodrama? What phases of the action, if any, would you subdue?
DETAILS. “Take away the medicine” (third paragraph). Does this
indication that a sick person is the narrator surprise you? If so, is
the technique sound?
Why are the details of Paul’s courtship left to the reader?
Is the fight between Paul and Pra Oom Bwhat presented economically?
convincingly?
Good dramatic moments are found in such passages as those wherein the
noise in the chest is indicated _immediately_ after Paul says he would
seek the way of love; in the stirring _immediately_ after Paul says,
“I can kill the snake”; in Paul’s crushing the cobra and so drawing an
immediate curse, etc. Point out several other examples.
Make a list of the struggles in order as they occurred.
What are the three main settings or scenes?
Does the happy dénouement convince you?