Failures Anonymous
In "The Real Thing" and "The Figure In The Carpet," by Henry James, both narrators remain nameless throughout the story. Although we may think that James had two different motives to keep the narrators nameless, the central reason why James kept the narrators anonymous was for one great reason: their failure. In "The Real Thing," the narrator fails to draw the "real" thing to his own specifications. In "The Figure In The Carpet," the narrator fails to uncover the secret behind Vereker's writing style, which makes his novels so great. Failure is something embarrassing; but when people don't know who one is, especially their name, than failure is more manageable to accept because you don't know them and they don't know you. Therefore, James' motive to leave the narrators nameless is because of the artist's failure to draw the "real" thing, and the narrator's failure to uncover Vereker's secret.In "The Real Thing," when we are first introduced to the narrator, we are given a limited amount of information. We are told that the narrator is an artist, he draws portraits, unlike Mr. Rivet who drew landscapes, and has a need for models, "It was only then...he has told them how I worked in black and white, for magazines, for story book
From the moment the artist laid his eyes upon the Monarchs, the artist sees something different about them, something that sets them apart from the other models and even himself, "From their type, the Monarchs'"(James, Pg. The man in the paper expressed it in a striking manner"(James, Pg. Miss Churm "was only a freckled cockney," she couldn't even spell, and she loved beer. After some time has passed, and they still can't figure out the "figure," Corvick decides to go to India to clear his mind, and think things through. but never a word in The Middle, where my dealings were mainly with the ladies and the minor poets"(James, Pg. The problem with the Monarchs was that they were the "real" things instead of models. The artist had failed to draw the "real" thing. However, the narrator finally gets the chance to write a real review when his friend George Corvick had asked him to do a favor by writing a review on Hugh Vereker's newest novel. Furthermore, now that "every page and line and letter"(James, Pg. Monarch who had to be the "real" thing, and only the "real" thing, "She was the real thing, but always the same thing"(James, Pg. The artist says, "If it be true I'm content to have paid the price - for the memory,"(James, Pg. Not only did the narrator review Vereker's novel, but also thought that his review was superb, "Justice I had done him"(James, Pg.
Common topics in this essay:
Figure Carpet,
Miss Churm,
India Corvick,
Lady Janegive,
Jack Hawley,
Corvick Gwendolyn,
Henry James,
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Major Monarch,
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review vereker's novel,
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friend george corvick,
favor writing review,
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Acceptance Essays
