Mr. Know All

Background

Settings

After the Great War / World War 1 / WWI, on a ship between San Francisco and Yokohama / Japan.

Significance

Time - after the War, everybody who was stuck / delayed wants to travel. There is not enough space on ships. The narrator can't have his own cabin and can't choose the terms of his travel. Location - The trip takes two weeks and the narrator is stuck on this ship with this roommate.

Narrator

British and appears prejudiced. He dislikes his roommate even though he hasn't met him, only based on a last name. We have a first-person narrator, which generally means he's not objective.

Part 1: Analysis

The story open with the narrator telling us (the readers) about his willingness to dislike Max Kelada and why (name).

In the second paragraph, the narrator finds additional reasons for his dislike:

• Mr. Kelada's luggage has too many labels.
• His wardrobe trunk is too big.
• His brushes are too ostentatious.
• His brushes are dirty.

After meeting Max Kelada, the narrator still doesn't like him:

• He doesn't like the way Mr. Kelada looks - short and stocky, dark skin, sleek curly dark hair and large dark lustrous "liquid" eyes.
• He thinks Mr. Kelada speaks too loudly and uses exuberant gestures.
• Mr. Kelada is chatty.
• Mr. Kelada is informal (and doesn't use Mr. before the narrator's name).
• Mr. Kelada interferes with the narrator's card game.
• Mr. Kelada forces the narrator to watch card tricks.
• Mr. Kelada has taken a seat in the dining room for the narrator without asking him.

The narrator notes that he doesn't like Mr. Kelada twice more. Based on what he says, however, we can infer that he dislikes Mr. Kelada because Mr. Kelada isn't English "enough" for him:

• His way of speaking isn't British, it's too fluent and uses gestures.
• He is dark-skinned.
• His smile is "not British", it's too broad.
• He believes that Mr. Kelada, though a British citizen, was not born in England.

The narrator is racist:

• He calls Mr. Kelada "a strange subject" (of King George).
• He says that the British flag loses dignity when carried (flourished) by someone like Mr. Kelada.

Part 2

New characters:

• The doctor - indifferent.
• Mr. Ramsay - works for the American Consular Service in Kobe. He is fat and wears "cheap" clothing. He is loud, dogmatic and argumentative.
• Mrs. Ramsay - spent a year in New York. She's now going back to Japan with her husband. She is described as pretty, dressed in simple clothing, and modest. She has a distinctive presence despite her simple clothing.

Analysis

The narrator dislikes Mr. Kelada for yet another reason; his social behavior. He describes Mr. Kelada as over-involved and claims that everybody dislikes him. Mr. Kelada knows everyone and is involved in organizing many activities - dances, sports, competitions, and so on. Mr. Kelada also argues with people often about many subjects, and according to the narrator people call him Mr. Know All, even to his face.

We can see that the narrator is judgmental of everybody who is unlike him in the way he describes the others. He is sure Mr. Kelada is unaware of being disliked. He judges the Ramsays by their appearance, and by the fact that they are American.

Part 3

The bet between Mr. Ramsay and Mr. Kelada brings several things to focus:

1. Despite the fact that the narrator makes fun of Mr. Kelada's knowledge, he clearly accepts that Mr. Kelada is, in fact, an expert (in this case) specifically on pearls. Even Mr. Ramsay, who argues with Mr. Kelada accepts his expertise.
2. Mrs. Ramsay doesn't want the bet to take place. The narrator notices this, as well as her terrified face while Mr. Kelada is examining the pearls. Mr. Kelada notices this and stops himself from saying the pearls are real. Only Mr. Ramsay fails to notice.
3. Mr. Kelada takes some chaffing after the incident. This tends to indicate that he is not actually hated. (If people actually disliked him, good manners would prevent them from making fun of him. This could only be friendly humour.)
4. The bet, or more specifically the point at which Mr. Kelada examines the pearls, is the climax (high point) of the story. This is a turning point in the story, after which there is a resolution. Conflicts are resolved to some level, for example, between the narrator and Mr. Kelada (or between Mr. Ramsay and Mr. Kelada).
5. At the end of the story, the narrator is forced to reevaluate his values and beliefs. He discovers that Mr. Kelada was, in fact, right, but was willing to sacrifice his dignity to protect Mrs. Ramsay's honor. He must confront the fact that Mr. Kelada, for all of his lack of what the narrator considers British manners, is in fact a British gentleman to the core, and the narrator is forced to reconsider his dislike of Mr. Kelada.

Story Analysis

The theme of the story is prejudice. The story examines the way people pre-judge others without knowing them. The narrator's name in the story is never given, which might make the message more universal. He could be anyone, even us - the readers. As we read, we might identify with the narrator's point of view. The message of the story can be expressed as "don't judge a book by its cover".

The pearls in the story serve as a metaphor for the people. "Real" (natural) pearls are never perfect. Each is unique. However, they are made of the same substance inside and out. Cultured pearls, on the other hand, are actually not pearls at the core. Yet, these pearls are usually more uniform and round. However, the are less valuable. We can relate this to people and culture, and more specifically, to the characters in the story:

1. The "cultured" characters in the story appear more polished, more uniform, but their "outside" does not match their inside:

   1. Mr. Ramsay acts like he knows everything, and he argues as much as Mr. Kelada, but he doesn't even know what is happening right in front of him - that his wide has lied to him and the she's terrified she will be exposed.
   2. Mrs. Ramsay is described as quiet and modest, standing by her husband . At best, she's a liar. A worse case is she cheated on him in New York (or before).
   3. The narrator presents himself as cultured and well-mannered but he is racist, and ultimately, his manners prevent him from expressing his feelings, and even from helping a lady who appears to be in distress.
2. Only Mr. Kelada is not afraid to be unique, and his exterior appearance and behavior match who he truly is. He does not try to behave in a way that makes him fit in better. He is himself.
3. There is a more general statement here about culture - manners and social norms. While they create some uniformity in society, the demand a sacrifice of uniqueness, individual behaviors and thinking. Manners are an exterior polish that is not a substitute for core values.

The title of the story, which at face value refers to Mr. Kelada, must be seen in another way. In fact, the title might refer to Mr. Ramsay, who was a "know-all" in a bad sense, argued about everything (even when he knew nothing about the subject). In fact, he doesn't even know what's going on in his own home. The narrator is also Mr. Know All, examining and judging everyone around him. However, as we see at the end, he has no basis for his judgement. He doesn't actually know anything about those around him.