THE SINNERS OF PAGO PAGO An essay based on William Somerset Maughams Rain

By Samantha Reagan Selman

Home School Essay Assignment April 22, 2011

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I. Rain A. The storm 1. Storm forces missionaries into hotel 2. Missionaries meet Sadie Thompson B. Davidson attempts to convert Sadie 1. Davidson tires of Sadies attitude 2. Davidson makes deal with governor to have her sent to prison 3. Davidson tricks Sadie into repenting C. Tragedy 1. Davidson feels guilty about falling in love with Sadie / sending her to prison 2. He commits suicide 3. Sadie goes to prison II. The characters A. The Missionaries 1. The Davidsons a. devout Christians b. arrogant and self-righteous 2. The Macphails a. medical missionaries b. tried to keep Davidson from associating with Ms. Thompson B. Sadie Thompson 1. A prostitute 2. Bad attitude a. loud and overpowering b. despises men c. uses swearwords III. The Moral of the story A. Dont try to change people B. Things would have turned out better if Davidson hadnt intervened with Sadies affairs

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It was with some hesitation that I opened the book: a collection of short stories entitled East and West. I had never read any of Somerset Maughams works before. The first short story was called Rain, a name that instantly caught my eye. I read on. By the time I had finished the story and closed the book, I was dumbfounded. The story, most of it being non-fiction, had brought me to an important question: What exactly is a sin? It may have seemed like a silly question at the time, but I looked it up in a dictionary* anyway and I found a fitting definition. According to Websters Dictionary a sin is an offense against a religion that leads to being expelled from heaven. Therefore, it may seem strange that the some of the sinners in Maughams story are actually missionaries teaching religion in Pago Pago. I will briefly explain: A ship set for Pago Pago leaves Hawaii. Aboard the ship are four missionaries, two married couples by the name of Davidson and Macphail. Also boarding the ship is a prostitute, Miss Sadie Thompson. After a massive storm hits the area they are forced to stay in a broken down hotel owned by a few natives. Davidson, who becomes tired of Sadies sinful ways, tries to bring the prostitute to Christianity. Sadie resists. In effect, Davidson makes a deal with the governor to have her thrown into prison. Macphail warns him against it but Davidson persists. Sadie instantly changes her tune and makes every attempt to convert. Davidson begins to have feelings for Sadie. Finally, Davidson comes clean about his plans to send her to prison regardless of how much progress she makes. After Sadie bursts into tears, Davidson feels guilty and commits suicide; the missionaries are shocked. Sadie, after reverting to her old ways, goes to prison. Miss Thompson, as explained before, was a prostitute from the red light district of Honolulu. She had managed to escape a police raid and catch a boat to Pago Pago. Thompson was loud and obnoxious. She had a feminine voice but she tried very hard to make herself sound overpowering. Maugham describes her as being quite unattractive, stout and uneducated. In almost every sentence she used swearwords, a characteristic that seemed to greatly disturb the missionaries. She had a very bad attitude towards people, especially men. In fact, at the end of the story she stated (to Mr. Macphail) You men! The whole lot of you are filthy, dirty pigs! Despite her vulgarity, Davidson did see potential in her. When he told her that she would either repent or go to prison, she changed drastically. She read the bible, she stopped swearing, and she dressed differently. However, at the end we found that all that time was wasted; she went to prison and reverted to her old ways. Mr. Davidson and his wife had worked as missionaries for years. They were devout Christians and they disliked anyone who was not. Mrs. Davidson was very quiet and tended to keep to herself. On the other hand, Mr. Davidson was not afraid to show and support his beliefs (a mannerism that ultimately lead to his demise). After Davidson began working with Sadie Thompson, he seemed to change. He was tired, quiet, and had lost most of his self-esteem. No one understood. He was spending so much time with her that they came to enjoy each others company. I believe that Davidson developed feelings for Sadie, something that he also felt quite guilty about. He felt as if he were somehow betraying his religion and his god by treating Sadie in this way, especially when she trusted him. The self-remorse piled upon him so quickly that he just couldnt live with himself. Tragedy struck.

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Finally, there were the Macphails. They were a younger couple who made their living as medical missionaries. They were kind and understanding people who enjoyed helping the natives. Mr. Macphail felt mercy for Miss Thompson and thought that Davidsons treatment of her was inhumane. When Davidson killed himself, Macphail knew what had happened. However, he just did not have the heart to tell Mrs. Davidson about her husbands guilt and suspected involvement with the prostitute. The moral of the story may not be clear at first. I believe that Maugham was trying to tell us that you cannot change people; you can only change yourself. Many lives were ruined because Davidson felt obligated to change Miss Thompson into something she was not and the effects didnt work out well for Davidson or the prostitute. If Davidson would have tended to his business instead of interfering with Sadies lifestyle, he would have still been alive and Sadie wouldnt have gone to prison. However, if that would have been the case there would have never been a story, would there?