Ransom: David Malouf
Essay No.3 Topic No. 5 “Ransom suggests that we cannot predict who will teach us important lessons”. Discuss.
In “a rough world of men” David Malouf highlights the importance of storytelling and the lessons that can be learnt from stories. He further strives to show how all people live out their own stories and that sometimes the most valuable lessons can be drawn from the lives that we least expect. Malouf introduces Somax, a “humble carter” who has a surprisingly dependable “native wit” to match even Priam, who is greatly influenced by simple aspects of Somax’s character and from this undergoes a transformation pivotal to his journey. Through this dangerous journey and Achilles’ final respite, Malouf signposts the possibilities for discovery and delight on offer if one is prepared to venture beyond the known boundaries of self and experience. Achilles is Malouf’s illustration of how often perceptions of character can be misled by appearances and be so different from reality, this is particularly evident in Somax, whose knowledge of life is revelatory, yet his stature is lowly.
Malouf exemplifies just how little we can predict the people who have the most to teach with Somax, a man of humble stature who can bring more to the table than meets the eye. Somax is “a plain workman” and has little “knowledge of the forms” or of social customs yet it is revealed that his expertise lies elsewhere, in the most basic things that can often be discarded. He has “so much simple modesty and good will, and so much tact in the way he made his suggestions” and shows to Priam how the “unnecessary and particular” can be “good for the body as well as the spirit”. As is often the case, men of simple stature are stereotypically perceived to be of less intelligence or not considered to be wise or intellectual, but Somax understands the simple truths of common humanity and how the ordinary can be interesting and meaningful which shows his true value. Somax deals with grief in
In “a rough world of men” David Malouf highlights the importance of storytelling and the lessons that can be learnt from stories. He further strives to show how all people live out their own stories and that sometimes the most valuable lessons can be drawn from the lives that we least expect. Malouf introduces Somax, a “humble carter” who has a surprisingly dependable “native wit” to match even Priam, who is greatly influenced by simple aspects of Somax’s character and from this undergoes a transformation pivotal to his journey. Through this dangerous journey and Achilles’ final respite, Malouf signposts the possibilities for discovery and delight on offer if one is prepared to venture beyond the known boundaries of self and experience. Achilles is Malouf’s illustration of how often perceptions of character can be misled by appearances and be so different from reality, this is particularly evident in Somax, whose knowledge of life is revelatory, yet his stature is lowly.
Malouf exemplifies just how little we can predict the people who have the most to teach with Somax, a man of humble stature who can bring more to the table than meets the eye. Somax is “a plain workman” and has little “knowledge of the forms” or of social customs yet it is revealed that his expertise lies elsewhere, in the most basic things that can often be discarded. He has “so much simple modesty and good will, and so much tact in the way he made his suggestions” and shows to Priam how the “unnecessary and particular” can be “good for the body as well as the spirit”. As is often the case, men of simple stature are stereotypically perceived to be of less intelligence or not considered to be wise or intellectual, but Somax understands the simple truths of common humanity and how the ordinary can be interesting and meaningful which shows his true value. Somax deals with grief in