A Friend in Need

William Somerset Maugham was born in the British Embassy in Paris on 25th January, 1874. During the First World war, Maugham's best-known novel, Of Human Bondage (1915) was published. This was followed by another successful book, The Moon and Sixpence (1919). Maugham also developed a reputation as a fine short-story writer, one story, Rain, which appeared in "The Trembling of a Leaf "(1921), also turned into a successful feature film. Popularity plays written by Maugham include The Circle (1921), East of Suez (1922), The Constant Wife (1926) and the anti-war play, For Services Rendered (1932). In his later years Maugham wrote his autobiography, Summing Up (1938) and works of fiction such as The Razor's Edge (1945), Catalina (1948) and "Quartet "(1949). William Somerset Maugham died in 1965.
"A Friend In Need" is one of Maugham's famous novels. Using the first person, he told us the story of a British man of doing business in Japan. My first impression of Edward Hyde Burton was a gentleman, whose appearance and manner were suitable for his age and station. To my startle, when Turner, a namesake of his, asked him for a job, he murdered Turner without paying anything.
The most important lesson we learn from the story is that we cannot judge a man from his appearance, especially the shiny appearance. Edward Hyde Burton was a hypocritical guy with a wicked heart hidden under the good appearance, convincing many people of his kind heart. Knowing the young man would be drowned, he deliberately let him take the risk, resulting in the death of the young man. Nobody could feel that the old man could bear to hurt a fly. Nevertheless such a generous man killed a person, a namesake of his! The bad guys always have a good disguise, causing lots of people Unknowingly fall for it.
From another perspective, the young man may deserve to die. He lived as a parasite, using his family's money to enjoy himself without doing anything meaningful. Such a walking dead man, whose life