Author(s): Asya Sakine UÇAR
Australian writer Inez Baranay’s 2009 novel With the Tiger is a rewriting of and a tribute to Somerset Maugham’s The Razor’s Edge published in 1944. Baranay has transplanted Maugham’s characters to her novel only with changes in geography and time period. The novels, which center on the journey of a western teenager to the mystery of the east, offer a different perspective to the adoption of Eastern culture and philosophy in the west. A young man named Larry, who complains about the meaninglessness of his life and seeks true happiness and peace, takes a long journey to India by voluntarily giving up many of his possessions. Larry thinks that he is eager for knowledge and presumes to solve his internal deficiencies through personal experiences. In that journey those who intersect with his path contribute to his growth and self-building while the choices that Larry makes and their ramifications for those around him also mean positive touches in their lives. Larry goes through an internal transformation and questions the standards of judgement. On one hand, these experiences are valuable for the answers to the questions he seeks on the other hand, they reveal the dichotomy between the western culture in which he was born and the eastern culture brought by spiritual values and the happiness he finds. Because the transience of the happiness obtained by the material gains that are symbolized with the west and its potential that can end at any moment, it is revealed that a spiritual and spiritual satisfaction away from worldly values can be the key to true happiness and peace in the east
The Journal of International Social Research received 8982 citations as per Google Scholar report
