Philip’s Club-foot as Symbol of Outsider
One of the most robust symbols in the novels is Philip Carey’s clubfoot. On one level, the physical deformity is symbol of anything that instantly makes a person an outsider. Within this level is a deeper meaning in that while other characters do react in repulsive ways to the awareness of this deformity, in most of those cases it is only because Philip has drawn attention to it himself. Thus, one can argument that the club-foot is less merely a symbol of outsider status than it is a more complex symbol for the defects one finds in themselves and allows them to be think of themselves or position themselves as outsiders.
Philip’s Club-foot as Symbol of Character Flaw
The novel closes with Philip finally coming to terms with his physical deformity and recognizing how it has actually had a positive impact while not discounting the negative impact. This leads to his musing on the subject of how fate seems inextricably connected to a person’s most prominent defect whether it be physical such as his foot or one which “warps” the mind instead of the body, such as alcoholism. In this sense, the club-foot becomes a far more universal symbol that represents those aspects of character which put people at their most vulnerable when faced with darker side of existence.
Philip’s Club-foot as Symbol of Maugham’s Stutter
Some Maugham scholarship insists that Philip’s club-foot is not really universal at all, but quite specific to himself. Two schools of thought at work here. One is that the physical deformity which so consumes Philip as to stunt his mental and emotional growth far greater than this physical development is merely a symbolic stand-in for similar situation which actually afflicted the author. Somerset Maugham faced significant social anxiety and psychological trauma resulting from what was by all accounts a rather serious problem with stuttering to the point it was often almost impossible for him to speak in public. This theory here holds that while Philip is unquestionably a semi-autobiographical figure, giving him a speech impediment of any kind would simply have been too on the nose and therefore Maugham was moved relocate his fictional doppelganger’s physical defect as far away from the mouth as possible.
Philip’s Club-foot as Symbol of Maugham’s Homosexuality
The second school of Maugham scholarship contends that even if the club-foot is a symbolic exchange for the author’s stutter it is actually a symbol of his closeted homosexuality since—as the argument proceeds—that stutter was likely a physical manifestation of his conflicted sexuality. Whether stand-in for the stutter or not, much scholarship is devoted to interpreting the way that Philip both blames his problems on his deformity while also seeming to take a masochistic pleasure in unnecessarily bringing attention to it as a sign that the club-foot symbolizes Maugham’s own confused emotional feelings toward his sexuality.
The Persian Rug
The other predominant symbol in the novel does not have quite the depth of interpretation as the club-foot, but is essential to fully understanding the story. Cronshaw suggests that the meaning of life can be detected by studying the patterns in the intricate weaved designs of a Persian rug. Cryptically by his own admission, Cronshaw urges Philip to look for the meaning of life simply by looking at those rugs. Only much later does the answer come to the younger man and it is an answer as simple—and as cryptic—as the advice.
