"FARD" by Aldous Huxley

One of the most interesting short stories written by A. Huxley is the story
"FARD". First of all I would like to mention that I like this story very much
because it tells us about the relationship between husband and wife. The story
under discussion focuses on the problems that exist in a family in which the
members of it quarrel all the time because of money, the person that sees all
these things is Sophie, the maid. Sophie is always working very hard for this
family. She is very tired because they do not let her have at least a little rest.
Her eyes are tired. Sophie thought of the sacks of potatoes she used to carry
when she was a little girl in the country.it was awful. Sophie had heard the
quarrel between Monsieur and Madame. Suddenly the front door banged and
Madame came furiously out. She told Sophie that the next day they should
start for Rome and Sophie had to pack up her things. Madame said she would
not return to that house anymore. Sophie went to the box-room to bring the
large trunk. She was very tired and dragged it hardly after her. Madame hated
having old, ugly people near her. However, Sophie was very efficient and she
did not want to get rid of her. Sophie was packing. Meanwhile Madame told her
that her husband had no money to give her to buy clothes. All this seemed to
nonsense for her. He was a poet and did not earn enough money. On the other
side, Madame hated her father-in-law. Sophie continued packing. She was very
tired; she ought to be sent to bed. However, work had to be done. Madame
looked in the mirror and admired her splendid figure. Suddenly she saw Sophie
in the mirror, a thin, miserable creature, Madame couldn't stand that and asked
Sophie to put some fard on her face from her dressing-table. Now Sophie
looked much less tired.
The title FARD is a mask, Madame wanted to change the maid. It is a directly
reverse to the maid. It brings sarcasm-fard cannot fight against the illness of a
person. The upper hand is the wife. The structure of the title is a single-word,
noun. The words from the title are present in the text through partial
recurrence at the end.
The theme is a double one: relationship (quarrel, conflict) between husband
and wife and opposing two women in different positions. The idea is
dissatisfaction of the wife. She takes the upper hand in the house. Attitude of
the well-to-do people to each other and to those who serve them.
The plot does not follow the chronological order of events.
- Climax is present at the beginning-the typical conflict between wife and
husband.
- Suspense -no names. The story of the maid goes parallel with the story
of the woman-the maid remembered of the sacks of potatoes she carried
when she was a little girl in the country: "Ten steps more; she could
manage that. Only it never was the end, one always had to begin again.
- Exposition takes place when we are acquainted to the main characters.
- Complication-the husband had no money to give to his wife.
- There is no denouement; it is an open plot structure.
Narration is dynamic. It gives a continuous account of events. The author
used 3rd person narration-everything happened in Sophie's mind. The personal
pronoun changes from 3rd person plural to 3rd person singular. One-sided
monologue is represented by the speech of Sophie. Inner monologue of the
maid: ten steps more; she could manage that . Here we can find
also narration intercepted with the dialogue between Sophie and

Madame. The dialogue brings the action nearer to the reader.

The tone conveys feelings and emotions. Even at the beginning, the reader is
put in suspense (climax-quarrel, no names).The dramatic tone communicates
sorrow for Sophie. Here one can also see the principle of recurrence:
contrast Sophie-Madame, they are of different age, different social state,
different appearance, Sophie works hard, and Madame gives orders: husbandwife, husband makes money, wife gives orders.

The characters are indirectly characterized through their actions. The author uses
complete characterization.
Madame is cruel, egoistic, mercantile, self-centered, hard-hearted, arrogant,
ignorant, and stupid. She is a flat character and is described simply by the
author, having one dominant feature emphasized by the writer: her cheeks
were flushed, her blue eyes shone with an unusual brilliance between the
long lashes, the short, red-brown hair had broken wildly loose, and she had a
splendid figure. Madame doesn't care very much about Sophie. She has
money and takes the upper hand in the house. Sophie directly characterizes
Madame: Shrill with anger and indignant with tears, it burst out in gusts, in
gushes. To Sophie the quarrel sounded like a series of monologues by
Madame. Madame hated having old, ugly people near her but Sophie was so
efficient, it would be madness to get rid of her.
The author uses incomplete characterization while speaking about
Sophie. Sophie is a hard-working woman, devoted to her Madame, she is
very tired, had a difficult life before. She is also described through complete
characterization. Her body ached all over. She was not as young as she had
been; she is friendly. Madame also directly characterizes Sophie: old, ugly,
but efficient. Without Sophie Madame could not end her packing. Sophie is a
thin, miserable, old creature, with a yellow face and blue teeth. It was too
disagreeable. Sophie looked like one of those beggar women one sees on a
cold morning, standing in the gutter. Her eyes were the color of greenish
leads quite without life. The woman's face was a reproach, an accusation.
The sight of it was making Madame feel positively ill; she had leaden eyes,
bluish teeth, and yellow, wrinkled skin.
The husband is different from the wife. The author sympathizes with him.
Sophie directly characterizes him: Monsieur was self-controlled, and his
deeper voice was too softly pitched to penetrate easily the closed doors and
to carry along the passage. Now and then Monsieur seemed to lose his
temper outright and there was a harsh, deep, angry shout. Then Monsieur
spoke now loudly, now softly, with emphasis, modulations, and sudden
outbursts, his contributions to the squabble sounded like a series of separate
explosions. He published his poems at his own expense. Madame thinks that
they are beastly verses.
Stylistic devices:
Phonetically stylistic devices.
- Onomatopoeia is based on sound imitation: They had been quarreling
now for nearly three quarters of an hour.
- Alliteration: six pairs of silk stockings, it burst out in gusts, in gushes, she
went in with her work.
Lexical stylistic devices:
- Metaphorical personification: the voiced floated down the corridor, from
the other end of the flat.
- Metonymy: blue teeth in a yellow face.

Irony and metaphor: A somewhat yellowish, bright worm was wriggling up

toward the right-hand corner of her field of vision. Think of a lover with a
yellow face and blue, uneven teeth!
- Zeugma: They moved between her and her sewing. The story abounds in
- Epithets: harsh, deep, angry shout (enumeration), loud shrillness, harsh,
dangerous laugh, heavy footsteps, aching fatigue. All these epithets
characterize the main characters, husband and wife.
- Oxymoron: beautiful tragedian, positively ill, splendid tragic figure.
- Simile: his contributions to the squabble sounded like a series of separate
explosions.
- Hyperbole: horribly mean, profoundly enervated.
Syntactical stylistic devices:
- Polysyndeton: and there were stars of red and green that snapped and
brightened and faded all-round the worm.
- Repetition and inversion: slowly, slowly she was walking along the dusty
road.
- Epiphora: It had been a hard day. Every day was a hard day. Every day had
been a hard day.
- Anadiplosis: Only he is mean, mean, horribly mean.
- Anaphora and inversion: Slowly she walked to the chest of drawers,
slowly counted out six pairs of silk stockings.
- Tautology: one should have lived all ones live in Paris.
- Chiasmus: There were stars of red and green that snapped and brightened,
and faded all-round the worm. The worm flickered before her eyes.
- Antithesis: Madame-Sophie softly. She walked up and down the room.
Monsieur spoke now loudly, now softly.
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