The story of Alexander Green “The Green Lamp” is absolutely small, and it can be read in just a few minutes. However, it is very capacious in its content and meaning, since it touches on very important aspects of human life: wealth, poverty, destiny, evil rock, perseverance and firmness of desire to go to the intended goal.
So what story does the Green Lamp tell us? A brief summary of this remarkable work is enclosed in a fascinating story about how the poor tramp John Eve, who was dying of hunger on one of London's streets, thanks to the millionaire Stilton soon became a person worthy of respect.
"Green lamp" Alexander Green. Summary
The author built this work on the contrast of the description of the life of the main characters. The thing is that the social status of both was very different. One is the sophisticated rich man Stilton, who misses entertainment, whose fortune was estimated at ÂŁ 20 million, and the other is the impoverished 25-year-old worker John Eve from Ireland, an orphan who came to seek work in London.
You will not envy his fate, because he never had his own refuge, so he spent the night wherever he had to: either in the park, then on the pier, or in some nook and cranny. And he had to work very hard: coal miner, sailor, servant in a tavern. As a result, he received pneumonia and after the hospital decided to go to London to try his luck, but he still could not find work there.
Fate
So the fate of one of the main characters of the story "Green Lamp" spun. The summary goes on to say that one day in winter, in London (1920), a wealthy man, Stilton, in one of the alleys of Piccadilly Street, encounters the lying, almost lifeless body of a young man, John Yves, and wants to help a weak, exhausted and poorly dressed poor fellow.
Stilton does this not because he feels sorry for the stranger, but also because he has become bored and uninterested in living, because nothing new has happened in his life. He had just had a delicious dinner with his friend Reimer, drank some wines and had fun with the theater artists in an expensive restaurant. However, his nature continues to crave adventure.
Stilton is a forty-year-old man who can be considered a true minion of fate. He is a millionaire who believes that money is the main force that decides everything. He always liked to feel superior to others, it greatly amazed his pride. And now in this beggar he found a toy for himself and wants to have fun with it. This is what Stilton directly tells his friend Reimer, who does not understand anything and asks that his comrade leave this carrion alone.
Contract
We continue the theme of “Green Lamp” (A. A. Green). The summary plunges the reader into intrigue more and more. Stilton puts the beggar on a cab and offers him a pay of ten pounds a month. For this, he must rent a room on the main street on the second floor, every day at a certain time, set fire to a kerosene lamp, covered with a green lampshade and wait for some strange people to come to him and say that he got rich. Stilton announced that all this is a big secret.
The tramp was also not ordered to talk to anyone and not to accept anyone at home. In fact, this idea was complete nonsense - a rich man’s sophisticated joke that seemed genius to him. So he wanted to dispose of an unnecessary human life in order to see what would happen to this bonded fool who was destined to die of boredom, sleep or go crazy.
A toy
But for John Yves, this was a real salvation, and the plot of the work “The Green Lamp” further tells about this. The summary describes that the beggar agreed to fulfill all the requirements, because he will finally be paid the money he needed so much. The poor man was amazed at what was happening to him and did not even suspect that he had become a funny toy in the hands of a rich man.
A little later, Stilton would tell Reimer a friend: “If you ever get bored, then come here and laugh at the fool who sits outside the window, which was bought cheaply, in installments, for a long time and waits for some reason.”
What did A. S. Green (“Green Lamp”) want to show us? The summary of the work reveals all the horror of Stilton’s words: “A toy from a living person is the sweetest dish.” It is surprising how cynical people are sometimes.
Change of roles
The author of this work was strong in human psychology, since he himself went the way of his hero Yves. Green was also a handyman and a sailor, had typhus, and he was also once saved by Maxim Gorky, who helped to get a room and rations.
People who are waiting for a miracle themselves begin to make their way to it. Indeed, the writer Green knew this life without embellishment. The Green Lamp, a brief summary of which captures from the first minutes of reading, however, continues to be intriguing.
And so much time has passed, or rather 8 years, and a completely different picture is revealed to the reader.
An old tramp arrives at the hospital for the poor with a sore broken leg, which began gangrene. The doctor eventually had to amputate the limb. The very same Stylton, who burned out on the exchanges, became a beggar, but the doctor turned out to be none other than John Eve.
Now fate changed their roles, and now John is saving old Stilton from certain death, because it is his duty. Due to humane impulses, the doctor also extends a hand to the poor person, offering to arrange for him to work in a hospital, so that he makes patients appointments. John understands that be that as it may, but it was Stilton then who influenced his fate, otherwise he would have only a little, and he died.
John's story
But the story “Green Lamp” does not end there. The summary of the plot continues with the story of how a tramp became a doctor. This will amaze Styleton very much. As it turned out, John really rented a room nearby and began to burn a green lamp every day from 5 pm to 12 noon in anticipation of a miracle. If at that moment he did not have great eagerness to study, nothing would have come of him, of course. Due to the huge amount of free time, he began to read and study books. Mostly they were medical. Then he began to buy them and take them in the library. A roommate was a student, he helped Yves prepare for exams and go to medical college.
As a result, it turned out that Stilton, thanks to his wild joke, opened the way for the young guy to a good future, but he, however, later found himself in his place - on the street.
the main idea
And here is the work “Green Lamp”, the summary of which is coming to an end, reveals its main idea that money is really necessary for a person, but they should not become his main priority in life. Finances are needed only as a tool for the fulfillment of desires, as, in principle, what happened with the young man John Yves. The main thing is faith in one's own strength, perseverance and patience. John took full advantage of his chance, which fate gave him. He bought books, studied and eventually became a professional specialist.
Hope
So the analysis of the work “The Green Lamp” (Alexander Green) comes to an end. The summary of this story leads to some similarities with the plot of “Scarlet Sails”. The light of a green lamp and red sails became the personification of good symbols, which gave hope for a better life and the fulfillment of desires. It is this hope that helps a person to survive in extremely difficult life situations.
That's the whole story. Of course, it is better to read the full content. The “Green Lamp” (Green A.S.) will thus help to further reveal the whole meaning of an idea. Perhaps she will give someone the strength to resist adversity, take advantage of circumstances and never give up.