“TOBACCO” DIMITAR DIMOV AND “THE TREMBLING OF A LEAF: LITTLE STORIES OF THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS” SOMERSET MAUGHAM – A TRIAL FOR A DIALOGUE

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the dialogue between Dimitar Dimov's novel “Tobacco” (1951) and Somerset Maugham's collection of short stories “The Trembling of a Leaf: Little Stories of the South Sea Islands” (1921). Of central importance here is the question of how some ideas of Maugham’s “The Trembling of a Leaf” enter into dialogue with Dimov's novel “Tobacco”. I will comment on some specifics of character development. There are a number of similarities between Dimov and Maugham. Most of their heroines represent the so-called “femme fatale.” The “perfect man” that women dream about runs as a leitmotif in both “Tobacco” and “The Trembling of a Leaf.” The prose of Dimov and Maugham contains meticulous psychological description of human destinies. The result of this is that Maugham and Dimov create well-developed characters. Dimov and Maugham offer us their versions of the same plotline – the dramatic life of a soul facing a choice between morality and amorality.