Henry Mackenzie created a really moving work of literature which became a part of world cultural heritage. One could disagree with this statement, but the mere fact that this novel promoted developing of the Scottish culture of 18th century could indicate how important this sentimental novel was. Henry Mackenzie had started working on this sentimental novel when the concept of sentimentalism was still popular, but those ideas had become laughable by the time he finished it. The interesting thing was that the end of sentimentalism didn’t influence popularity of the novel in any way. However, the difficulties with searching a publisher might be a result of it.
The protagonist of the story, Mr. Harley, is definitely a sentimental person who has a kind heart and strongly believes in people’s good nature. Neither death of his parents nor absolute indifference of his guardians changes his opinion about the world. Mr. Harley is as sentimental as Werther from “The Sorrows of Young Werther”, but Mr. Harley is more mature, selfless and compassionate. Although he seems to be rather naïve and such a type of a protagonist would probably never be popular nowadays, Mr. Harley is a positive character. He is an ideal gentleman who is always ready to save a damsel in distress, help an old beggar, find time for an old friend and whatnot. He is free from prejudices and evil. It seems that this character is too good for this sinful and evil world.
The novel is worth reading, for it pushes important issues. An old friend of Mr. Harley, Mr. Edwards, returns from India, where he spends some time serving as a soldier. He goes there instead of his son because the father pities him and doesn’t want him to die somewhere far away from home. The injustice he sees there doesn’t allow him to sit idly. Mr. Edwards saves an old Indian man who is arbitrarily detained and has no chance to protect himself. The punishment is rather cruel. He is awfully bitten and left to die. It is when the old Indian man helps him. This simple story shows how necessary it is to stay kind and compassionate. This scene also makes us wonder about the nature of military conflicts and how they influence lives of people who live on a territory where the conflict takes place. The only one way to reduce that enormous amount of injustice is to behave like a human and not to forget that other people have the same feelings. Mr. Edwards and the old Indian man are supposed to be enemies but courtesy of humane attitude they show, these men become friends.
Be kind, be compassionate, help others and believe in the good is the lesson a reader can learn from this story. Mr. Harley shows selflessness of an extreme kind and there is no need to mimic his example in all respects unless one wants to be a saint, but to be kinder and more attentive to other people is what everyone can do.
