The Best Investment I Ever Made
- A. J. Cronin
Detailed Summary
A.
J. Cronin's short story, “The Best Investment I Ever Made,” takes place on a
ship. The narrator, while walking on the promenade deck, encounters a passenger
named Mr. John S. . He is a man in his early forties with fair skin, short
stature and blue eyes. He is quiet and shy. He is dressed in a dark suit and
tie, and wears rimless glasses. Despite Mr. John S.'s initial shyness, his wife
encourages him to start a conversation with the narrator, A J Cronin.
Mr.
John S. introduces himself. He is a solicitor in Britain. He is the director of
a charitable organization dedicated to helping children from slum areas who are
entangled in legal troubles. He and his wife have traveled to America to study
summer recreational camps in New England and to observe how authorities in
cities like New York deal with underprivileged, delinquent, and misbehaved
youth. For fifteen years, they have been actively involved in youth welfare.
Mr.
John S. and his wife devote their time to assisting "derelict
adolescents" who have been involved with the juvenile justice system. They
provide counseling, awareness classes, and vocational training to help these
young people develop life skills and reintegrate into society.
A. J. Cronin asks Mr. John S. why he does
such charitable work. Realizing that A. J. Cronin doesn't recognize him, Mr.
John S. approaches him and whispers something. At that time, A.J.
Cronin remembered a personal story about a young man who had attempted suicide.
Years ago, Dr. A.J. Cronin was working as a doctor in a working-class district
of London. It was on a foggy November night. At 1 o'clock in the midnight, a
sergeant came to his apartment. He informed him that a young man had attempted
suicide.
A.J. Cronin and the sergeant hurriedly went to the
lodgings where the man who had attempted suicide was lying. The landlady was
waiting for them. She showed them an attic where a young man was lying
unconscious.
With the sergeant's help, A.J. Cronin started to do
emergency resuscitation. At last, the patient gave a sudden deep breath after
an hour. Again, for half an hour, they continued the emergency resuscitation.
At last, the man was able to sit on the chair. He started to share his story.
The man said that his parents were no more. With the
help of his uncle, he became a clerk in a London solicitor's office. He had
come to London six months back. He had got bad friends. He had gotten himself
into a loose society. He had started horse betting. Thus, he had lost his
smaller savings.
The young man had
pawned a little money to a bookmaker. In order to save himself, he had stolen a
small amount of money from the office safe for a bet. But he had lost it. Since
there was no hope left, he had attempted suicide by turning on the gas in his
room.
After listening to
this, the sergeant and A.J. Cronin decided to give him a new life. So the
sergeant decided not to report this case. The landlady decided to give him free
board for a month. A.J. Cronin gave him the seven
pounds ten shillings that he had stolen.
Remembering
all this, A.J. Cronin felt that it was the best investment he had ever made. He
had gotten an opportunity to give a new life and new hope to Mr. John S. He, in
turn, had made use of this opportunity to give new lives to backward,
maladjusted, and delinquent youth. He said that when one pursues material
possessions, one will get anxiety, disappointment, and frustration. But these
kinds of investments will give happiness.
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