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Excerpt ​

Excerpt from The Moon and Sixpence, by W. Somerset Maugham

I have narrated all this as best I could, because I like the contrast
of these episodes with the life that I had seen Strickland live in
Ashley Gardens when he was occupied with stocks and shares; but I am
aware that Captain Nichols was an outrageous liar, and I dare say there
is not a word of truth in anything he told me. I should not be
surprised to learn that he had never seen Strickland in his life, and
owed his knowledge of Marseilles to the pages of a magazine.

Chapter XLVIII

It is here that I purposed to end my book. My first idea was to begin
it with the account of Strickland’s last years in Tahiti and with his
horrible death, and then to go back and relate what I knew of his
beginnings. This I meant to do, not from wilfulness, but because I
wished to leave Strickland setting out with I know not what fancies in
his lonely soul for the unknown islands which fired his imagination. I
liked the picture of him starting at the age of forty-seven, when most
men have already settled comfortably in a groove, for a new world. I
saw him, the sea gray under the mistral and foam-flecked, watching the
vanishing coast of France, which he was destined never to see again;
and I thought there was something gallant in his bearing and dauntless
in his soul. I wished so to end on a note of hope. It seemed to
emphasise the unconquerable spirit of man. But I could not manage it.
Somehow I could not get into my story, and after trying once or twice I
had to give it up; I started from the beginning in the usual way, and
made up my mind I could only tell what I knew of Strickland’s life in
the order in which I learnt the facts.

Explanation ​

W. Somerset Maugham’s The Moon and Sixpence (1919) is a semi-fictional novel loosely inspired by the life of post-impressionist painter Paul Gauguin, tracing the journey of Charles Strickland, a London stockbroker who abandons his family and conventional life to pursue art in Paris and later Tahiti. The excerpt provided comes near the novel’s end, reflecting on narrative structure, truth, and the enigmatic nature of Strickland’s life. Below is a detailed breakdown of the passage, focusing on its textual nuances, themes, and literary techniques.

1. Context and Narrative Frame ​

The novel is framed as a first-person account by an unnamed narrator (a stand-in for Maugham himself), who pieces together Strickland’s life through secondhand stories, letters, and his own observations. The excerpt occurs in Chapter XLVIII, just before the novel’s conclusion, where the narrator grapples with how to structure Strickland’s story.

  • Narrative Unreliability: The narrator admits that Captain Nichols—a minor character who claims to have known Strickland in Marseilles—is an "outrageous liar." This underscores a key theme: the elusiveness of truth. Strickland’s life is reconstructed from fragmented, often contradictory sources, mirroring the difficulty of capturing an artist’s essence.
  • Metafictional Reflection: The narrator directly addresses his creative process, revealing his initial plan to begin the book with Strickland’s death in Tahiti and then flash back. This self-aware commentary on storytelling highlights the artificiality of narrative construction, a theme that resonates with Strickland’s own rejection of societal norms.

2. Themes in the Excerpt ​

A. The Search for Meaning and the Unknowable ​

  • Strickland’s life is a puzzle. The narrator wants to portray him as a defiant, romantic figure ("gallant in his bearing," "dauntless in his soul") setting off for Tahiti at 47, but he struggles to reconcile this image with the harsh realities of Strickland’s later years (his cruelty, his death from leprosy).
  • The contrast between the idealized vision (Strickland as a noble rebel) and the messy reality (his abandonment of his family, his physical decay) reflects the novel’s central tension: Can art or human ambition justify moral transgression?
  • The narrator’s failed attempt to start the story with Strickland’s death suggests that life resists neat narrative arcs. Strickland’s journey is not a triumphant quest but a series of ruptures.

B. The Illusion of Control ​

  • The narrator’s admission that he "could not manage" his preferred structure underscores the unpredictability of art and life. Just as Strickland cannot control the consequences of his actions, the narrator cannot control the telling of his story.
  • The phrase "I could only tell what I knew... in the order in which I learnt the facts" implies that truth is contingent on perspective. The novel becomes a collage of impressions rather than a definitive biography.

C. The Romantic vs. the Brutal ​

  • The narrator is drawn to the romantic image of Strickland sailing away ("the sea gray under the mistral," "vanishing coast of France"), which evokes escape, freedom, and the sublime. This aligns with Gauguin’s real-life mythos as a painter who fled civilization for primal beauty.
  • However, the novel repeatedly undercuts this romanticism. Strickland is not a hero but a flawed, often monstrous figure—his genius does not redeem his cruelty. The tension between these two portrayals is left unresolved.

3. Literary Devices ​

A. Juxtaposition and Contrast ​

  • The opening lines contrast Captain Nichols’ tall tales (colorful but false) with Strickland’s mundane London life ("stocks and shares"). This highlights how Strickland’s legend is built on myth as much as reality.
  • The narrator’s desire to end on a "note of hope" (Strickland’s defiant departure) clashes with the grim reality of his later years, creating irony.

B. Imagery and Symbolism ​

  • The Sea and the Vanishing Coast: The image of Strickland watching France disappear symbolizes irreversible change and the rejection of the past. The "mistral" (a cold wind) and "foam-flecked" waves suggest both turbulence and purification.
  • The "Unconquerable Spirit of Man": This phrase echoes Romantic ideals (e.g., Shelley’s Prometheus Unbound), but the narrator’s inability to sustain this tone subverts the idea of human triumph.

C. First-Person Reflection and Unreliable Narration ​

  • The narrator’s admissions ("I dare say there is not a word of truth," "I could not manage it") make him an unreliable storyteller, which mirrors the novel’s broader questioning of how we construct legends.
  • His shift from an omniscient, artistic vision ("I liked the picture of him") to humble acceptance of limitations ("I could only tell what I knew") reflects the novel’s rejection of grand narratives.

D. Foreshadowing and Structural Irony ​

  • The narrator’s failed attempt to start with Strickland’s death foreshadows the novel’s ambiguous ending. Strickland dies in obscurity, his art unrecognized, yet the narrator (and Maugham) immortalize him through fiction.
  • The irony lies in the fact that Strickland’s life only gains coherence in retrospect, through the narrator’s (and reader’s) interpretation.

4. Significance of the Passage ​

A. The Problem of Biographical Fiction ​

Maugham blurs the line between fact and fiction, raising questions about how we memorialize artists. Strickland/Gauguin’s life is both mythic and sordid, and the novel refuses to simplify him. This reflects modernist skepticism toward heroic biographies (e.g., Victorian "great man" narratives).

B. The Artist as Outsider ​

Strickland’s defiance of convention (leaving his family, embracing poverty) is framed as both admirable and reprehensible. The excerpt captures this duality:

  • The romantic view: He is a bold explorer, breaking free from societal constraints.
  • The realist view: His actions are selfish, and his end is undignified.

C. The Limits of Narrative ​

The narrator’s struggle to shape Strickland’s story mirrors the modernist preoccupation with fragmentation. Unlike traditional biographies, The Moon and Sixpence embraces gaps, contradictions, and unresolved tensions, aligning it with works like The Good Soldier (Ford Madox Ford) or A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Joyce).

D. The Reader’s Role ​

By exposing his narrative choices, Maugham invites the reader to question how stories are constructed. The passage asks:

  • Do we prefer the myth (Strickland as a noble rebel) or the truth (a flawed, often cruel man)?
  • Can art justify personal destruction?

5. Connection to Broader Themes in the Novel ​

  • Art vs. Life: Strickland’s single-minded pursuit of art destroys his relationships, raising the question of whether creative genius excuses moral failure.
  • Colonialism and Primitivism: Strickland’s move to Tahiti reflects the European fascination with the "primitive" as a source of authentic art, but the novel also critiques this as exploitative and naive.
  • The Search for Authenticity: Strickland rejects bourgeois life, but his quest for meaning is ultimately solitary and unfulfilling.

6. Conclusion: Why This Passage Matters ​

This excerpt is a microcosm of the novel’s central concerns:

  1. The instability of truth—Strickland’s life is a puzzle assembled from unreliable sources.
  2. The tension between romance and reality—the narrator wants to mythologize Strickland but is forced to confront his flaws.
  3. The power and limitations of storytelling—the narrator’s failed experiment with structure mirrors Strickland’s own failed attempts to control his life.

Ultimately, the passage reinforces that The Moon and Sixpence is not just about Strickland but about the act of storytelling itself—how we shape chaos into meaning, and how even the most carefully constructed narratives fall short of capturing the complexity of a life.

Would you like a deeper dive into any specific aspect, such as the Gauguin parallels or the novel’s modernist techniques?