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The Moon And Sixpence Character Analysis Essay

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“I confess that when first I made acquaintance with Charles Strickland I never for a moment discerned that there was in him anything out of the ordinary”. The first line of The Moon and Sixpence is the narrators take on the protagonist. He says this not in hopes of influencing his readers but to just state a fact. In a story the narrator’s job is introduce us, the readers, to all the characters and settings and ensure that the plot resumes in flow. W. Somerset Maugham’s ‘The Moon and Sixpence” is one such novel where the narrator plays a paramount role. His perception of the characters and his relationship with them determine the biographical qualities of this novel. “The Moon and Sixpence is a story about story-telling”, says J. David Macey …show more content…

There are actually several narrators in The Moon and Sixpence: the anonymous biographer, Rose Waterford, Mrs. Strickland, Colonel MacAndrew, Dirk Stroeve. Each tells a different story about the painter who recedes into increasing obscurity as the novel progresses. By the end of it, the novel is not about Strickland at all, nor is it the story of the anonymous narrator or of Somerset Maugham or of Paul Gauguin. It is a story about story-telling, and it raises important questions about the role of narrative in both discovering and concealing the "truth" about its subject. This is where the enchantment and disenchantment come. After all the two are perceptions of what truth is, could be and will be. One can only fathom, what it is to write about the life of a genius. Is the ultimate work of a lifetime a key to understanding a man’s life? And if so, what happens if that piece is burnt to the ground. Does is it hinder our perception of understanding the true character? Maugham’s attempt at the biography of Strickland brings out only his own ideas of the magical and the mystical with the interlink/relation with logic and

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