English literature

Question

Has anyone read " the moon and sixpence" - William somerset maugham ?Can you comment on the narrator's feeling about Strickland at the end of chapter 41?

Agarista · Accepted Answer

It has been such a long time since I read it and I don't have the book with me to reread chapter 41. The narrator's idea about the main character undergoes a change.I would say that his feelings towards Strickland are mixed; he dislikes him and all at once is fascinated by him.Or perhaps this is how I felt about him...<img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>Why don't you give it a try, the answer is in the book.

Dieulinh · Answer

Ok...thank you so much. I am trying to understand his feeling. Cause it is important for me to analyse this novel.

Agarista · Answer

Just trust yourself. Which other books have you read by Maugham? I just finished "Of human bondage",.and a while ago I read "The razor's edge". As different as these books are, there is a similarity in the characters and what they seek. My favorite by far is "Of human bondage". Maybe because it is still recent in my heart and mind. There's a part in it about El Greco's art that left a big impression on me.
Good luck with your essay.

Dieulinh · Answer

Thanks so much

! This is the first novel of maugham i have read. I will try reading " Of human bondage", sound interesting from you. ^_^
Cause one of subjects i study is english literature, so it doesn't focus on one author with his or her novels.

Anonymous · Answer

First, the name itself, "Charles Strickland." The names Maughm gives his characters are no accident; they are an indication of the person's personality and how the author feels about them. For example, if Maughm doesn't like someone (Maughm's works are largely drawn from his life experience, and so the characters are in some way based on actual people), he'll give him an unpleasant name. Here the connection with "strict land" cannot be missed. Strickland is from "strict" England and goes to a "less strict" place to work. Perhaps the narrator/author is saying that where Strickland is from can ultimately blamed for his shortcomings.

As for how the author feels about Strickland, he seems to lay it out in the first paragraph of chapt. 1: "...when first I made acquaintance with Charles Strickland I never for a moment discerned that there was in him anything out of the ordinary. Yet now few will be found to deny his greatness...He disturbs and arrests...one thing can never be doubtful...he had genius. To pursue his secret is a riddle...having no answer...Strickland's works suggest a personality which is strange, tormented, and complex..." Perhaps Maughm see in Strickland something of himself, because Maughm himself was "strange, tormented, and complex."

Agarista · Answer

Anonymous:(Maughm's works are largely drawn from his life experience, and so the characters are in some way based on.

I agree with you. This is true for all forms of art, they are all derived from personal experience,regardless how abstract they may seem. A book (if honest) reflects the author's soul. Yet, there is a slight difference between author and narrator.

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