I know that suffering does not ennoble a man, but humbles him. It makes people selfish, lewd, narrow-minded, and suspicious. He draws attention to small things, which do not make man above himself, but he does not make man true man; I have cruelly written that we learn obedience not from our own suffering, but from the suffering of others.
William Somerset Maugham.
William Somerset Maugham, British family and dramatist. Born in Paris on January 25, 1874. His father was a lawyer and was working at the British Embassy in France. When Maugham was less than ten years old, his parents died, and he was sent back to England to be raised by his uncle. After Maugham entered Canterbury Royal College, he was often bullied and tortured by other children due to his short stature and severe stuttering, and sometimes he was unjustifiably humiliated by the winter baker. The lonely and bleak childhood life cast a painful shadow on his young mind, and developed his withdrawn, sensitive, and introverted character, but it also made him strong and compassionate. His childhood experiences had an important impact on his worldview and literary creation, and many of his subsequent works revealed a profound analysis of life, art, and faith.
The Moon and Sixpence is a full-length novel by Maugham, written in 1919. Based on the life of the French post-impressionist painter Paul Gauguin, the work depicts the story of Strickland, an ordinary London ** agent, who suddenly fell into the magic of art, abandoned his wife and children, and abandoned the life that others seemed to be prosperous and happy, and went to Tahiti in the South Pacific, composing his brilliant life with a brush, and injecting all the value of life into the splendid canvas. He didn't care about the entanglement of poverty and the torture of illness, but regretted that he never patronized his consciousness. The work expresses the contradiction between genius, individuality and material civilization, as well as modern marriage and family life, with a broad perspective of life, with a scalpel that exudes the smell of disinfectant water, a sharp dissection of human nature wrapped in skin, mixed with the humor and cruel gaze of the spectator.
Maugham delved into the contradictions and interactions between life and art. **The theme of escapism revealed coincides with the pursuit of many people in the West, and it has become a sensation in the literary world with its fascinating plot and profound text, and people are vying to see it. The prototype of this ** is the French post-impressionist painter Gauguin, which adds to its legend, which has attracted the attention of readers all over the world and has become popular in the 20th century**.
Maugham's Gauguin-inspired "The Moon and Sixpence" is undoubtedly more apocryphal than true. "Over the next decade, Gauguin believed that he would finally be able to enjoy the fruits of his success and reunite his family. Comparing ** with reality, it can be found that Gauguin's pursuit of painting has its causal relationship and process development, while Strickland's exodus is very abrupt and too intense, coupled with the author's use of fictional plot and narrative techniques, it has created an artist in the so-called pure sense who does not understand human feelings and does not eat the fireworks of the world.
Compared with Gauguin's escape, the departure of the protagonist Strickland does not conform to the logic of reality at all, and it is even more incomprehensible to the reader. In fact, there are deeper reasons for Maugham's purpose in writing. That is, the virtual gratification of Maugham's self-desire.
The sixpence was the smallest unit of silver in England at the time, and a friend joked with Maugham that people often forgot the sixpence at their feet when looking up at the moon. The moon represents the ideal that stands high, and the sixpence represents reality.
Pencil Head argues that Strickland is not pursuing painting, but the state or feeling in the process of painting. Let's put it in one sentence: Strickland is not pursuing ideals, he is pursuing life, the kind of life he wants. Let's string that concept together a little bit more. What is ideal? Strickland's understanding of the ideal is that the ideal is not what kind of masterpiece I paint, but that I live the kind of life I want to live, and then get the kind of self I want. In this way, we can understand why painting is not important to him. He paints a picture with paint, and the painting doesn't mean anything to him. Why? That's what we call "results." Strickland said: It is all the product of our life, the derivative of life, and what I want is life itself. What is life itself? It's about living the life you want to live and being who you want to be! That's the ideal itself!
What do you think? The moon and sixpence, how to choose?
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