The Man Who Seek His Moon

【Abstract】The Moon and Sixpence is a book created by William Somerset Maugham and based on the famous French impressionism Paul Gauguins legendary life. The protagonist （Charles Strickland） in the book is a stock broker， one day he abandoned his superior job and left his perfect family to pursue a far ideal of painting. This paper aims to discuss Stricklands complex characters and image features and analyze them.

【Key words】The Moon and Sixpence； humanity； contrast； Freud； ideal

【摘要】《月亮和六便士》是英國小說家和戲劇家威廉·薩默賽特·毛姆所著，該書的主人公以法國著名后印象派大師高更為原型，情節也取材于其生平。講述了主人公斯特里克蘭拋棄了原本穩固的工作，離開了美滿的家庭，放棄了優越的生活，輾轉流徙，甚至食不果腹，執著追求繪畫的理想。本文主旨在于探討男主人公復雜的人物性格和形象特點并對其進行分析。

【關鍵詞】《月亮和六便士》 人性 對比分析 弗洛伊德 理想

1. Introduction

1.1 The background of the research

The Moon and Sixpence express the condition between the social reality and the pursuit of humanity freedom. The core in the book is not only the conflict between reality and ideal but also the internal exploration and complexity of human nature.

The moon and sixpence （1919） is a famous novel after the semi-autobiographical novel Of Human Bondage （1915） of Maugham.

1.2 The purpose and significance of the study

The creative motif of The Moon and Sixpence is human nature， revealing the complexity， evil and strange of human nature， at the same time longing for a kind of the otherworldly self-improvement in personality.

2.1 The creation background of The Moon and Sixpence

2.1.1 The social background

During The Industrial Revolution， Many small town became cities， the growing population and flow of goods contributed to the birth of the railway， which in turn accelerate the process of urbanization. Age of peace provide the necessary objective conditions to the vigorous development of Victorian literature.

The characters of the novel are ordinary civilians， the background of the novel is setting in real places.

2.1.2 William Somerset Maugham

William Somerset Maugham （1874-1965） was born in the British Embassy in Paris on 25th January， 1874. Maugham had taken a happy child life. But when he was eight his mother died in tuberculosis and two years. Maugham was sent to his uncle. “He had developed a bad stammer which made him painfully self-conscious” （Selena Hastings， 2015）. He used these experiences to write his first novel Liza of Lambeth （1897）.

The books popularity contributed Maugham to abandon medicine and become a full-time writer. Maughams best-known novel Of Human Bondage （1915） was published during the war. But this book had not succeeded since his another famous work The Moon and Sixpence （1919） met public.

2.2 The brief introduction of The Moon and Sixpence

Strickland， a British typical broker with solid career and status and a happy family. But he abruptly abandoned all of he possessed to pursue his art ideal.

Strickland finally left the civilized world to a isolated island Tahiti， a place where he found the atmosphere suitable for his soul and art and created countless masterpieces that would shocked the later generations.

3. Theoretical Basis

3.1 Freuds theory of personality structure

Freuds theory of personality （2011） consists of the “levels of consciousness， the nature of human beings and the source of human motivation， the structure of personality and the development of personality.”

3.2 The reflection to Charles Strickland of Freuds theory

3.2.1 Ego first

The ego is called the executive branch of personality because it uses reasoning to make decisions. It must meet the needs of the Id and considers the reality of the situation as well.

Strickland lives in his way and suppresses the desire， so in this stage he is the ego complying with the reality principle.

3.2.2 Id second

In Freuds （2011） view， the Id is totally unconscious， it has no contact with reality. Controlled by id， Stricklands instinct desire is urgently need to be released and satisfied. The id in Stricklands personality structure is playing a role when he is in Paris.

3.2.3 Superego last

The superego represents societys restrictions and produces guilt and an ego ideal. Think of the Superego as what we often refer to as our “conscience”. The superego aims for perfection.

4. Research Methodology

4.1 Comparative analysis approach

Comparative analysis approach， also named contrast method is a syntactic construction that serves to express a comparison between two （or more） things or groups of things. A major artistic technique used in drama commonly. There are three general contrasts：character comparison， scene comparison， detail comparison.

4.2 Research route

4.2.1 The objects of comparison

In the Moon and sixpence， there is another painter who is absolutely different from the protagonist. Dirk Stroeve， His paintings are favored by art dealer. Charles Strickland is a dull typical broker before leaving his family. When the desire of painting cant be depressed， he decisively abandons his family.

4.2.2 The comparison on the artistic talent

Stroeve would have been a carpenter as his fathers will， his paintings， are also reflected this vulgar world. “Though his works are hackneyed and vulgar but he has a delicate feeling and acute criticism to others work” （Maugham， 2016）.

4.3 Research analysis

Strickland loves art and is willing to abandon all to pursue the Art Country of his spirit. He loves the material world and his greatest pursuit is harmoniously coexistence with the material world.

Stroeves admiration to Strickland reflects the desire of the material world to establishing the spiritual home. It also shows the serious interference and disruption to the human spirit from materialistic world.

5. Research Value

5.1 The contradiction of the western social values in early 20th century

The uncertainty of Maughams moral position in the moon and sixpence actually is the ambivalence reflection of his exploration and development between the modern western civilization and the human personality， or wavering between social reality and life ideal. He has revealed his deep understanding of the unknowable human nature.

5.2 The discussion to human nature and fate of the book

In the end of the moon and sixpence， Maugham （2016） wrote：

The name of the novel just represents the opposition between the two. The moon and sixpence takes this title from a fair review Times Literary Supplement of August 12， 1915. How to choose between the moon and sixpence， the narrator is inconclusive， just carefully says：

“I suppose it depends on what meaning you attach to life， the claim which you acknowledge to society， and the claim of the individual” （Maugham， 2016）.

6. Conclusion

6.1 Results of the research

The moon and sixpence summarizes all the exploration and reveal as human nature. The characters are not flat but exist harmoniously in society and showing their different appearance to different people. Maugham makes people realized clearly about the truth and complexities of human soul when digging the evil in human nature.

6.2 Limitation and future expectation of the study

Because of the space and time， the image analysis of Strickland in this paper is not comprehensive or deep enough. It just analyzes from psychology and comparison of objects to make judgment. Either condemns his inferior personality and scorn to women， or praise his spirit detached and extraordinary life. Though not comprehensive and deep enough， this paper still has drawn out some fragment of the complicated human nature.

References：

[1]Freud，S.（2011）.The Ego and the Id.Shanghai：Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.

[2]Geoffrey，C.（1977）.The Lower Middle Class in Britain 1870-1914.London：Croom Helm.

[3]Hastings，S.（2015）.The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham.Hefei：Anhui Literature and Art Press.

[4]Morgan，K O.（2008）.Twentieth-Century Britain.Beijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.

[5]Maugham，W S.（2016）.The moon and sixpence.Nanjing：Yilin Press.

作者簡介：蔡明玨（2000.9-），女，研究方向：語言學湖北武漢人，就讀湖北鄂南高中，學生。