Human nature concepts and perspectives

Human Nature in Moon and Sixpence

In Moon and Sixpence by William Somerset Maugham, the main character learns a lot about human nature. Charles Strickland abandons his family to find success for himself as an artist, leaving England to pursue the life of a bohemian in Paris. Success does not come quickly to Strickland, nor is it very easy to define. Though he has great skill as an artist, he shows less skill in the way he deals with people. The way he treats people makes a great impression on the narrator of the novel, who is writing this after Strickland's death. It is not always clear what observations of the narrator's pertain directly to the story of Strickland that he is telling, but what is certain is that through his examination of the life of this fictional painter, the narrator learns a great deal not just about the artist's temperament, but about human nature at large.

One observation that the narrator makes early in the novel is that "the faculty for myth is innate in the human race." This is said in the first chapter, and is used in a way to set up the story and introduce the narrator's fascination with Strickland. Due to the novel's construction, it is not at all specious to suggest that this is a realization that the narrator comes to in his research and telling of Strickland's story; rather, because the novel is told in a manner of looking back at the past incidents of Strickland's life, this could actually be seen as one of the most profound self-realizations that the narrator comes to. Like Strickland himself, the narrator becomes obsessed with an almost mythical lifestyle. Strickland actually pursues this life, whereas the narrator only reports on it, but the narrator recognizes its prevalence throughout humanity.

Near the beginning of Strickland's story, but over a quarter of the way through the book, the narrator comes to another very important realization about human nature, though he does not state it explicitly. Upon arriving in London and informing Mrs. Strickland that her husband does not plan to return, the narrator notes: "now that I had seen Strickland in Paris it was difficult to imagine him in those surroundings. I thought it could hardly have failed to strike them that there was something incongruous in him." This shows the lengths which people are willing to go to fool themselves; Strickland lived for many years as a stockbroker, unwilling to see the "incongruities" of his personality to such a life until very recently. The two women in this scene, Mrs. Strickland and her sister, also fool themselves -- Mrs. Strickland imagines that no one could have been as supportive as her, whereas her sister refuses to believe that Strickland even wants to paint in the first place. Both women would rather construct a reality that fits their expectations than to absorb new information honestly and fairly.