# LVIII explained — The Moon and Sixpence

> Chapter companion for The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham.

## What happens

The narrator departs Tahiti, receiving gifts from Tiaré and others, and returns to London. He visits Mrs. Strickland, now a widow living in comfort, who is being interviewed by American critic Mr. Van Busche Taylor about her late husband. Mrs. Strickland displays reproductions of Strickland's paintings, claiming them as decorative and a consolation. The narrator meets her grown children, Robert (a clergyman and soldier) and her daughter (now Mrs. Ronaldson), and recounts Strickland's death in Tahiti, omitting Ata and their son. Robert quotes scripture about divine justice, while the narrator reflects on Strickland's other son by Ata, imagining his free life on a schooner in the Pacific.

## Themes in this chapter

### The Meaning of Greatness

Mrs. Strickland positions herself as the wife of a genius, while the narrator contrasts her conventional life with Strickland's true artistic legacy and his other son's freedom.

### Convention vs. Individuality

Mrs. Strickland's polite, socially acceptable version of her marriage clashes with Strickland's rebellious, unconventional life; the narrator silently contrasts Robert's pious conformity with Ata's son's untamed existence.

## Character check-ins

### The Narrator

Departs Tahiti, returns to London, visits Mrs. Strickland, and recounts Strickland's final years.

### Mrs. Strickland

Now a widow in her late fifties, living comfortably on Campden Hill; she entertains Mr. Van Busche Taylor and presents herself as the wife of a genius, while subtly rewriting her marital history.

### Charles Strickland

Deceased; his paintings are reproduced on Mrs. Strickland's walls, and his life in Tahiti is discussed, though his second family is omitted.

### Rev. Robert Strickland

Mrs. Strickland's son, now a clergyman and soldier recommended for the Military Cross; he quotes scripture about divine justice after hearing of his father's death.

### Mr. Van Busche Taylor

An American critic writing about Strickland; he interviews Mrs. Strickland and praises the decorative quality of great art.

### Tiaré Johnson

Bids the narrator farewell at the dock in Tahiti, giving him pearls and guava-jelly.

## Key lines

> The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceeding small

Divine justice may be slow, but it is inevitable and precise.

_Robert Strickland quotes this proverb after hearing of his father's death, implying that Strickland's fate was a form of retribution._

> Great art is always decorative.

True art serves an ornamental purpose.

_Mr. Van Busche Taylor expresses this conviction, which Mrs. Strickland echoes, reflecting a superficial understanding of Strickland's work._

> I saw him dance with another lad, dance wildly, to the wheezy music of the concertina. Above was the blue sky, and the stars, and all about the desert of the Pacific Ocean.

The narrator imagines Strickland's son by Ata dancing freely on a schooner under the vast Pacific sky.

_This vision contrasts sharply with the constrained, respectable life of Strickland's English children._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/chapters/lviii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_moon_and_sixpence_se/chapters