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Perhaps, The Moon and Sixpence is not Paul Gauguin's life in novel form. It relies on what the author has known about him, but the author only uses the main events in the story of a famous artist's life. Furthermore, Through the outstanding artistic features in this work, we can feel the human values through the story of a person who dares to give up everything, including his family life, to pursue the goals of his passion. Besides, the author's use the first-person narration methods also helps us to have an overview of the miserable life of artists in contemporary society

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Charles Strickland was a  well-off, middle-class stockbroker living in the 20th century in London. After giving up his job and his family, he moved to Paris, France. At this time, Charles Strickland was fed up with his current life, he realized that he had a desire for painting so he started finding a new job. Because of this, his wife and he separated completely from each other..

Living in Paris was not very easy for him, he was quite poor and unable to afford anything. However, he was still happy and sacrificed his new life. He could work as a painter and express his feelings through his art. Despite lacking many things, he did not seem to be miserable, he always found fun. Luckily, he still had a good friend who was very wealthy, named Dirk Stroeve. This friend took care of him. Besides, Dirk Stroeve was also a painter and highly respected Strickland's skill as a painter.

When Strickland got sick, Stroeve was there to look after him. He nursed him back to his full strength. At that time, Blanche, Stroeve's wife who initially loathed Strickland, began to have special feelings for him and hoped to live in the house with him. After that, Stroeve was too disappointed to leave his home for them.

But Strickland did not accept this, he only wanted Blanche to become the muse for his painting career. Blanche was extremely devastated and decided to suicide. Stroeve and Strickland reunited briefly before they went on their separate paths.

At the end of the story, because of not succeeding in Paris, Strickland continued moving to another place, Tahiti. Strickland took up with a native woman, had two children by her (one of whom died), and started painting profusely. He kept going on painting in his house, where he did some of his best work. Finally, he was revealed to have died of leprosy. After his death, his wife burns down the house along with the paintings, as he had requested.

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There's no exact evidence about the name of the novel, but the author mentioned it many times in his writing. As "the moon" represented art and beauty whilst "the sixpence" symbolized the ordinary, money-centered life.
Charles Strickland - an incredible artist who dares to leave his family, a wealthiness life to pursue his passion as something that keeps motivating him at the age of 40. Money made no mean to him just art.
He is such a brave and weird person - that is why he was an artist. We only live once so do not stop chasing our dreams.

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Charles Strickland in " The Moon and Sixpence" made a great impression through his intense passion for art. He wants to create beauty, which leads to various changes in his rough and tumbles life. His passion for creating artwork had been chasing him from when he was a little boy until the age of forty, so he is willing to sacrifice his family, his fame, and money in order to pursue his dream without hindrance. With dependent characteristics and a strong personality, he confidently faced any bad or good attitudes from other people because he did not care about what others thought about him. He is such an obviously true artist because he could dare to fight for his own way. No matter how other people evaluate his work and his behaviors toward his relationship, in art, he is considered as a man with endless desires and non-stopping passion in his heart.

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Charles Strickland has dedicated his life to pursuing a genuine passion for art. But it was also because of this art that he had to lose many things and pay a heavy price.

At first Charles Strickland left his wife and children then went to Paris with an eye finding and fulfilling his artistic dream. Ignoring the criticism, detractors and opinions of the crowd, Charles Strickland believed that the artistic dream was extremely more valuable and worthy than everything in the world.

After losing his family, Charles Strickland's next price to pay was the death of Blanche Strove. Blanche and Charles had a love affair. Blanche always expected and yearned for a love of her own, but for Charles she was just a model to paint, not serious companionship. Because of carrying so much disappointment and grief, she committed suicide. This is also considered to be the biggest tragedy in the novel.

However, the tragedies that Strickland caused were not entirely his fault. It also derived in part from the differing views of beauty by Charles Strickland and others.  Like the fact that he gave up his family to follow his passion for art, partly because he and his first wife did not have a mutual understanding. Mrs. Strickland considered Charles’ paintings as decorative pieces. She didn’t see the beauty like him. He insulted Blanche because he thought she was incapable of recognizing true beauty. Blanche wanted to go further in the relationship with Charles Strickland and was willing to live with him. However Charles considered love to be  insignificant and had no emotions with Blanche.
The novel could show us the devotion of a man to art and beauty, his sacrifice and finally his grief. The end Charles had to receive was something he never thought of when he started. That’s him being blind and living a miserable life.

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1. Biography summary
William Somerset Maugham (25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English playwright, novelist, and short-story writer.
2. Childhood and education
·      Maugham was the fourth of six sons born in his family.

·      Maugham lost both parents at a very early age after which he was sent to the UK to live with his uncle.

·      He was sent to the King's school in Canterbury.

·      At the age of 16, he refused to continue his education at the King's school. His uncle let him travel to Germany where he studied at Heidelberg University.

·      He qualified as a doctor in 1897.
3. Career

· He wrote his first novel 'Liza of Lambeth’ (1897). The book became an instant success, which made him give up medicine and take up writing as a full-time career.

· By 1914 Maugham served in France as a member of the British Red Cross called "Literary Ambulance Drivers," a group of some 23 well-known writers.

· In June, 1917 he was asked by Sir William Wiseman, chief of the British SIS, to undertake a special mission in Russia.

· Maugham made his spying experiences into a collection of short stories about a gentlemanly, sophisticated, aloof spy, Ashenden.

· By 1940, he was already one of the most famous writers in the English-speaking world, and one of the wealthiest.
4.Significant Works:
Of Human Bondage (1915)
The Moon and Sixpence (1919)
Cakes and Ale (1930)
The Razor’s Edge (1944)

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The Moon and Sixpence, a novel by W. Somerset Maugham. It was published in 1919. W.S. Maugham wrote this work based on part of the biography of the French painter Paul Gauguin and after he returned from a tour of the island of Tahiti. A novel that relies somewhat upon autobiographical materials used in Of Human Bondage. At age forty, decides to become an artist, ruthlessly throwing over everything to pursue his ambition, and succeeding. Thus we see Strickland's empty soul. The novel falls into four parts, each one centered in an important location: London, Paris, Marseilles, and Tahiti

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1. Charles Strickland: a well-off, middle-class stockbroker living in the 20th century in London. Being fed up with his current life, he decided to give up everything to find a new job in painting.

2. Amy Strickland: Charles’ wife, a typical housewife in middle-class society. Amy was a type of traditional woman unable to live happily without her husband. She had spent her whole life staying at home and taking care of her husband and her children until they separated completely.

3. Dirk Stroeve: a good friend of Charles Strickland. He took care of Charles during the time he was in Paris. Besides, he also respected Charles’ skill as a painter. When he realized that his wife wanted to live under the same roof as Charles, he was too disappointed to leave his house for them.

4. Blanche Stroeve: Dirk’s wife, a sweet-tempered and good-natured woman.  They treated each other with respect, without love. She had to take care of Charles while he got sick. This made her find that she felt relaxed when taking care of Charles, so she wanted to live with him. Finally, Charles only wanted her to become his muse, so she decided to suicide.