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Similes
Chapters 1–16
Explanation and Analysis—Obsession with Strickland:
The narrator’s obsession with Strickland throughout the novel, regardless of his opinion about Strickland's immoral character, is an example of situational irony:
I confess that time has now accustomed me to incidents of this character among my acquaintance. But I was a little shocked. Strickland was certainly forty, and I thought it disgusting that a man of his age should concern himself with affairs of the heart. With the superciliousness of extreme youth, I put thirty-five as the utmost limit at which a man might fall in love without making a fool of himself.
Despite his clear distaste for Strickland’s morals and treatment of others, the narrator continues to worship Strickland. He witnesses Mrs. Strickland's grief and dire financial state and stands by while Strickland acts cruelly toward Stroeve. Even though the narrator was mistaken in the excerpt above about Strickland's "affairs of the heart," he still admires Strickland's immorality in the name of art. This same irony is also demonstrated in the final chapter, when the narrator tells Robert Strickland of his father's death. Even though Robert despises his father for abandoning his family, the narrator's respect for Strickland does not falter. Through a biblical allusion, the narrator actually compares Robert to the devil over his father.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—An Honest Broker:
When the narrator first meets Strickland at a dinner party, he is markedly unimpressed by him. This dull first impression is a point of major situational irony in the novel:
It was obvious that he had no social gifts, but these a man can do without; he had no eccentricity even, to take him out of the common run; he was just a good, dull, honest, plain man. One would admire his excellent qualities, but avoid his company. He was null. He was probably a worthy member of society, a good husband and father, an honest broker; but there was no reason to waste one’s time over him.
At Mrs. Strickland's dinner party, the narrator judges Strickland not only for his purportedly dull character but also for his "commonplace appearance." Describing him in an insulting manner, the narrator states that Strickland "wore his evening clothes clumsily" and that he was "not good-looking, and yet not ugly."
The narrator's entire impression is ironic, though, because he is writing this portrait with the hindsight knowledge that Strickland is an artistic genius. At this moment, the reader already knows that The Moon and Sixpence is a novel about the great artistic journey of Strickland, so this dull first impression comes across as almost humorous. With further knowledge of Strickland's family abandonment and artistic endeavors, the reader understands that Strickland is neither a plain man nor a worthy member of society.
