Summary 10

The Moon and Sixpence

(by W Somerset Maugham)

Strickland invites Crabbe up to his apartment, to see his paintings. Crabbe looks forward to it, since Strickland never lets anyone else see his work. Strickland tells him where to stand and to be quiet and then sets painting after painting on the easel. He leaves each one on the easel for a few minutes, and Crabbe can see that in six years, Strickland has made about thirty paintings. Crabbe is disappointed, because he has been expecting something really special. Instead, he finds Strickland's style clumsy and awkward, and he does not like the paintings. He does, however, sense something powerful struggling to come out. Crabbe suggests that perhaps painting is not the way to express the ideas and feelings that Strickland is trying to convey. Crabbe does not even once consider buying one of the paintings.