"Some people only saw the moon in the sky when they were young, but they never saw the sixpence. Now we still see the moon in the sky, but we stand on the ground looking up at the night sky. And when our love is not a fantasy, we find that the reality illuminated by the moonlight is also beautiful. But when we talked about how happy our life was, we never felt happy at that time. The most important thing is to know how to make ourselves happy in the new life. "
In the summer vacation, I read Maugham's The Moon and Sixpence, and had to admit that Maugham deserved to be called the "best storyteller".
The moon and sixpence has always revolved around such a theme, that is, Strickland's strange life, what he is pursuing. Strickland became pitiful after the story was told from a disgusting guy at the beginning. The process of change is like a process of human growth.
Maugham interprets the life of Strickland, the protagonist, with two symbols of "the moon" and "sixpence". Penny is the lowest value coin in Britain. It represents the reality and lowliness, while the moon represents the loftiness.
Now it seems that Strickland's story is more inspiring in the real context. Nowadays, few people can give up everything in order to realize their dreams like him. He used extreme methods to explain the importance of dreams in his heart. Under the ordinary appearance of this person created by Maugham, there is always a pure heart burning. In the end, his dream came true, which was great. Although the cost was so great, he even spent his life for it, such as the burnt out candle, which faded and extinguished quickly after the dream came true. Maybe he can live a life as ordinary people and enjoy his old age. But he chose a dream and a tragedy.
The moon and sixpence, ideal and reality, as Maugham said, if you are busy looking for the sixpence on the ground, you will not look up at the sky, and you will miss the moon. The "moon" is beautiful and distant, just like the dream that people pursue, but the process of pursuing may be lonely, or even get nothing in the end; "Sixpence" symbolizes secular and trivial life, but it also has its existence value. What do you want is the "moon" or "sixpence"?