Chapter XLVIII

...Strickland made no particular impression on the people who came in contact with him in Tahiti. To them he was no more than a beach-comber¹ in constant need of money, remarkable only for the peculiarity that he painted pictures which seemed to them absurd; and it was not till he had been dead for some years and agents came from the dealers in Paris and Berlin to look for any pictures which might still remain on the island, that they had any idea that among them had dwelt a man of consequence. They remembered then that' they could have bought for a song canvases which now were worth large sums, and they could not forgive themselves for the opportunity which had escaped them. There was a Jewish trader called Cohen, who had come by one of Strickland's pictures in a singular way. He was a little old Frenchman, with soft kind eyes and a pleasant smile, half trader and half seaman, who owned a cutter in which he wandered boldly among the Paumotus and the Marquesas, taking out trade goods and bringing back copra, shell and pearls². I went to see him because I was told he had a large black pearl which he was willing to sell cheaply, and when I discovered that it was beyond my means I began to talk to him about Strickland. He had known him well. "You see, I was interested in him because he was a painter," he told me. "We don't get many painters in the islands³, and I was sorry for him because he was such a bad one. I gave him his first job. I had a plantation on the peninsula, and I wanted a white overseer. You never get any work out of the natives unless you have a white man over them. I said to him: 'You'll have plenty of time for painting, and you can earn a bit of money.' I knew he was starving, but I offered him good wages⁴."

"I can't imagine that he was a very satisfactory overseer," I said, smiling.

"I made allowances. I have always had a sympathy for artists. It is in our blood, you know. But he only remained a few months."

When he had enough money to buy paints and canvases he left me. The place had got hold of him by then⁵, and he wanted to get away into the bush³. But I continued to see him now and then. He would turn up in Papeete every few months and stay a little while; he'd get money out of someone or other³ and then disappear again. It was on one of these visits that he came to me and asked for the loan of two hundred francs. He looked as if he hadn't had a meal for a week and I hadn't the heart to refuse him. Of course, I never expected to see my money again. Well, a year later he came to see me once more, and he brought a picture with him. He did not mention the money owed me, but he said: 'Here is a picture of your plantation that I've painted for you.' I looked at it. I did not know what to say, but of course I thanked him, and when he had gone away I showed it to my wife."

"What was it like?" I asked.

"Do not ask me. I could not make head or tail of it⁵. I never saw such a thing in my life. 'What shall we do with it?' I said to my wife. 'We can never hang it up,' she said. 'People would laugh at us.' So she took it into an attic and put it away with all sorts of rubbish, for my wife can never throw anything away. It is her mania. Then, imagine to yourself, just before the war my brother wrote to me from Paris and said: 'Do you know anything about an English painter who lived in Tahiti? It appears that he was a genius⁶, and his pictures fetch large prices. See if you can lay your hands on anything and send it to me. There's money to be made.' So I said to my wife: 'What about that picture that Strickland gave me? Is it possible that it is still in the attic?' 'Without doubt,' she answered, 'for you know that I never throw anything away. It is my mania.' We went up to the attic, and there, among I know not what rubbish that had been gathered during the thirty years we have inhabited that house, was the picture I looked at it again, and I said: 'Who would have thought that the overseer of my plantation on the peninsula, to whom I lent two hundred francs, had genius? Do you see anything in the picture?' 'No,' she said, 'it does not resemble the plantation and I have never seen cocoa-nuts with blue leaves; but they are mad in Paris, and it may be that your brother will be able to sell it for the two hundred francs you lent Strickland.' Well, we packed it up and we sent it to my brother. And at last I received a letter from him. What do you think he said? 'I received your picture,' he said, 'and I confess I thought it was a joke that you had played on me. I would not have given the cost of postage for the picture. I was half afraid to show it to the gentleman who had spoken to me about it. Imagine my surprise when he said it was a masterpiece, and offered me thirty thousand francs. I dare say he would have paid more, but frankly I was so taken aback that I lost my head⁵; I accepted the offer before I was able to collect myself."

Then Monsieur Cohen said an admirable thing.

"I wish that poor Strickland had been still alive. I wonder what he would have said when I gave him twenty-nine thousand eight hundred francs for his picture."

COMMENTARY

1. To them he was no more than a beach-comber... They remembered then that they could have bought for a song canvases which now were worth large sums...

S. Maugham selects his words with great precision. The use of the slang expression "beach-comber" and the colloquial expression "buy for a song", more fit for casual discourse than for the author's narration, turn the passage from an unemotional account of facts into a vividly drawn picture. The lines are suggestive of the disappointment of those who had known Strickland, might have got his pictures but failed to do it. The author subtly shows that they regretted not the loss of a work of art, but the loss of money.

2. He was a little old Frenchman, with soft kind eyes and a pleasant smile, half trader and half seaman, who owned a cutter in which he wandered boldly among the Paumotus and the Marquesas, taking out trade goods and bringing back copra, shell and pearls.

The words "copra", "shell", "pearls" and some others give an idea of the occupation of the people of the island. These words as well as the proper names "the Paumotus" and "the Marquesas" help create a local colour, the atmosphere of the place that was the setting for the events described.

3. We don't get many painters in the islands...

The place had got hold of him by then, and he wanted to get away into the bush.

...he'd get money out of someone or other...

Maugham's vocabulary is highly colloquial, which means alongside with other things a repetitive use of a small number of words conveying different meanings. To these belong such words as "get", "fix", "do", "go", "thing", "business", "jolly", "lovely", "nice", etc.

The selection under study is illustrative of the use of the verb "get".

4. I knew he was starving, but I offered him good wages.

The use of the conjunction "but", which contrasts one statement with another, is of interest here. It seems that "and" would be more logical. However, "but" here is expressive of the psychology of a bourgeois who takes it for granted that if his fellow-citizen is in need, he should be exploited and not helped.

5. The place had got hold of him by then... I could not make head or tail of it. I was so taken aback that I lost my head, etc.

An abundant use of colloquial expressions and idioms is a feature of Maugham's style. They serve to make the dialogue "natural" and the characters "living" as the author himself put it. Maugham is considered to be a perfect storyteller who usually has a firm grip on the reader's interest. This is partly achieved through the language, which is lively and emotional.

The narration assumes the character of an informal talk between the writer and the reader. The phraseological combinations lend an additional expressiveness to the language since they are usually more emotional than a mere stating of facts in plain terms.

6. It appears that he was a genius...

Note a matter-of-fact tone in which the statement is made. It would be more appropriate to a statement of a different kind — something like "It appears he was an Englishman"; "It appears he was a doctor".

As it is, it subtly underlines Maugham's amusement with the ways of the world, his irony at the way talent is regarded.

DISCUSSION OF THE TEXT

1. In what tenor is the extract written (dry, matter-of-fact, ironical, pathetic)?

2. What clue to Strickland's character does the extract contain? Did he value the material well-being or was he possessed by his passion for painting to the exclusion of everything else? What was his attitude towards the people he came in contact with? What impression did he produce on them? Was he very scrupulous in his dealings with them?

3. How does the author sketch the old trader's portrait? What elements enter into its composition? What is the author's attitude towards the old man? How is it revealed, in the epithets employed to characterize him?

4. How does the author project himself into the narration?

5. What created a change in public opinion of Strickland's pictures in Tahiti? Was it the realization of their artistic merits or the money that they could fetch?

6. What did the old trader and his wife think of the picture before Strickland died and became renowned? Did they think much of the picture afterwards? Did they try to conceal their feelings?

7. Where can we feel the subtle undercurrent of the author's irony? What was the primary demerit of the picture as set forth by M. Cohen's wife? Why could they not hang up the picture? What makes the author's attitude towards such narrow approach to art evident?

8. Note the choice of words in which the characters of the book qualify Strickland's pictures. How do they accentuate the contrast between the real value of the canvases and their evaluation by the man — in — the — street?

9. How many times is the word "money" reiterated? How could you account for the repeated use of this word, which acquires the character of a refrain in the selection under study?

10. How does the syntactical pattern of sentences assist the author in expressing his sarcasm at the short-sightedness, at the limitation of the public understanding of art? Note the use of emphatic constructions.

11. Give a summary of your comments on the extract. State it message.

12. Prepare the analysis of the extract, using word combinations and sentences from Part III and according to a given scheme from Appendix 1.

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By William Somerset Maugham (1874—1965)	\|	IV. Word combinations and sentences for stylistic analysis

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