Summary
The final part of the novel follows the narrator as he reconstructs the events of Strickland's life after leaving Paris. He describes the periods of time he spent in Marseilles and Tahiti. The narrator again describes the difficulty in writing about Strickland, saying that he was a truly "odious" man whose passions were almost entirely wrapped up in his otherworldly artistic ambitions. He also notes that his story lacks certain key details, as he never actually saw Strickland painting in his studio or spending time with Blanche. He adds that Strickland showed shockingly little interest in other painters save for Bruegel, Chardin, and Rembrandt.
The narrator travels to Tahiti, describing it as beautiful in its green lushness. He encounters a man named Captain Nichols, a rugged seafarer who enjoys telling stories. Nichols recounts his brief acquaintance with Strickland in Marseilles. The two would frequently drink together and spend time on the beach. He enjoyed Strickland's company greatly and they often went to various bars. The narrator notes that many of these establishments sounded seedy and dangerous. One day, Strickland has a confrontation with a man named "Tough Bill" on the beach over some official documents. Later that evening the two have a brawl in a bar. Bill spits in Strickland's face and Strickland responds by hurling a glass at him. Nichols warns Strickland that he would be wise to get out of Marseilles before Bill recuperates and leaves the hospital. Strickland manages to catch a boat departing for Australia. Nichols says this departure is the final time he saw Strickland. The narrator notes that Nichols' story may have had some inaccuracies, as he was fond of telling tall tales.
The narrator lives at a hotel called Hotel de la Fleur and learns more about Strickland from its owner, Tiare Johnson. He writes that Mrs. Johnson is an exceedingly kind and warm woman with youthful eyes. Tiare tells the narrator about Strickland's final years. Tiare says that Strickland came to stay at the hotel and she noticed a young woman, named Ata, who tended the rooms had developed a crush on him. She tells Strickland about Ata's interest. Ata and Strickland live together briefly before getting married and going out into the countryside together. For three years, according to Tiare, Strickland lives in the country with Ata, painting and occasionally returning to town for food and supplies. The narrator imagines Strickland happy.
Another visitor arrives at the hotel, a man named Captain Brunot, and he offers an account of visiting Strickland in his village and seeing him at peace. They walk together to the house of another man, Dr. Coutras, and Brunot tells Strickland that he and his wife live a simple life, fixing up a residence on the island of Paumotus. He says their life is a happy one, unaffected by untoward ambitions or delusions of grandeur. They arrive at Coutras' house and are told about Strickland's last years.
While visiting a dying chiefess, Coutras is summoned to Strickland's home by Ata, as he has fallen ill. He travels to Strickland's home and, much to his shock and horror, surmises that Strickland is dying of leprosy. Coutras diagnoses him and departs. Strickland suffers with the illness for two years, growing physically weaker as his appearance becomes gruesome and disfigured. Ata and her family are ostracized by the community and forbidden from washing their clothes in the same creek as everyone else. One of Ata and Strickland's two children grows ill and dies. Strickland, all the while, remains focused only on his ability to keep painting. Coutras arrives at their home one day and finds strange, beautiful decorations on the walls of their home. He is transfixed by this painting. Then he goes into another room and finds Strickland dead. He asks Ata how he painted this without being able to see, a symptom of Leprosy, and Ata informs him that he had been blind for almost a year. Ata later destroys the painted walls at Strickland's behest.
The narrator departs Tahiti and returns to London. He visits Amy and tells her of her ex-husband's final days. She owns prints of several of Strickland's paintings and appears to bear him little ill will. They discuss her children and their promising careers and marriages. Strickland's son, Robert, makes a dismissive comment and the narrator has a vision of Strickland's other son, with Ata, dancing with another man aboard a ship. The narrator recalls a quote from the bible, but decides not to say it.
Analysis
This final portion of the novel addresses the conclusion of Strickland's life and career. The narrator pieces together various accounts of Strickland's life after departing Paris, as he encounters various people in Tahiti who knew Strickland. It deals with the peak of Strickland's artistic powers as well as his fleeting happiness in the countryside of Tahiti. In accounting for these final years, the narrator attempts to understand the sum of Strickland's life and its meaning.
Tiare recounts to the narrator that Strickland found a degree of domestic happiness with one of the women who worked for her, Ata. They started living together and then subsequently got married and moved to the countryside. They lead a peaceful life and have two children together. The narrator envisions that this was likely the most fulfilling period of Strickland's life, as he was able to paint in peace but have a companion who actually brought him joy. This is an interesting phenomenon, in that the staid domesticity of his life with Amy brought him no joy nor did the torrid affair with Blanche. The happiness he finds with Ata appears to be a version of the simple life, but is portrayed as occurring at a different pace.
In this same section, the narrator writes that Strickland paints his masterpiece on the walls of the home he shares with Ata and their children. In the worst part of his leprosy, he loses his vision and is painting blind. Upon seeing the work, Coutras gasps in awe, as he is overcome with the power of Strickland's work. The piece is later destroyed by Ata, as Strickland instructed her to burn it in the event of his demise. This is the logical endpoint of Strickland's arc as a character, as he has spent his whole life pursuing artistic excellence, showing no concern for money, health, or the wellbeing of the people around him. In these final months, he achieves the pinnacle of his creative output. While his death is gruesome, and his illness spreads to one of his children, Strickland appears to die at an appropriate moment, as he has reached what he set out to achieve.
Throughout this final part of the book, the narrator addresses the shortcomings of his project. He notes that he cannot capture the enthralling intensity and cadence of Coutras' voice. Similarly, he has no solidly reliable account of Strickland's time in Marseilles, as he knows Captain Nichols is known to exaggerate. By pointing out these gaps in the book, the narrator indicates the impossibility of ever truly knowing Strickland completely. Even as he travels to Tahiti and envisions Strickland's life with Ata, he does not have direct access to those experiences. Like Strickland's paintings, the narrator's biography is reaching for an unattainable goal.
To the end, Strickland was a man solely focused on his art, reaching for a vision of sublime beauty that went beyond everyday life. The narrator hates Strickland as a man, finding him callous and cruel, but is fascinated by him as an artist. The book ultimately turns away from Strickland's vision, noting that there is something terrifying about his paintings, in all of their striking, inhuman force.
