Only death is eternal

   The Five Boons of Life, another masterpiece written by Mark·Twain, which is one of representative works in his older life.

At the beginning of the article, the fairy brought five kinds of gifts to “me” and asked “me” to make a choice with the warning that only one of them was valuable so that “I” must choose wisely. What should “I” choose at first? Without any hesitation, “I” chose pleasure firstly. Nevertheless, “each pleasure turned out to be short-lived and disappointing; vain and empty; and each, departing, mocked him” in the end.          

Secondly, “I” chose love. However, what was it bringing to “me”? Only desolation. “For each hour of happiness the treacherous trader, Love, as sold me I have paid a thousand hours of grief.”

Then, the fairy came again with deep resignation and let “me” choose over and over again. This time, “I” chose fame. But how little a while it was! Fame was buried by “envy; then detraction; then calumny; then hate; then persecution. Then derision, which is the beginning of the end.

   “I” made a decision once more and had the determination that wealth was what “I” needed indeed. At last, “I” realized that for the reason that “pleasure, love, fame, riches are not gifts, but merely lending and temporary disguises for lasting realities—Pain, Grief, Shame, Poverty”, only death is persistence. The only thing left to “me” was the wanton insult of Old Age.

There are two interesting points in the article. One is that the fairy’s attitudes represent the author’s attitudes. Another one is in the end, “Death was wanting”, why is it being wanted rather than disappeared? From where I stand, the two points touched me deeply.

Now, let’s analyze the article carefully. Firstly, wisdom wasn’t being contained in five gifts and the other four gifts (except death) only have limited value. Secondly, as soon as looking the five gifts, we are prone to derive the conclusion that we are not likely to choose death for the first time, after all, the other four have strong allure. Thirdly, sometimes，the fairy sighed and cried when “me” made false choice. Fourthly, as time passed by, the writing style of Mark·Twain was changing all the time. So when he was old, he became a crepehanger who held the point of view that it is worthless living in the world and the article was written in his later period. Fifthly, death of the infant illustrate a meritorious life should be nice rather than be long. In many times, death is an relatively easy way to free those who are suffering from misery.

We maybe deem that the article is excessively negative, but after long deliberation, are you change your mind? In any case, as a human being, we can’t run away from death. Only when we understand death better, can we live better. That’s why “I” chose different things in different life period. When we are young, we are fond of enjoy ourselves; when we grow up to an adult, we need love; when we are at the age of thirty years old, we want to be independent so we will choose fame. Having experienced all of this, we are aware of that we are weary and would rest, and only death is eternal.

2015-04-22

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