Be careful of the ghost
When I was on Junior Grade 2, I have watched the film version of the famous Broadway musical, the Phantom of the Opera. Although it is mostly a love story of Christine and Raoul, it is also a suspense fiction filled with mysterious incidents. The cruelness of the ghost has cast a shade on my young heart, which has brought enormous amount of fear and tension to me every time when I hear the familiar but frightening melodies of the Phantom of the Opera. However, what bothered me the most is that it seemed that all my classmates thought this story acceptable except me. As time passed, I guess the fear might fade away so I choose to read the novel and refresh my memories.
The ghost, or Erik, was actually a poor man who was born with a horrible face. Because of his ugliness, no one was willing to be a friend of him and he was ill-treated and ridiculed in his early years. I supposed it was these poor experiences that have made his soul twisted. Meanwhile, he had a fantastic voice, which was so stunning that the whole world went silent when he sang. He was eager to be loved and he met Christine, so he cared her so much. He became “the Angel of Music” of Christine and taught her to sing, which has led to Christine’s striking performance and overnight fame. Gradually, his love and care became a kind of desire for control. This kind of desire was so strong that he told Christine, “You must love me!”; that he threatened Christine that if she got married, he would disappeared forever and never taught her to sing; that he interfered all the affairs in the theatre and demanded that Christine must play the main role in the opera.
At first, it seemed that Christine did fall in love with the ghost and even almost ruptured her relationship with Raoul. Face with the ghost who loved her so desperately and Raoul who she actually loved, Christine was actually facing a dilemma. However, in fact, it was just due to her sympathy to the ghost and the sense of safety that the ghost has brought to her. When the ghost discovered that Christine has fallen in love with Raoul, he felt betrayed and depressed which drove him mad and do many cruel things like caging Raoul trying to kill him. Therefore, from my perspective, what made Christine fear even hate the ghost in the end was not the frightening appearance of him but what cruel things he did to people. Jealous and shame, the ghost caged Raoul in the mirror cage, trying to drown him. He told Christine that he would strangle Raoul unless she promised to kiss him. In the end, Christine kissed the ghost not because she really loved him but for her fiancé, Raoul.
And see what the ghost did. He was autocratic that he would put forward many unreasonable requirements. If he was not satisfied, he would bring some disasters because he could sacrifice almost everything to achieve his purpose. He demanded that he should be given huge amount of allowance each month. He could not tolerate that his private box, Box Five, was occupied by other people. He killed innocent people for no reasons and let the chandelier go down, which has almost destroyed the whole theatre, which was the most horrible scene in the whole story. In a word, the ghost is rather cruel.
Talking of Raoul, is he the hero of the book? Not really, I think. Although he has known Christine in his early years, he did not come to find her until she gain an overnight success in the performance. When he discovered that Christine met with the Angel of Music secretly, he was suspicious with Christine’s innocence, which has indirectly led to the ghost’s trying to kill him. I can’t say that he was a villain – after all it was Raoul who fought with the ghost bravely – it was actually because he was born in an illustrious family and he was somehow a bit proud.
After all, the Phantom of the Opera was just a fiction and the novel does not show the exact sceneries so it is actually not so frightening compared with the film version and I am not so afraid of it compared with years ago when I first watch this story. However, I think I will remember the vivid image of the ghost and his unforgettable voice for such a long time. He was in fact not evil deep inside his heart. It was life that made him so desperately and cruel. If there were someone like this in my life, I would not get close to him like Christine but at least I would try to cater to his demand. After all I don’t want tragedies happen.
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