Not Just About Love
When I saw this book online,I immediately made up my mind to read it in this semester.This impulse mainly derived from a Chinese song named after it, which is one of my favorite songs.Even if many formal and obscure words baffle me,I still can feel the same with the protagonist of this novel,Werther.Additionally,Goethe unconventionally wrote this book in a letter form,which is novel to me.
Then goes the story.
Werther was an enthusiastic young man who dwelled in the land poetically.In a warm spring,he arrived in a beautiful village,where he made the acquaintance of Charlotte,the young lady with whom he fell in love immediately.But then he found out that Charlotte had been engaged with a nice man,and she was devoted to this relationship,which grieved him a lot.The more obsessed he was with her,the more anguish he would suffer from.Happiness being with her could easily drift into sorrow.Just as what he mentioned in the letter,"The source of our happiness must also be the fountain of our misery."Wherther had no choice but to leave this village full of memories and say farewell to Charlotte.
However, he couldn't tolerate those hypocritical and rotten people who he met in his new life.So he went back to the village,with the hope of getting a little closer with Charlotte."I smile at the suggestions of my heart,and obey its dictates,"he said.Nevertheless,he was informed that Charlotte had been married.Worse still,some innocent,kind people encountered misfortune.
Wherther witnessed the society going downhill and his dream torn into pieces.A series of grievous things heavily struck him to the ground.Finally in a severe winter,he shot himself to end his life."I am often tempted to open a vein,to procure for myself everlasting liberty,"he said.It was his intense personality that dribbled his life away.
To a large extent,the main topic of this novel is love and society.But it's more of that.It also arouses people's reflection on death.
Charlotte's husband,Albert said people who killed himself was silly and weak,which aroused Werther's disagreement."Human nature has its limits.It is able to endure a certain degree of joy,sorrow,and pain,but becomes annihilated as soon as this measure is exceeded,"he said.Clearly they split up on this issue,and from my view,I have a preference for Werther's.
I used to look through a question from the Internet.It goes like this:Must we stop someone from suicide?Of all answers given below,one caught my attention."Everyone is responsible for his life,and I can't be responsible for others' life.Then of course I am not privileged to decide on their survival or death."I can't agree more.The choice between "to be" or "not to be" ultimately falls on personal decision.I believe that a suicidal person must have suffered a lot from extreme anguish which he is unable to cope with or even escape from.Although in many cases,suicides are impulsive.But,still,there is a large space for us to judge and weigh between "cherishing life" and "respecting life".
Perhaps we can classify "to live on" and "to die" into "positive" and "negative",but never are we supposed to simply label "good" and "bad" on them.People sometimes are fragile.Their emotion is sophisticated.From time to time nature has no way to escape from the labyrinth,and living in the world is much more self-destructive than perishing.It reminds me of Werther,the poor young man.Love was the only antidote,but he could never possess it.
Never has there been anyone who studies for the sake of study except that he studies to read himself,explore himself and examine himself.As far as I am concerned,to read classics is not only to merely know stories,but also to cultivate our taste and know more about ourselves.This masterpiece,the Sorrows of Young Werther,has evoked so many thoughts from me.I can't help pondering over society,love and death.Moreover,I firmly believe that as I continue reading,the train of thought will never stop.And I love that feeling,because only by thinking can I assert that I'm alive.
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