The Gifts of Life
﹒Introduction
The author of the inviting book, The Five Boons of Life, is Samuel Langhorne Clemens , an American author and humorist, who is better known by his pen name Mark Twain. He was lauded as the "greatest American humorist of his age," and William Faulkner called Twain "the father of American literature." What is more, he is also a master of short story. This book, also a short one, aims at telling us what is the most precious thing in life , and drives us into thinking that what is worthy of our eternal love. This book is prepared for people no matter how old are them or what they do, as long as he is puzzled about or interested in his choice about life. And undoubtedly, it is a suitable one.
﹒Summary of the Content
This book includes five chapters. A fairy brought five gifts ,namely, Fame, Love, Riches, Pleasure, and Death for the man, asking him to choose one wisely, for only one of them is valuable. The man chose Pleasure, Love, Fame, and Riches in turn, only to find that they are but temporary disguises for lasting realities—Pain, Grief, Shame, Poverty. When he was aware of the true character of life, what was left for him just the wanton insult of old age.
﹒Analysis of Text
Mark Twain does well in telling the profound truth through ordinary story with plain language. And the language and plots in the book, The Five Boons of Life, is also simple but readable. The whole story is created in the form of dialogue. Philosophic though, is buried under the conversations between the fairy and the man.
﹒Evaluation of the Text
Books have the magic to change our life. Some people state that when one pick up a book, he is about to enter a new world. Frankly speaking, everyone of us cannot withstand the hunger to visit another world, to meet different people, to live other lives and to reflect on ourselves. So when the fairy putted five gifts in front of the man, asking him to choose one the most valuable, I was driven into thinking that if I were the man, what would I choose and what would I eliminate ?
The gifts I will never choose are Fame and Riches, which may be attractive to some people in the society. After choosing pleasure, love, and fame, the man in the story cried that wealth is power and regretted how blind he was. Wealth is power, and fame, represents the highest glory. This is the real reflection of several people’s hearts. How can fame and wealth bring to us? Your name filled the world, and every person knows you. They may praises you, appreciates you, as well as follows you faithfully. But can it lasts forever? As what was mentioned in the story, “then came envy; then detraction; then calumny; then hate; then persecution. Then derision, which is the beginning of the end. And last of all came pity, which is the funeral of fame”. It is quite true. Nothing in the world can be permanent. All halo must be faded one day. And to be honest, it is hard for everyone to accepted other’s success and reputation sincerely, without any jealousy or resentment. People tend to show compassion easily when one encountered something miserable. But on the contrary, most of them are unwilling to digest other’s blessedness, especially when they are unsuccessful. Thus envy, detraction , calumny, hate, and persecution would come up, keeping you from enjoying the satisfaction that fame brought you. And what about wealth? With endless money, you will have all luxuries, all joys, all enchantments of the spirit, all contentment of the body that man holds dear. But can you be really glad from the bottom of your heart? You are able to buy a big house, with luxuriant decoration, a beautiful garden and numerous servants, but you are unable to buy a cozy home, to own a light waiting for you when you came home late. You are able to travel all around the world, enjoying breathtaking scenery, but you are unable to buy warm company, buy a heart that willing to share your pleasure. Money is not everything, so is fame. They, can never be the most precious thing in the world.
The next thing I will eliminate may be pleasure. Refusing to choose pleasure does not mean that I attach no importance to it. It is because from my perspective, life is made up of blessedness as well as sorrow. Both of them are the gifts of life. Therefore it is unwise for us to choose only one of them and abandon the other. Pleasure can bring us inner enjoyment, filling our life with flowers and sunshine. Sorrow seems like dark clouds and rainstorm, making our life colorless. But keep in mind that rainbow only appears after rainstorm. Miserable experiences, are also the wealth of life. It is these experiences that enable you to grow up, to become stronger, to win perseverance. Further more, no one will forget the great excitement after making through the difficulties. That means, in some times, great pleasure often comes after misfortune. If you would like to taste the sweet, you have to brace yourself for the bitter. Thus how can you choose one?
Considering the above analysis, I am most likely to choose love. To be honest, when this problem was putted in front of me at the first time, my intuition told me to choose love. Why not? In my eyes, love deserves all the praise in the world, and we can not emphasize the importance of it too much. Because of the love between men and women, there always exists sweet and felicity. Because of the love between parents and children, home is full of laughter as well as care. Because of the love between strangers, kindness and sensation pass person by person, never break off. Love plays an vital role in our society, without which our life will be dull and pale. One can be deprived of wealth, fame, profit, but can not be deprived of the right to love others or to be loved. If I must choose one, I do hope I am wise enough to choose love. However, for the man in the story, love, as sold him he have paid thousand hours of grief. One by one they have gone away, leaving him alone to suffer the loneliness. It is sad but true. I appreciate love, but I really wonder whether I can withstand the endless loneliness?
Do you notice that, till now I have not mentioned death? After finishing reading the book, it is clear that death, the gift that the men did not choose, is the most precious one. It puzzled me for a long time. Admittedly, I first even consider it foolish to choose death. You have not enjoyed the life, not breathed the fresh air around you, not climbed up to the peak, not met your lover, why do you put it to the end so quickly? What a great pity! But now I change my mind. All things in the world, no matter exciting, joyful, upset, or desperate, are actually illusory. You are born into the world, with nothing, and when you reach the end of your life, you can not bring anything, too. What can be the evidence that you once lived? Nothing. Compared to all the fleeting gifts, only death is inestimable. How wise person choosing it! He would be the winner of his life, for his long-term vision and thorough observation into life itself.
A great many of people state that this book is a negative one while others insist that it is positive. Attitude towards this book varies from person to person. Reading it over and over again, this book is more likely to be a positive one to me. When one realizes how illusory our world is, he is able to manage his life wiser, freeing his heart by cutting off the meaningless things. Since life is short , he may spend more time pursuing his dream instead of working for money or reputation laboriously. On the contrary, when one is still addicted to the colorful world, he may waste much time doing worthless things. Seizing our day, can be achieved successfully only after identifying the essence of life.
Through reading, we become observers of life. We obtain profound truth, reap what the former sowed, using them to direct our life. This is the magic of Mark Twain’s book, The Five Boons of Life, and this is the magic of books ,too.
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