The book "The Yellow Eyes of the Crocodile" is a book that I have read twice, which is extremely unexpected for me who reads ten lines of the novel and only swallows the date to see a rough plot, but the reason is that I always see places in it that make me feel deeply.
Every time I see the protagonist Josephine's depression, there is a sense of empathy!
Privately, people who are flattering, introverted, inferior, and called honest in real life must read this book, and everything in the book will always make you feel as if you have seen yourself.
Although "The Crocodile's Yellow Eyes" written by the French writer Caterina Bankol is only a novel, the kind and honest person, the person with a pleasing personality, will certainly learn something in the book when reading this novel.
01
In "The Crocodile's Yellow Eyes", the protagonist Josephine can be said to be an honest person, she always feels that everyone in the world is so beautiful, she is kind to everyone, her temper is gentle, she never speaks loudly to her two daughters, she is a gentle and good mother, a filial daughter, a virtuous wife, but she is always so stubborn.
Josephine has been neglected by her family since she was a child, she has a beautiful sister Elise, her sister is smart and beautiful, and has been loved by her parents since childhood, and she?
She was not as pretty as her sister, nor as good as her sister who could say nice things, who was a little clumsy, and the way she tried to please her parents was to try her best to do a good job, and when she was a child, her mother even said "How can I give birth to such a daughter", and her father's answer was "It is the stork that got the baby wrong".
Josephine's grades had always been good, but she was still unpopular with her mother, even though she was later recruited by the National Center for Scientific Research, even though she later stood out from one hundred and twenty-three applicants and was hired by the National Center for Scientific Research.
Perhaps because of the influence of her original family, Josephine has always been an honest person - this is what everyone thinks of her, she stubbornly adheres to what she thinks is good and righteous, and is unwilling to hurt anyone.
At the beginning of the novel, the Josephine family encounters difficulties, their lives fall to a low point, Josephine's husband Antoine is unemployed, doing nothing every day, the originally relatively wealthy family is suddenly stretched, all the expenses are on Josephine's head, and josephine has long been just out of interest to do some part-time extra money now becomes the family's source of livelihood.
Antoine was gone, and he and Milena left the country and went to Kenya to raise crocodiles.
02
Antoine was gone, everything was pressed on Josephine, she had no money, she didn't know what methods she had to use to make more money, she had to work desperately, but her brother-in-law gave her a job.
As the days passed, her hard work was recognized, and later her diligence and learning were taken in by others, giving her a new job, and her life improved day by day, and even she helped her sister Elise to ghostwrite a novel, which unexpectedly became a bestseller.
Everyone recognized the strength of the book's author, and Josephine herself was shocked by this—she never imagined that she herself would have such a successful time.
Her sister Elise has gained fame and fortune with this book, and she is still unknown.
Later, Josephine was still the same Josephine, she did not change much, still did not have more courage to explain to the world that the best-selling, extremely popular book was written by her, she helped her sister Elise ghostwrite, but her daughter Ordance with her head held high in the show to reveal the truth.
Josephine was still that Josephine, even though she realized her cowardice.
People's personality is not so easy to change, even if they are aware of their own defects, but it is easy to change overnight, we can only do it after realizing the mistakes, constantly repair and correct.
In the process of gradually coming out of the trough, Josephine gradually saw herself clearly, she was no longer inferior to herself without a good appearance and a clever personality that would please people, she began to appreciate herself, she found a boyfriend who really treated her, and everything was developing in a good direction.
It's a process of awakening!
03
Many people say that they can't understand why the book is called "The Yellow Eyes of the Crocodile", which is boring and can't understand the meaning of the name.
I think that the so-called "yellow eyes of crocodiles" may represent a kind of hope, a kind of sustenance.
Antoine left with great ambition to go to Africa to raise crocodiles, at that time he looked at the crocodile's yellow eyes is so happy, it represents his hope for life and yearning for the future, and in the end most of the crocodiles died due to food shortages, he raised as a child, the crocodile with yellow eyes was eaten by the old crocodile, his spirit suddenly collapsed.
He stubbornly stayed in Kenya and tried to turn the pages, but in the end even he himself was eaten by crocodiles.
"Crocodile's yellow eyes", survive the trough of life, there will be more and more yellow eyes in front of you; but you will never be able to see the crocodile's yellow eyes, forever with those yellow eyes disappear into the world.
Josephine had survived, and she could see the departure at any moment, far away to Africa to see the yellow eyes of crocodiles.
Some people say that the book "The Yellow Eyes of the Crocodile" is a story about a counterattack, a story of a housewife counterattack, and some people say that "The Yellow Eyes of the Crocodile" has no counterattack at all, which is a story that is not interesting.
I want to say, no, this is one of the few stories I've seen that are very meaningful and interesting to me personally, but the story it tells is not so much called counterattack as it is awakening.
Watching Josephine grow step by step, step by step, the awakening, perhaps the book "The Yellow Eyes of the Crocodile" is not as suitable as the book "The Awakening of the Honest Man".
There is no counterattack, no desire and lows, just awakening.
It tells the story of an awakening.
When Ordance reveals everything on the show, thinking josephine will criticize herself, Josephine speaks excitedly incoherently, saying, "You woke me up... You woke me up... I was so happy! Did you know... I'm a little incoherent, but..."
05
In The Crocodile's Yellow Eyes, two of my favorite people are Joséphine's neighbor and friend Shirley, and Josephine's sister Elise's maid, Babette.
The former Shirley, is a very capable single mother, her ability also makes her raise a son alone but not at all trapped by material, she is independent and assertive, very clear about what she wants, what she does not want, for the problem she always goes straight to the subject, and will not be confused by the appearance, live sober and transparent,.
The latter Babette, "abandoned babies, raped, adopted, rebellious, mischievous, married at seventeen, had children at eighteen", dropped out of school prematurely, so that she did not have a good ability to obtain enough material to be rich enough, but when Elise asked her if she felt happy, her answer was "This question is quite strange, tonight I am going to drink from an old friend, so that I am going to live quickly." But tomorrow is a new day. ”
For her encounters, she did not feel that she had experienced anything more than other women.
Shirley and Babette, two women in completely opposite situations, different classes, different personalities, different encounters, the only thing in common: life is simple for them.
I love these two characters so much, I like Shirley's transparency, I like her personality of doing whatever she wants, I like Babette's dashing, I like her attitude that tomorrow is a new day.
In contrast, Josephine and Elise, who came from a wealthy family, were always unhappy, Josephine was always entangled, always suffocated, as if trapped by something invisible, Elise she got what she wanted, but she always wanted more, they were not happy.
Life is so hard for Josephine and Elise!
06
Maybe life isn't that hard sometimes, but sometimes we think too much, do too little, and it gets harder – we're all trapped by life.
Looking back, Shirley and Babette are the ones who are really not trapped, which is why they can be so simple and so happy.
How to have fun? Maybe we can get away from everything in life, examine ourselves carefully, and find our own way back, so as to achieve true awakening and happiness.