Text | Distant mountains and near water · Ten o'clock invited authors
Some people say: "The power of the classic lies in the eternity of human nature and the eternity of beauty." ”
The world-famous book "The Kite Chaser", which is respected by people from all walks of life, is a masterpiece that reveals human nature.
It tells the story of a pair of teenage friends, because of a change, the protagonist Amir finally goes to the heart of salvation, showing the fragility and hypocrisy of human nature, pain and redemption.
Through this redemption, a truth of life also makes people realize: human nature is a mirror.
This mirror can see different selves and see the real you and me.
Some make people happy, some make people want to escape.
Some achieve good, some cause evil.
Your radiance illuminates the darkness of others
As the saying goes, "The grace of a man who drips water should repay him with a gushing spring." ”
Confucius Yiyun: "How to repay virtue?" Repay grievances with directness, and repay virtue with virtue. ”
However, in real life, there are always people who are difficult to be grateful, and even revenge and revenge with resentment, which makes people hate and make it difficult for people to understand.
The same is true in the story.
As a child, Amir and Hassan were inseparable playmates, Hassan was loyal to Amir, and Amir also enjoyed Hassan's blind worship.
At that time, there was a popular kite chasing competition, and whoever flew the kite higher and farther and cut the opponent's kite line was the winner.
Amir is always the coolest kite runner, and Hassan is the runner who can pick up falling kites the most.
Whenever this happens, the same scenario occurs:
A boy asked hesitantly, "Will you chase a kite for me?" The other replied happily, "I am willing to do it a thousand times for you!" ”
This time, Amir won the championship for his excellent technique.
However, on the way back from picking up the kite, Hassan suffered misfortune.
A bunch of bad boys force him to hand over the kite, which symbolizes honor.
Of course, Hassan refused, this is the hard work and achievement of his friend, how can he easily sacrifice and betray?
After some punches, kicks and threats, he still firmly grasped the kite with integrity.
The angry and corrupt boys, ripping off his pants, raped him...
This scene was clearly and truly seen by Amir, who came to look for friends. But until the wicked man was gone, he was still hiding in a corner not far away. Even though I felt trembling, I couldn't take a step forward.
In the days that followed, he did things he couldn't believe.
He quietly hid his expensive watch under Hassan's pillow, then ran to his father and complained: "Hassan stole my watch."
As a result, his friend for many years, with injustice and humiliation, was forced to leave.
People often miss the friendship of childhood, it is so pure and beautiful. But some seemingly beautiful past events, do they also hide a touch of helplessness, a trace of sadness?
Supposedly, the loyal Hassan, with his own body and dignity, protected Amir's achievements and honors, and should be affirmed and appreciated. Moreover, this loyalty is a simple boy's sworn defense of his friendship.
However, Amir, who was defended and protected, watched his friends being bullied and humiliated, indifferent and indifferent. He didn't lend a helping hand, but then he took revenge and revenge with resentment, and drove away his friends.
Is this a young and ignorant distinction between right and wrong, good and evil, or is it purely personal self-preservation? Perhaps, at that time, he was weak and powerless to save his friends. Perhaps, it is impossible to accept this rare insult in the world.
But the deeper truth is: seeing the loyalty and bravery of friends, they lack the courage to take a step closer. Seeing the selflessness and justice of his friends, he himself showed selfishness, cowardice and helplessness.
Your excellence reflects my inadequacy. Your radiance shines out of my grayness.
It is this contrast that makes Amir unable to face it, unable to find the existence and value of the self. He can't live with himself, he can't be consistent.
Your presence hurt me because I was jealous. So, I hated it. As a result, the best friend became the enemy.
Cai Kangyong said in "Strange Story": "Behind every praise, there is a demeaning. ”
Schopenhauer said: "There is no hatred that is more difficult to eliminate than jealousy." ”
Repaying virtue with resentment stems from inner imbalance.
The person who has hatred in his heart hates the self who cannot face it.
Your inadequacies illuminate the flaws of others
Cai Kangyong said: "We often feel our own goodness from the love of others." ”
Similarly, we usually realize our own inadequacies and inadequacies from the dissatisfaction and complaints of others.
However, are we really inadequate and bad? The truth is that your inadequacy just reflects the flaws of others and triggers the lack and dissatisfaction in the hearts of others. This is more common between parent-child relationships.
Children are the continuation of life, carrying the blessings and expectations of parents.
Hoping for a son to become a dragon and a daughter to become a phoenix is the hope of many parents. Therefore, invisibly, we will have a lot of requirements for the child, looking forward to his healthy growth, looking forward to his academic excellence, and expecting him to make achievements.
However, some of these requirements come from our good wishes, and the more ingrained source is that we are not satisfied with ourselves and are not satisfied.
As a child, Amir's father was always worried and helpless about him.
Because as a rich man,when he faces bullying or provocation from his peers, he is always afraid of his hands and feet and is powerless to resist. Hassan, on the other hand, stepped forward without complaint.
Fathers even think that children who dare not fight for themselves can only grow up to be a coward. On the contrary, he admired Hassan as a servant, because hassan was honest, brave, and daring.
He always reminded Amir gently: "There is only one kind of crime, and that is theft. When you lie, you steal the right of others to know the truth; when you cheat, you steal the right to justice. ”
However, who would have thought that the truth was that his father, when he was young, turned out to be the biggest thief and a coward. He fell in love with the wife of his servant Ali and gave birth to his illegitimate son, Hassan.
He stole Ali's right to be a father and stole the happiness that Hassan was supposed to have.
However, from beginning to end, he did not dare to tell the truth. I'd rather see his own son Hassan forced to leave his side forever than force and hold on.
Because of this deep remorse in his heart, he has been pinning his expectations on his son Amir. Seeing his cowardice, it seems to see the cowardly self of his youth again. He couldn't accept it and felt the pain.
And Amir also felt that his father was difficult to hide and dissatisfied with himself. So he was cautious and cautious, longing for himself to win his father's favor. But this kind of repression and perfection has made him more non-committal and insecure.
When a person cannot satisfy his own lack and cannot accept his imperfect self, his expectation of others is to desire a kind of inner liberation and redemption.
However, this expectation is imposed on the child, which will deepen his psychological shadow and burden, and affect his lifelong growth.
Fortunately, until that moment came, my father taught Amir the best lesson and set the best example:
During the war, on the way to a foreign land, when faced with evil soldiers and tried to force a woman in the same car to have sex, this cowardly man suddenly broke out into thunderous anger.
He warned the soldier in a loud voice that if he dared to invade the innocent, he would be willing to fight with his life.
He said: "Even if I get a thousand bullets, I will not let this despicable thing happen." ”
As a result, it seems that they were shocked by this spirit of not being afraid of death, and the soldiers finally released the woman.
Truckloads of refugees paid their respects to this brave and kind father. At this moment, for the cowardly self that he once hated extremely, he finally let the soul bloom with a new light.
In reality, do we have a similar mental journey: when we are poor when we are young, we will long for our children to be rich; when we are lonely when we are young, we will do our best to accompany our children; when we are introverted, but we are demanding that our children be lively and extroverted; when we are erudite and knowledgeable, we will feel ashamed of our children's stupidity...
We, who were once unseen and unsatisfied, hid our inner lack and pain deeply, hoping that our children would grow into the way we longed for and achieve the happiness and freedom that we had not been able to achieve.
Gibran said, "Your child, in fact, is not your child." You can do your best to become like them, but don't let them become like you. Because life does not go backwards, nor does it stay in the past. ”
Human nature is a mirror, not only children, when facing the shortcomings of others, please calmly think about whether we are triggered by the same lack and dissatisfaction in our hearts.
Through this mirror, let us really know ourselves and know others.
Life is complete, and it is necessary to complete itself
We often say, "Be yourself!" "But what are you like?" Others are just the best mirror, seeing their own brilliance and seeing their own shortcomings.
In the bravery of others, see the cowardly self. In the excellence of others, see the imperfect self. But so what? This is true human nature.
It is precisely because of this imperfection that people learn to redeem in pain, learn to face the self that always loves to escape and dare not face.
Just like in the story, 26 years later, the little boy who saw his friend being bullied and did not dare to speak up has grown into an adult.
Obviously, he enjoys a peaceful and happy life in the United States, but in his heart, he can't forgive his mistakes all the time.
Therefore, on that day, this mature man, crossing many obstacles, re-entered the war-torn hometown.
His old friend is gone, but he has left behind a son who suffered at the hands of the wicked and needs to be saved.
In exchange, Amir had to endure the ferocious beatings of the wicked man's sharp fists.
Suddenly, suddenly, he was beaten to the head and bleeding, and his body was scaled.
But this fierce beating, his heart was indescribably relieved.
When the child was finally saved from the hands of the wicked, the heart that had been entangled for many years was finally clarified. Souls that once felt sinful are finally redeemed. He overcame his cowardly self.
One thought becomes a Buddha, one thought becomes a demon.
And when Amir confronts this evil man, he is shocked to find that this person is no one else, but the evil boy Assef who bullied Hassan when he was a child.
Going back 20 years, what kind of hatred made Assef as a child humiliate the innocent Hassan? Is it just for a kite, or the honor that symbolizes the champion, or the deep-rooted cruelty and ruthlessness in the bones of the wicked?
It turned out that Assef had always been jealous of Hassan and worshipped and loyal to Amir's supremacy. He was even more jealous of Amir and always had the honor of being a champion.
He hated it so much precisely because others saw himself who was not superior and excellent enough.
If you can't achieve the happiness you yearn for, you can only tear this happiness apart for people to see. If you don't get it, it's better to destroy it.
This boy, full of injustice and resentment, years later, embarked on the path of evil forces that could not be turned back.
Instead of feeling guilty for abusing Hassan, he continues to abuse Hassan's son in disguise, making him a dance boy in the sexual service.
The Buddha said, "All sentient beings are suffering, but they can only cross themselves." ”
And there are two paths: some people choose to find their lost selves and get salvation. Some people, however, cling to suffering and continue to give pain to others. I have also made mistakes again and again, and I am miserable for life.
This is complex and real human nature.
"There are so many stories in the world that there are no winners."
We always like to comfort others and accept the imperfections of life.
In fact, we should remind ourselves that we see human nature as imperfect.
Through the mirror of human nature, to see and discover, deep self;
To know and accept, to be true to others; to read love and hate, to discern good from evil.
There are many more stories, but there is only one life that belongs to us. May we find inspiration from other people's stories and live our own lives.
Author | Distant mountains and near waters, the most beautiful stories in the world are spread in words in every inch.
Image | Stills from "The Kite Chaser"