Maugham once said:
People are not single good or bad, everyone is a mixture of the noble and the ordinary, the good and the evil.
This sentence shows the complexity of human nature.
"The Veil", as one of Maugham's masterpieces, some people say that it is about love, some people say it is about the awakening of women, but I think it is writing about complex human nature.
Everyone wears a veil, and while using the veil to shield others from prying eyes, it is difficult for them to see the reality of the world.
Only by lifting the veil layer by layer can we see our hearts clearly, can we see the essence of things, and can we live our lives well.
Lift the veil of vanity and find meaning in life
The philosopher Francis Bacon once said:
The vain man is despised by the wise, admired by the foolish, worshipped by the sycophant, and enslaved by his own vanity.
People who love vanity, care about the opinions of others, and things that are unexpected, but do not care about their own hearts, and live a life defined by others.
In "The Veil", Katie is deeply influenced by her mother.
Her mother was ambitious, but her husband's career was not worthy of her ambitions, so she pinned her hopes on Katie.
Katie grew up to be what her mother wanted, beautiful, funny, and sociable.
Because of his high self-esteem, he has not been able to get married.
Her mother was very upset and often gave her a look.
In order not to be rejected by her mother, she lowered her standards and married Walter, a bacteriologist she didn't like.
Walter was caring, considerate and respectful of Katie.
But people who don't like to be sociable and boring, Katie dislikes him very much.
Katie met the official Charles at the tea party.
He was handsome and humorous, toned, elegant, and likable, and met all of Katie's needs, so she became Charles's lover.
Katie has always lived with her mother's expectations and her own vanity.
Due to Charles' reluctance to divorce, Katie can only go with Walter to the plague-ravaged Mae Tan House.
Here, she sees a completely different world.
She got to know the nuns of the convent.
They have come to this impoverished place far from home, caring for infected patients, adopting homeless orphans, working very hard and living very hard.
Although the monastery is simple, it seems to purify people's souls.
Some of the nuns have even contracted the plague and died for the sake of their faith, but they are still willing to stay and help those in need.
Katie applied to work in the convent and was infected by the optimism of the nuns, and every day was full, happy, and refreshed.
She feels like she's growing, and work is all on her mind.
She was exposed to new life, new ideas, inspired her thinking, and brought new feelings.
From blind obedience to sinking, and then to awakening, Katie lifts the veil of vanity and feels a sense of need and value in her work.
Haruki Murakami said:
When you make it through the storm, you're not the same person you used to be.
Only when people have experienced disillusionment, betrayal and lies, seen the hardships of life, and experienced life and death can they understand their hearts and see themselves clearly.
Not attached to anyone, not affected by others, let the heart become strong, let yourself become independent, let the spirit become rich.
The wrong things and stupid things that have been done, and the hardships that have been endured, after the veil is lifted, will allow you to grow and find the meaning of life.
Lift the veil of temptation and see the truth of desire
In the novel "The Mirror" it is written:
In the face of temptation, we all focus on chasing the pleasure we get, and forget to think about whether we can afford the price behind it.
Temptation is based on people's needs, and what can attract you is often what you don't have, but you yearn for.
Charles's social status, interest in life, social skills, understanding and sweet words are all things that Walter does not have, but Katie likes.
When she meets Charles, Katie feels like she's found true love.
She is immersed in the love created by Charles, enjoying the thrill and passion of an extramarital affair, and she thinks that Charles will definitely marry her.
It was Walter who made her see Charles for what he really was.
When Charles heard that Katie wanted him to divorce and marry himself, he refused without hesitation.
He hoped that Katie would go to Mae Tan with Walter so that it would not affect his career.
For his own benefit, Charles abandoned Katie without pity.
Katie also saw Charles's true colors:
Cold, ruthless, selfish, timid, and full of lies.
When she unveiled Charles, what she saw was not true love, but the desire to hunt for curiosity.
And she herself failed to withstand the temptation, also to make up for the lack of affection.
The so-called love at first sight is nothing more than a desire at first sight; The so-called true love is nothing but an erotic encounter.
When Walter died, Katie returned to Hong Kong and was warmly invited by Mrs. Charles to stay at Charles's house.
When she saw Charles again, Katie was at peace and thought she could stop taking him seriously.
When Mrs. Charles is out, Charles finds Katie and hopes to renew her relationship, but despite Katie's desperate verbal resistance, her body gives in.
Afterwards, Katie cursed herself loudly and felt very ashamed.
She thought she was getting stronger, but she wasn't.
The next day she bought a ticket to England and left Hong Kong, never seeing Charles again, completely severing relations with him.
In the face of temptation, even if you know to stay away, sometimes it is inevitable that you will not be able to control it.
But this does not mean that you have to accept it, as long as you have a firm mind and a decisive attitude, you can still overcome temptation.
Temptation can arouse a person's desires, and desires can make or break a person.
We must learn to discriminate, know how to let go of inappropriate desires, refuse external temptations, keep our bottom line, let life not deviate from the track, so that our hearts will not be lost, in order to achieve a better life.
Lift the veil of true love and see the complexity of human nature
There is nothing saddest in life than falling in love with someone you shouldn't love.
The wrong start doomed a tragic end.
Walter, the first time he met Katie, fell in love with her.
He loves Katie, not because he thinks about it, but because he actually knows Katie, he still loves her.
He knew that Katie was stupid, frivolous, snobbish, vulgar, and empty-minded, and he knew that she didn't want to marry her sister before marrying her.
even knows that she is a "second-rate person", but still loves her from the bottom of my heart.
Walter loved a little humblely.
He never had the luxury of getting Katie's love, and he felt that Katie was already grateful for giving him the opportunity to love her.
After he knew that Katie was cheating, he wanted to take revenge on her, and he had the crazy idea of "destroy if you can't get it".
He takes Katie to Mae Tan Province, where the plague is spreading everywhere, and if you get infected, you will never survive.
He mentally tortures Katie, either ignoring her indifferently or mocking her.
Katie doesn't love him, but he loves Katie dearly.
His actions can only make Katie unhappy, but they hurt him very much.
He could not forgive himself for his darkness, and he despised that he would fall in love with such a person, and in order to get rid of the pain in his heart, Walter worked without sleep or food, and the whole person was exhausted and thinner.
Katie's pregnancy became the last straw that broke Walter's heart, because Katie said that she didn't know if the child was his.
Although Walter's hopes were dashed, his conscience told him that Katie was not physically fit to stay here, and he persuaded Katie to leave.
Walter is walking in the dark, unable to find any hope of survival.
He deliberately eats salads, increasing the risk of infection;
He also experimented on himself and eventually became infected.
Before he died, he felt relieved and said to Katie:
"Don't make a fuss.
I've just walked a hard road, and now I'm all right. ”
Faced with Katie, who can't love and betrays him, Walter's heart is complicated.
He loved her, accommodated her, took into account her feelings, and met her needs.
Took her to Mae Tan Province, initially wanted to take revenge on her, but eventually forgave her.
He just didn't forgive himself, didn't reconcile with himself.
He ostensibly died of cholera, but in fact he died of demons in his heart, in a broken heart.
The complexity of human nature lies in the entanglement of trade-offs.
Maybe you made the wrong choice, maybe you made a mistake, maybe you were treated unfairly, but let the past pass, let yourself go, and you can have the future.
Choose to forgive your mistakes, let go of the past, accept yourself, learn to reconcile, and finally move towards a new life.
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Writer Liang Yongan said:
Life needs to block the various veils in front of us day by day, and the veil prevents us from understanding the world and preventing us from truly understanding ourselves.
Lift the veil of vanity and find the motivation for life;
Lift the veil of desire and see the truth of the facts;
Lift the veil of humanity and learn to reconcile with yourself.
Under the veil, it is the true self that can find the way to peace, let yourself truly gain peace of mind, and re-find the direction of life.
Author丨Poetry and comics are born to the sun
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