The Fisherman and his Soul

We all have a dream that we hope can come true someday. Some make efforts in order to fulfill it. Some give up halfway. And still others do nothing but just wait for a miracle. Since everyone’s choices are different, the consequences will not be the same either. Then, how about the fisherman and his soul?

The story begins with three main characters: the fisherman, the fisherman’s soul and the little mermaid. The fisherman catches a beautiful mermaid when he goes out on the sea for fishing as usual. Soon, he falls in love with the mermaid and learns that he cannot be with her without sending away his human soul. Therefore, the fisherman goes for a witch, from whom he learns how to send his soul away. The fisherman’s soul, leaving the fisherman under protest, wanders around the world alone.

The short story comes from Oscar Wilde’s collection The Happy Prince and Other Tales. Unlike The Happy Prince, which describes kindness and mercy, The Fisherman and his Soul takes love as the main axle. It is love that makes the fisherman abandon his soul for the purpose of living with the little mermaid. To me, it’s interesting that there are two converse viewpoints of the human soul. Before meeting the witch, the fisherman turns to a priest and a merchant for help. The former believes a human soul is vital for people, while the latter thinks it has no value for them.

In our lives, there are often people playing the role of the priest. Sometimes we are thankful to them since they give useful advice. But sometimes we regard them as an obstacle since they prevent us from achieving our ambitions, which is what the fisherman thinks of the priest in the story. Despite the fact that no one supports him, it doesn’t stop the fisherman paying court to his love, the mermaid. It seems that love alone is strong enough to determine one’s deeds and future.

However, the everlasting love is hard to keep perfect sometimes. Each year when the fisherman’s soul comes back to the fisherman and tells him about his traveling experiences, the soul always tries to tempt him to betray the mermaid with what common people seek for throughout their life. The fisherman doesn’t cease to be faithful for wisdom and riches his soul promises him, but for the desire of catching a glimpse of dancing girls since the mermaid doesn’t have feet to dance. As he realizes what his soul asks him to do is evil and craves to return to his mermaid urgently, it is too late. It’s because of the fisherman’s inability to resist his soul’s temptations that he loses the little mermaid forever.

When it comes to temptations, I can’t help but think of what my teacher says: Once you can resist the evil’s temptations sowed in your heart, then you aren’t far away from what you want. It makes so much sense that I take it as my motto. Every time I am faced with the difficulty of striking a balance between study and play, I will think of my motto and have a ruler in my heart, which enhances my determination spontaneously.

Besides temptations, another vital element the fisherman lacks is faithfulness. If it weren’t for the fisherman’s betrayal to the mermaid, he wouldn’t be regretful in the end. The implication is that we should cherish what we have. Since the fisherman makes such a decision, he should take the risk of losing what he owns.

All in all, the story begins with love and ends with love. It seems what the author wanted to emphasize was the great love. In one sense, the author really had strong courage at that time when the religion was powerful in the society. It is no wonder that he is famous for his wit and wisdom.