Freedom ——My Impression of The Declaration of Independence

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

First of all, I truly believe that all that is about impendence of a country or person should be treated seriously.

The Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson, is the fundamental element of founding of United State. The content of Declaration of Independence can be divided into three parts. First part is foreword and it declares the purpose of this declaration. Second part is a generalization of Capitalism’s political thought. And the rest part enumerates the guilt of the British Empire and makes a statement of being independent.

I am emphasizing the importance of independence again. We are living in such peaceful year that we are not as eager about independence as they did. So we can’t experience the ecstasy of being free. Freedom is the main point of this declaration. Because freedom is the foundation, we must first make ourselves free. Without freedom, we act like a slave.

“All men are created equal”. Equality is also a main point. In this declaration, they demanded equal right as Brittan does. This piece of law is applicable nowadays. Not only does equality mean we demand equal rights as the other do but also it means governor should be punished as usual when they break the law.

“They are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” This time I would like to focus on the line “pursuit of Happiness”. The phrases became popular after publishing. However, someone had mistaken that we have right to pursuit happiness for that we have right to be happy. The meanings of these two sentences are absolutely different. Apparently, we can pursuit our happiness through hard working, but it is impossible that we have happiness without exertion. Meanwhile, “pursuit of happiness” reminds me of a movie named Pursuit of Happiness. The man in the movie struggled for a long time and finally he succeeded. He pursuit his dream and he was happy in the end. What impressed me most is that we must pay for our own happiness.

In a word, we are created equal and we should fight for our equal rights. Moreover, we have right to pursuit happiness but we must struggle for ourselves.

Independent—— My Impression of The Great Gatsby

For an ordinary lady, what are required characters? Is it self-loving or independent? I will work it out later. Daisy was a miserable woman because she lost love and dignity, being tricked by two men, Tom and Gatsby. I can’t find a more unfortunate woman than Daisy. I come to a conclusion: woman should be independent, self-loving.

Daisy used to love Gatsby and she had escape home, tolerating the condemnations from others, even in the last night before wedding she drank a lot and threw the wedding ring away. But she finally gave in because she had to live on. Without materials, she can’t live and she knew love is also realistic. Paying her whole life, she married Tom. Tom was a selfish, vulgar, hypercritical man. He married Daisy to fulfill his vanity even he didn’t love Daisy at all. During the five-year marriage, Daisy gradually lost herself and lost her dignity. In order to live a better life, Daisy tolerated her husband’ affairs. Meanwhile, Gatsby showed up. He became more charming and richer. Gatsby did a lot to achieve his broken “American Dream” through seeing Daisy’s regret

and shock. What a poor man! Gatsby showed his apartment and procession to Daisy and Daisy was moved and dangling. At that time, Daisy was controlled by these two men. What’s surprised, Daisy let Gatsby take the blame of vehicular manslaughter. If Daisy had been independent and self-loving, she would have not married Tom who she didn’t love at all, and she would have not been degraded. It reminds me of nowadays phenomenon. Many young ladies become mistress of the rich old man because of materials and abandon their boyfriend. They satisfy the old man’ every need. But finally, young ladies become old and get nothing from old man.

A battle of women is not how to attract fascinate man but to be independent and be herself. A successful woman should keep on her road of life in her own way. She is said to pursuit her dream and maintain her career.

Another topic I want to discuss about is “American Dream”, which is actually the theme of The Great Gatsby. The main character, Gatsby, a poor man at the very beginning, had a “American Dream”. He wanted to marry Daisy. But his dream was broken because Daisy refused to marry him. It was the first time that his “American Dream” had broken. Gatsby became rich later and did a lot to let Daisy come to his house, including moving to the house next to Nick, holding a lot of luxury parties. He made it. Daisy came to his house and fell in love with him again. At last Daisy let Gatsby take the blame of vehicular manslaughter and she fled away with Tom. What’s ridiculers is that Gatsby still believed Daisy would stay with him. Apparently, it was the second time that his dream had broken.

What a miserable man and poor woman!

Five Lessons——My Impression of The Five People You Meet in the Heaven

Life and Death is metempsychosis.

Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven weaves together three stories, all told about the same man: 83-year-old Eddie, the head maintenance person at Ruby Point Amusement Park. As the novel opens, readers are told that Eddie is only minutes away from death as he goes about his typical business at the park. And after Eddie died, he met five people in the heaven. Each soul has a story to tell, a secret to reveal, and a lesson to share. Through them Eddie understands the meaning of his own life even as his arrival brings closure to theirs.

The first person Eddie met in the heaven was a stranger, blue man. Actually, Eddie met the blue man when he was a child. Eddie caused the blue man’ death indirectly and he felt sorry for the blue man. The blue man taught him a lesson. “No life is a waste. The only time we waste is the time we spend thinking we are alone”. Life never will be meaningless. All the thing we do and all the experiences we suffer are meaningful. We should enjoy our life.

The second person he met in the heaven was his Captain, who had shot at his leg. He knew that the Captain did this for his good and the Captain died of explosion. The Captain also taught a lesson to Eddie. Death is not the end of everything. Self-sacrifice is a part of life. Sometimes you think you have lost a thing then you are giving it to other. We should be generous and give a helping hand. Your life will be wonderful after giving and donating.

The third person he met in the heaven was Ruby, the wife of the amusement park’s founder. She told the truth of Eddie’s father’s death. She taught the third lesson to Eddie. To forgive other is kind of mercy to yourself. We should learn to forgive those who have hurt you or you just simply don’t like.

The forth person he met in the heaven is his wife, Margaret. Eddie loved his wife very much, and so Margaret did. Margaret told Eddie that life is limited while love is unlimited. As for myself,

I know that I can keep loving my parents even though they are not alive any more. Love is everlasting.

The last person he met in the heaven was a Philippine girl, Tara. Eddie caused her death directly. He felt sorry for her but Tara forgave him. Because Tara knew that Eddie had saved a girl’s live. Eddie ruined a girl’s live but he saved another girl’s live. Everything happened in the world is related.

The Five People You Meet in the Heaven reminds me of a TV series named Touch. Everything is associated. The idea of this book and that TV series is similar to Buddhism idea——Metempsychosis. Because we believe that we have future life, we pay attention to what we have said and what we have done in case that we would be punished in the coming future life.