梦回狼朝

Jean Webster’s novel describes a little girl brought up in an orphanage and then sent to college, funded by a kind unknown man, who she later named Daddy-long-leg. The story is said to be a fairy tale mainly intended for teenage girls, or even adults. It fit right into our longing for love in writing a love story with an amazingly unexpected happy ending. I am stricken by that since I am also at that age. The story contradicts my own experience in love by telling me the sweet love and happy ending while reminding me time to time of my bitter love.

Continuously in her letter Judy expresses her love for Daddy-long-leg, partly because she is willing to take him as her uncle, her brother, or even her grandma. That makes her have the feeling that she has her family taking care of her. However, she did not know until the last minute that he was the one she really loves. As if by magic she found her Mr. Right, which is just the miracle that most of us are dreaming of. After reading this story, many girls, especially those teenagers, may start to wish Judy’s miracle would one day come to them. Although being a boy, an irresistible thirst for this miracle of love grasped me the moment I finished the story. I have never been in love with a girl before, so I extremely yearn for that to come. Sometimes I dream that a girl would tell me she loves me and I happen to feel the same way she does. Then we become lovers and live together happily, admired by other boys and girls. Actually, this is a widely-held dream especially among those teenagers. The book makes this dream come true and no wonder it becomes a best seller. On the cover of the book it is clearly printed that “book for girls especially teenage girls who just grow up to have a taste of love”  

Jervie, firstly called Daddy-long-leg, is fourteen years older than Judy. She never has a father to love her, and she then had a daddy-long-leg, seemingly favored by god. It is generally accepted that girls tend to prefer a man older than her to take care of her. Judy, having no father or brother to care for her, hopes more strongly that she will have an older man attending to her. She would like to call Jervie daddy-long-leg although Jervie used a fake name John Smith. Judy thought “the feeling makes me feel as though I had found a sort of family… and belonged to somebody now and it’s a very comfortable sensation”. Judy’s case reminds me of the girl that I love. She has never called out the word “daddy” since she was at a very young age. Oddly enough she has not even one male member in her family since she just has two sisters. I do not know whether this is the real reason that she become more and more dependent on me, but she did admit to me that she was always longing for a father or a brother to take care of her. I also noticed that many girls in our department tend to find someone older to be their boyfriends. They declare that they prefer a mature man with the ability to take good care of them.

She began to feel the special feeling towards Jervie when she was in Lock Willow. “It is funny how certain places get connected with certain people” and “I was quite lonely without him”. If you are once in love, you will never have any problem in understanding this. Obviously Jean Webster is well aware of this when writing this story. As to me, every little thing in this campus reminds me of the girl I love. For instance, when I am walking on Yulan Road, I think of the days when we walked side by side. Besides, Yulan is the kind of flower that she loves. There are too many memories around here, and I miss her.

In her letter to Daddy-long-leg, she said she had a very much more special feeling for another man, Jervie. Then she said “I miss him, miss him, and miss him”. It is true that when you are really missing somebody, you will keep on saying some simple words like “I miss you” instead of other beautiful words. “I hate the moonlight because it’s beautiful and he isn’t here to see it with me”. Every one in love is eager to share everything with his or her lover. You just want him or her to be with you. If he or she is not by your side, you will even hate the beautiful scene in front of you. Judy’s words evoke in me the memories of New Year's Day. I went cycling to Pearl River on that day. Standing in front of the river, with the breeze blowing on my face, I suddenly felt in me a strong hatred against the entire beautiful scene around me. Why is she not here? I need her to be here. Without her all these is simply meaningless.

Luckily enough she was able to see Daddy-long-leg at last. She was always hoping to meet this kind man who changed her life by sending her to college, and she “was too amazed and excited and bewildered and happy”. She was even happier to find out that Daddy-long-leg was just the one she missed so much. In fact, before I got to that page I had made a guess that Jervie and Daddy-long-leg is the same person. This kind of plot has been known to us long before. However, we do not feel bored with this conventional pattern in love story, since things in the novel are so natural and authentic. We feel happy for Judy when she finally had her happy ending in her love story. This happy ending is desirable to most of us, partly because not all of us can get this happy ending. Therefore, we prefer to see others succeed in this, and we can still preserve the hope in our heart.

After being in love with Jervie, she happily said in her letter “We belong to each other now really and truly” and “Doesn’t it seem queer for me to belong to someone at last?” She seemed a silly girl after she fell in love. No wonder it is said that people in love are often blind. I extremely love the last few words in this book, “This is the first love-letter I ever wrote. Isn’t it funny that I know how?” So simple a sentence, yet it is so warm to me. I ever wrote one in Grade 1 in my junior middle school. Can that be called a love letter? Did I really know what love is? Or do I?

Just as much as the love strikes me, Judy’s attitude towards life amazes me a lot. I am growing more and more mature and often think hard about the meaning of life. In some way, Judy shows to me what life is and how to live one’s life.

Raised up in an orphanage, Jerusha Abbott, who later changed her name to Judy Abbott, cherishes everything she has got with a grateful attitude. Most people were born with everything, food, clothes, love, daddy, mum, and other family members, all of which were far away from Judy. Being an orphan, she has been rejected a lot of fun which other girls are simply indulged with. However, she knows that “They have both had things from the time they were babies. The world, they think, owes them everything they want” and she said “But for me, it owes me nothing…I have no right to borrow on credit”. She will never take things for granted, for she was distinctly rejected by the world from the very beginning. As Helen Keller said, “I have often thought it would be a blessing if each human being were stricken blind and deaf for a few days at some time during his early adult life. Darkness would make him more appreciative of sight; silence would teach him the joys of sound.” Like many other people, I have difficulty in understanding the torture Judy has endured and the attitude she has. Her experience makes me question myself how I view all that I have. I was born healthy so I can not feel the pain that disabled people suffer. My family is not that poor so I can enjoy enough and nourishing food, clothes, and toys. The most important thing is I have all of my family members to care for me. But how do I take all this? Do I think as Judy does? No, I just “accept happiness as a matter of course”. Her statement makes me feel ashamed. Most people do not feel grateful for what they have, but strive or struggle for what they have not. Pretend that we are orphans, or deaf-and-dump, or blind, will we be able to cherish everything?

Being brought up in an orphanage, it is easy for Judy to feel happy and content. She knows a lot of girls who never know that they are happy. “They are so accustomed to the feeling that their senses are deadened to it”. But as for her, “I am perfectly sure every moment of my life that I am happy”. She is presenting her attitude towards life, feeling happy and grateful for things we have. It is true that people tend to take what they have for granted and feel sorry for what they have not. So did I. Now I know more clearly that all I have at present are not assured to me. I may someday lose all of them, money, health, parents, or even my life. Indeed I thank god for being alive every time I get off the bus safe. I should be grateful for everything that I have and feel happy for I can enjoy my life, “no matter what unpleasant things turn up”.  

Moreover, Judy “discovered the true secret of happiness” – “Not to be for ever regretting the past, or anticipating the future; but to get the most that you can out of this very instant”. Really we have too many people who “don’t live, but race”. They are trying to reach some goal far away on the horizon, and in the heat of the going they lose all sight of the beautiful, tranquil country they are passing through. One day, they may discover, they are “old and worn out, and it doesn’t make any difference whether they’ve reached the goal or not”. Does Judy suggest to us who live in this fast-paced society that we should slow down and pay more attention to the beautiful scene and people around?

I have long developed the thought that the point of life is to enjoy life, not to suffocate it. After I went into Grade Three, I began to think more about life. Actually I often had some trouble with my health, which made me fully aware of death. Without health or even life, any achievement that you have can all be meaningless. So I could not understand why most of the people struggle to get as much as possible, even in the price of their health or life. I said to myself, no, this is not my type. While others struggle to get to the top, I choose to peacefully walk along the way and appreciate the tranquil scene. Just as Judy said, “I’ve decided to sit down by the way and pile up a lot of little happiness, even if I never become a Great Author.”

Jean Webster succeeded in creating such a touching love story, whose heroine was smart, lovely, frank, optimistic, and thankful to life. The description is so good that we can even see Judy in our mind’s eye. Being in a kind of sweet and bitter love, I grow much sensitive to the love between Judy and Jervie. While reading, I spontaneously remember the similar feeling that I have. And as adults to be, I am also concerned with attitudes towards life, and obviously Judy shows me something. Seemingly a simple story, the book does involve quite many things. I am thankful to be able to appreciate this book through a comparison between my own experience and Judy’s, and learn more about love and life.