The five boons of life Mark Twain
American Literature
The Five Boons of Life
Mark Twain
Summary
In the story " The five boons of life" by Mark Twain a fairy comes to a young man and offers him with a gift basket with five gifts which were Fame, Love, Riches, Pleasure and Death .She asks him to take one from it and warns him to, choose wisely, for only one of them was valuable.
The youth even without thinking chose pleasure. He went out into the world and sought out the pleasures that youth delights in. But each in its turn was short-lived and disappointing, vain and empty.So in the end he said that he had wasted all those years and if he could choose again, he would choose wisely.
The fairy appeared again, and asks him to choose once more from the remaining four and warns him that time was flying, and only one of them was precious.The man considered long, then chose Love; and did not mark the tears that rose in the fairy's eyes.As years passed by one by one all his loved ones left him; and then his dearest and the last . He felt that love was a treacherous trader, as , for each hour of happiness it sold him ,it made him paid a thousand hours of grief.
Again the fairy comes and says that the years have taught him wisdom and asks him to choose from remaining three and gives the same warning to choose wisely.The man after thinking for long chose Fame; and the fairy, sighing, went her way.Years went by and she came again and sat near him. She knew his thought:He was thinking that fame was only for a short while and followed by it came envy; then detraction; then calumny; then hate; then persecution and then derision, which was the beginning of the end. And last of all came pity, which was the end of fame.
The fairy again came asking him to choose from the remaining two gifts and says him not to despair as the one that was precious from the beginning was still here.The man is now choosing wealth, thinking wealth was power and how blind he was for not choosing it .He says, at last life will be worth the living and he will spend, squander, dazzle and all the mockers and despisers will crawl in the dirt before him.Three short years went by, and a day came when the man sat shivering in a mean garret; and he was gaunt and wan and hollow-eyed, and clothed in rags.He was gnawing a dry crust and mumbling to himself that all world's gift were not gifts but mere lending and the pleasure, love, fame and wealth were temporary disguises for lasting realities -- Pain, Grief, Shame and Poverty.
The fairy came, bringing again four of the gifts, but Death was wanting. She said that she gave it to a mother's pet, a little child. It was ignorant, but trusted her, asking her to choose for it. and she says that the man did not ask her to choose."The man then asks her what was left for him as he felt miserable.The fairy replies - what not even he had deserved: the wanton insult of Old Age."
The Cask of Amontillado-Edgar Allan Poe
Short story Analysis
The story "The five boons of life" by Mark Twain is a series of interactions between a fairy and a man who grows to learn in each phase of his life, the lesson the fairy tries to teach him. The five gifts were fame, love, riches, pleasure and death.
In the morning of life when the , good fairy came with her basket of five boons,the man didn't realize that he should have asked her to choose for him to choose the gift instead of choosing by himself . The next point to note is that when one analyses the five boons’ what one gets is the opposite : Shame, Grief, Poverty, Pain, and Life which shows that the only positive boon was ‘death’ whose opposite is eternal ‘life’ which is bliss itself. In the end of the story we can see that the man finally wishes to choose death , realising that he had nothing to live for and that the other ‘boons’ were not gifts but mere lending and the pleasure, love, fame and wealth were temporary disguises for lasting realities -- Pain, Grief, Shame and Poverty. . They were not permanent or long-lasting and certainly not fulfilling.
The In the glory of his youth, man was ignorant and even without thinking he first chose Pleasure .He was full of vigour and vitality and he went out into the world and sought out the pleasures that youth delights in. But little did he knew that the temporary pleasure was going to bring pain for him.After many years only he realizes that it was short-lived and disappointing, vain and empty.
Then the man chooses love thinking that love can satisfy him.He thought he made a wise decision and didn't even notice the tears in fairy's eyes. But soon Love makes him realize that he has spent his life loving people who leave this world never to return in the same form that he loved them. As years passed by one by one all his loved ones left him; and finally his dearest and the last and he is left alone .When the youth chose love, all the people he loved left him in this life. He, therefore, was disillusioned with love. He feels that love was a treacherous trader, as , for each hour of happiness it sold him ,it made him paid a thousand hours of grief.Then love becomes a curse and exacts its payment in grief and tears.
He then chooses fame, which brings his downfall. In his peak of fame ,his name filled the world, and its praises were on every tongue, and it seemed well with him for a little while. Then everyone was envious of him .Many started hating him and spoke ill of him.Then comes detraction which is a lessening of reputation by the envious . Then comes calumny, making false and defamatory statements about someone to damage their reputation and fame. Then such a once successful person is persecuted, derided he finally becomes an object of pity. The man felt the the bitterness and misery of renown which was the target for mud in its prime, for contempt and compassion in its decay.
Then he opts for riches saying how blind he was.He thinks at last, life will be worth the living. He chose riches because he thought he could get back at the people who trumped him could win against them with wealth.He said he will spend, squander, dazzle making those mockers and despisers to crawl in the dirt before him, and he would feed his hungry heart with their envy. He would have all luxuries, all joys, all enchantments of the spirit, all contentment's of the body that man holds dear. He would buy, buy, buy deference, respect, esteem, worship -- every pinch beck grace of life the market of a trivial world can furnish forth. Three short years went by, and a day came when the man sat shivering in a mean garret; and he was gaunt and wan and hollow-eyed, and clothed in rags.He was gnawing a dry crust and mumbling to himself that all world's gift were not gifts but mere lending and the pleasure, love, fame and wealth were temporary disguises for lasting realities -- Pain, Grief, Shame and Poverty.
Finally in the end of the story he becomes a pauper and realizes that death was the only compassionate gift worthy of being called a boon. He cursed all the gifts of the world. They were not gifts.They were disguises for pain, grief, shame and poverty.When finally he learns that everything in life is temporary and deceptive, he realizes that death is the surest fact about existence.When the fairy came again all the four gifts were there but Death was wanting. She had given it to a mother’s pet, a little child. It was ignorant and asked the fairy to choose for him. The man felt miserable and said that he would have to suffer the wanton insult of Old Age.
In a life filled with endless choices, one bounds to make a few mistakes! The number of choices in life can sometimes feel overwhelming and often one doesn't have any idea what the best choice might be. For some people, the ability to make choices can be one of the most terrifying things they face in life.Sometimes people find themselves faced with a difficult choice and they might know what the right choice is, but they have the desire to make the wrong choice.In the story the man is making wrong choices throughout his life which finally lead him to suffer the wanton insult of old age.
Mark Twain through his short story is bringing out the fact how choices play a key role in shaping or defining one's life. Dwelling on unwise choices is counterproductive to living a full life.To life to the fullest one must make wise choices.
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