Yuan Chenyue, Shenzhen Foreign Languages School Instructed by Yang Suning

I had never imagined, that an old and unlucky man, after being isolated and laughed at for failing to catch a fish for 87 days, would be determined to sail towards the farthest reaches; I had never imagined, that an old and lonely man, struggling to fight with a huge fish consistently for so many days, would endure suffering with cramps as well as hunger, thirst and restlessness; I had never imagined, that an old and exhausted man, following his success over the giant fish, would face up to attacks from groups of cruel sharks, watching his hard-gained fish eaten by them, bite by bite, little by little, until left with only white fish bones to return with when he reaches the land. It is a fiction we have always heard of, but few would like to dig into it. It is “The Old Man and the Sea,” written by Ernest Hemingway.

I believe it is a profound novel concerning the relationship of the human-nature relationship. Santiago, who is the old fisherman, is deeply in love with the broad and beautiful, blue and serene sea during his entire life. Therefore, he finds fish graceful and adorable. However, in sharp contrast, his occupation is a fisherman. He can do nothing but fishing to make a living. After he manages to capture a giant marlin and sharks begin their fierce attack, doubts and confusion arise. “Is it a sin for me to kill that huge fish since I regard him as my brother?” he questions himself. Later, he finds that he “loved him when he was alive” and he “loved him after,” but he is puzzled again. “If you love him, it is not a sin to kill him. Or is it more?”

Man is a creation of nature, and thus most of us surely like nature for its beauty. However, we ought to be acutely aware that we are part of earth’s creatures, who have to live and breed, and hence need to kill other species, posing a threat to other species. Therefore, although our existence is granted by nature and we adore nature sincerely, we sometimes have to damage it. But that doesn’t reveal that we are justified to commit any crimes on nature out of our own interests.

Nowadays, climate change deteriorates rapidly and there is a decline of biodiversity. We should ensure there is a bottom line. As the Chinese philosopher Zhu Xi puts it, “We should maintain the natural reason and destroy people’s desire.” He argues that everyone is allowed to meet their basic needs, but should be banned from fulfilling their further temptations.

I suppose that this principle may also be applied to our way of treating nature: It is fine to ensure our living and development, but we should not take any more steps that destroy our planet without sanity or control.