When I look back on the school year, my first hobby was reading a book, at that time we could not have any hobby that these days young people are having. When I attended middle school behind our school where they had a men's high school they had a tennis court, and we could sneaky in-play tennis, even though only a few school students afford to buy tennis racquets.
That is not an excuse to read books, yet, most of us, anyhow liked reading books.
In particular, I fell in love with Korean translated Tom Sawyer written by the famous Mark Twain.
Gradually, I started reading books written by classic English writers book like Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Thomas Hardy, and Charles Dickens, when we were attending University.
Yet, when Jane Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice, in the year 1800, still she had very much pride in herself. In her book, her father was a gentleman, yet, not rich had 4 daughters who were supposed to find a gentleman with wealth to get married. Yet, she kept pride in herself and her wit, and wise spirit enough 4 for her sisters all to find good husbands as well she finds handsome and upper-class husband for her that story was written in Pride and Prejudice.
One thing I keep thinking about is the book called "Tess Durbervilles" written by Thomas Hardy who was similar years with Jane Austen, yet, he wanted to describe pure women in his book that person is Tess who is a simple country girl, honest farm worker, when she was working at her rich relative's farm, a corrupt noble relative man abused her so that she left that place and moved to a different farm to work, where she met a true, good man who loved her very much so they married.
The first night the groom confesses to Tess, that he made love with another girl that is his past.
So, she confesses to him what happened to her relative man did to her that the groom could not forgive her, from that night he left to go to another country by himself. Tess has to make a living since her family needed her help as well.
For so many years she looked for him and waited for her husband to return to her.
Without her financial support, her family will live on the street. Finally, she gave up her husband and started living with her rich relative man that family got the place to live, and Tess's life suddenly more comfortable and luxurious, yet suddenly one day her husband came back to Tess, now she regretted her situation very much that made her kill her relative man, In the end, she died from getting captured by policemen for her committed murder crime. I was always thinking about her sad destiny. That is conscious personal punishment.
Another tragic story written by Leo Tolstoy is about Anna Karenina who was punished by the public for her adultery.
Her husband only thinks about his duty for his job and title and very cold person. Anna Karenina was very beautiful full of charm and energy, and love for her young son, who should be a good wife, yet, fell in love with a young dashing army captain, at first they seemed to truly love each other, yet, by his mother's refusal of Anna he finds another lady to love, so Anna Karenina, nowhere to go killed herself to stand in front of a coming train. In my mind, it is too cruel to make his novel to end. Actually, the captain regrets and feels really guilty about what he did to Anna. By the book, he never married, that novel's end.
It seems that books written by men -authors have more strict minds and attitudes in the olden days.
Why I say that is public punishment is not many people felt guilty about her suicide or Tess's losing her life.
Above all Ethics take a more important role in the above story, since ethics is built in our lives and into our society.
The point is not whether we are honest with ourselves or not, only normal behavior in normal times for us.
For the man, ethics is their nature, so he felt honest in revealing his past to his newly married wife, yet, when he heard Tess's confession, could not be taken, that is all the problems that happened to Tess's life which is beyond her limit.
For Anna Karenina, if that story were written these days, all she has to do is divorce her husband, and she could look for a new life with half of their fortune{?}
the third week of September,
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