A few months ago, I finished the masterpiece Crime and Punishment, a Russian Classical Novels written by Dostoyevsky. This title alludes to the content of this book, but what’s the meaning of The Red and the Black, book name of a French novel by Stendhal?

I haven’t got get it until I carefully finished it. Are those two colors respectively related to some certain characters? If you are interested in this question, hope you can give me some tips.

To get a thorough understanding of man kind is a very tough job, as people change along with the surrounding environment throughout of their life, and they even have no idea what kind of characters they are.

The hero of Crime and Punishment is obsessed with regret for murdering two feeble old ladies, which is fully occupied his mind and heart, thus we can easily understand his mentality and behaviors.

But how can we describe Julien’s acts? Does it owe to his pride, haughtiness, vanity? But I don’t think it’s so simple. There are some very complicate elements in his innate character.

Although he is highly talented, he acts like a madman. For a man who lacks life experience, he should have lived in earnest. On the contrary, he lives in his own illusions and goes far away from reality.

He never acts as what he really thinks. To satisfy his vanity, he tries all the means to achieve his goals, even at the sacrifice of his love. In fact, he has no idea about love.

In his views, falling in love with a woman of high social status could show his courage, and loved by a noble lady may be an intrigue, how funny for him to think so. Poor man! An intelligent man like him is doomed to be destroyed by his vanity and pride in that time.

It’s his destiny to be born in a poor family with such a cynical heart. It’s not only a tragedy of Julien as an individual but also the society as a whole. He is tortured by his actions, and death is the very price he paid for what he did.

I really can’t find a proper word for him. Sometimes, I am even terrified by his ambition. Fortunately, in my life, I never meet such a man, otherwise, my life would be a nightmare.

If I had a chance to exchange with him directly, I will tell Julien to treat life in a practical manner and himself with a liberal heart. What he needs others can’t give him, but he can get it by freeing his heart.

Maybe, there are various opinions and comments on Julien’s tragedy, but all of those are the production of different eras and different societies, and we have no reason to blame anyone.