the hero, philip, is an orphan with a disabled leg, raised by his uncle, but belongs to the middle class and has a certain social status. he is independent and sensitive, and loves to read and think, so he will look at and have his own views on many worldly things. this is not the same as most people - just accept it. in the story, his life is not successful to be teased lame, then isolate ourselves. the first love is found to be your vanity. learning accounting is incompatible with the firm and has no interest in accounting. instead of going to paris to learn his favorite paintings, he found that he didn't have much talent. he should be a second-class artist. great artists need great gifts. in paris, he was caught in a vulgar woman's love, obsessed with her body and could not be self-made. she had hurt him and once again and again. as a result, philip was so fascinated that his mind was so deeply reproach. go to medical school, found that their love gradually occupation has encountered obstacles, because the stock is lost all the property, he can only be suspended. and then hard work hard to find a low level of work to fill the stomach, draw a meaningless conclusion of life to comfort themselves. at last he was suffering from the hardship of life, and he met the perfect lover, so his heart was settled and happy.

philip grew up in with the religious atmosphere of the environment, is keenly aware of the religious hypocrisy to very early. once, he is back to god this convinced, he warmly and reverently ask for in before the start of the school year to cure his disability. however, time has proved that it is just a lie, a deceit. philip loves life, is full of longing for the future, and does not want to spend his precious life for "serving god". so, he decided to leave the dead before graduation of the royal college of medicine, in the way of painting. philip has a young people's blood, ambitious, at its poor life to pursue the goal of life. at the same time, his ideals are all confused, can not stick to the end, only in the confused pursuit. but at least he was brave to revolt, to resist his uncle's arrangement, to resist the reality, to resist the fate of the arrangement, which was worth thinking.

philip has some kind of disgust on idealism. he has always loved life intensely, and as he saw it in his life, idealism retreats most timidly in front of his life. the idealist retreat, because he can't stand people scramble each other; he did not have the courage to fight and battle vulgar. his companions and ordinary, but when he sees himself not treat him like that, he despised partners, and to comfort. in philip's view, hayward is such a person. hayward wuguanduanzheng, spirits, now become bloated, bald headed heart. but he also care a few remaining handsome appearance, still talking to interesting and meaningful in the uncertain future to the achievement. however, behind all of this, but the whiskey, chasing a woman in the street, happy. contrary to hayward's view of life, philip asked for life as if it were what he was like now.

as a long retreat, it looks not so boring, what is the shackles of life, it is probably that life is meaningful, is the meaning of life is meaningless, and when people really realize the level of life is meaningless, he will get rid of gasol, then his life seems pointless (this is not completely understood, slowly understand it). see a word in the book: other people know the real meaning of life to face any kind of life, we have used to set a goal for himself, hoping to gain something in life, can give life more exciting content, we thought, this is called a meaningful life. but the paradox is that these are the shackles we give ourselves. like philip's painting, in my opinion, as a painter and artist itself is meaningless, and the significance is that he imperceptibly cultivate aesthetic feeling, he finally said, he more than ever to understand beauty, appreciate beauty. for us, no matter what we are engaged in, what is your goal to get what fame, these are the representation, there is not much significance, if the meaning of words, is that the meaning of these things, as the road rod, it makes us aware of life itself. to comprehend the meaning of life. and the meaning at this level is probably, in turn, to get rid of the shackles of the big and small life and seek the true life.

not an inspirational book, absolutely not. although it also began in the low valley, it seemed to have never been successful in secular standards until it was only a small figure in the end. the hero is an orphan, born from the lame lack of love stubborn and sensitive, it is typical of adolescent delinquents, eat a lot of pain, not love, but do not know how to cherish. those shackles are the shackles that prevent people from going forward, though they are so beautiful and so bright - these shackles have a common name, called trust. believe in the existence of a better world, believing that efforts must have results and believe in life.