F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Offshore Pirate" is a short story written in the 1920s. "The Offshore Pirate" is a story of a young, rich lady, Ardita, who is captured along with her uncle's boat by a group of pirates. Ardita is very stubborn, so when the pirates give her the chance to escape to shore she refuses and agrees to go with them. Curtis Carlyle, the leader of the pirate group and the only white man, begins speaking to Ardita. They find they have much in common, and maybe even are reaching for the same goal in life. Throughout this short story, two main parts stood out.
In one part Ardita says that, "all life is just a progression toward, and then a recession from, one phrase--'I love you.' " Although I believe Ardita would be a very intelligent lady, I do not agree with her bold statement. Many do fall in love and many find very much happiness in love, but not all find love. If life was just a progression towards and recession from having the sense that someone is in love with you, then some people would not be living at all.
Ardita says that she once realized, or "found something",--courage. Ardita claims that the characteristic of courage is what attracted her to her past idols so much. She then says that "my courage is my faith." These statement made by Ardita then challenged me to ask myself what attracted me to my idols and what my life was built on. Although I'm still pondering that thought, one main characteristic that I've realized is thankfulness. My dad is one of the main people that I look up to and the one character trait that he portrays in my mind over all is thankfulness.
"The Offshore Pirate" may have been meant to be a cute, short love story, but it challenged me to think about my opinions on life and what my life reflects.
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