Running Head: DIARY ENTRY hzm554

Written Task 1

LITERATURE A- PART 4: CRITICAL STUDY

THE FISHERMAN’S DIARY/ LOVE’S CALL

Subject: Language and Literature HL

Student code: hzm554

Session: November 2020

Word count: 1.300 words

DIARY ENTRY hzm554 | 1

Rationale

The following Written Task belongs to Part 4, and it is a critical response that aims to

“Analyze elements such as theme and the ethical stance or moral values of literary works”.

Thus, the stimulus text will be the short story The Fisherman and His Soul (1891) by Oscar

Wilde, since this piece of literature places a clear emphasis on two main topics: morality and

love, showing the author’s intention to depict human nature. To explore these topics, it will be

created diary entries using the Fisherman’s voice and the year the short story was published as

a starting point because the original text does not have explicit dates.

By context, this written task will be placed in the Victorian era. Therefore, the audience

includes teenagers and adults of Victorian society. This audience is characterized by its strict

moral and religious norms as part of the culture. Also, it was considered a materialistic society

that was the result of the economic development and technological advances of those times.

It is important to emphasize the use of archaic language and conventions such as date,

first-person point of view, and signature that will show the evolution of the Fisherman’s

thinking throughout the plot. For that reason, diary entries are one of the most effective ways

to express personal thoughts of this character and show vividly the topics to increase empathy.

This will create awareness in the audience regarding the complexity of feelings and the

importance of love. However, it will also question the extent to which love is a double-edged

sword in terms of morality and happiness.

This human tendency of failing and regretting in the name of love is what caught my

attention, and is my inspiration to write these diary entries as a testimony of love’s power over

people’s consciousness. (300 words).

 DIARY ENTRY hzm554 | 2

Wednesday, 1891
Dear diary, I am glad to meet Love’s eyes. Now I know it was all my heart was
waiting for, as it is part of its human nature. Now I know humans’ hope is to one-day
caress Love’s warm arms, to dance at the unison of its melody, and make it a place of
enchanted dwell. Love is the cessation of the shrill wailing of the heart’s emptiness,
for there is no earthly thing compared to Love. It is part of our essence, and yet
unconscious creatures accept not its worth. Yes, I found Love and now I behold its
shape! I cannot conceal it; my feelings are becoming stronger.
To my nets and boat was I devoted. They granted me a shelter of the wild winds and
night beasts. They gave me food in times of hunger. Yes, my body satisfied its caprice,
yet my heart found not a reason to pulsate in true ecstasy. But now I shall say I am
glad! For I have met the sea’s daughter, whose melodious voice maketh deaf listen to
the chords of celestial peace; and the wonders of bright heaven she maketh the blind
see. I thought I saved her from human’s malady, but she was the one who saved me.
She saved my heart and now my chest is narrow to hold these beats.
Every single day is full of joy! My boat is empty and my heart is full of Love. I ask
myself how much Love can the heart contain, for my Love hath the size of the
universe. She, my Mermaid, sculpted in ivory by nature’s sculptor, painted in glitter
by moonlight’s muses, embroidered by golden silver, and ornamented with the shimmering
pearls of the sea, is the representation of tenderness and delicacy. She is the one to
whom my heart will always belong. I would give aught to be with her! Naught is more
valuable than gentle Love. To-morrow my Love I must declare, for this feeling can no
longer be contained. Strength and courage to me! To-morrow shall the day be. Good
night dear diary.
 DIARY ENTRY hzm554 | 3

Friday, 1891
How happy I am, dear diary! I will live with my Mermaid, the Love of my heart.
There are no barriers between us, and in the sea's realm, we will live until the
doomsday of our lives. My Soul was an obstacle to our Love, but now both of us -my
Soul and I- are free. I know I used an evil manner to take it out of my body, it was
the only way. And my Soul asked me to be merciful giving him my heart in exchange,
but how could I love without it? Was I selfish? This thought addeth bitter drops to
my happiness; but then I see my Mermaid, her Love is all I wished, and now is all I
have.
It comforteth me that my Soul is free and it hath the freedom to doth its will. I hope
it findeth the world's goodness; he would be a free spirit at nature’s harmony, since
the entire world is not evil’s slave…
I understand not the value and use of my Soul, but I know the importance of my heart.
It is where my Love dwelleth, and I promise to make it fair enough to my lover. I will
not mar it with disloyalty, since it is all I need to keep all I have.
And now I shall say thou wert a loyal friend, my dear diary. Thou helped me to
exhort my heart’s desperation as a human without purpose, without orientation.
Farewell! Thou must keep my earthly and mundane life. Now, the ocean is my home
and my Mermaid will be my bride. The days of Love are coming!
 DIARY ENTRY hzm554 | 4

Monday, 1894
Dear diary, it hath been a while, three years have passed. I had wonderful moments
with my Mermaid, but now I fear I have condemned my life. For I returned to evilness’
realm; my Soul was so vile. Vile was my Soul, stained with greed and lust; and in one
of its temptations, I was seduced and fell in sin. Firm was I at his temptations of wisdom
and riches, for they mean naught in terms of Love. But my Soul found the way to make
me leave my home, my morality, my Love… to see a dancer’s feet.
Alas! I remember how I became a thief and a murder; how I changed from being kind,
to be cruel. My soul hath corrupted my morality, but strong was my Love that it
endured not. Love was my salvation to realize the wickedness in the actions it made me
do. How ashamed I feel! Even a thousand words will not be enough to express the
sadness and regret of my heart… So, firm I am for Love. And I know my Mermaid
will forgive me, for I will never listen to my Soul. I have to return! And I will
return!
Sadly, the scissors that once divided me from my Soul at the moonlight’s bow, have no
use. My heart my Soul will ever persecute. But I know my Mermaid will cleanse my
consciousness and make me again fair enough.
Now I have an inside struggle between me and my Soul, since my Soul wanteth me to
break down my heart’s walls. I will not allow it; he will not ever control me. I have
to return! My purpose in life hath a name, and it is called Mermaid. Goodbye dear
diary, my fate is waiting.
DIARY ENTRY hzm554 | 5

Sunday, 1895
Dear diary, a year hath passed, and yet I cannot find my Mermaid. My Love is
so powerful that it would expel my Soul’s foulness if I let him get in again; and
my Sorrow so painful, that maketh the skies cry and collapse. In very truth I
miss her and I will dedicate the rest of my life to find her.
I am hearing the sea's lament… What doth it foretell?

(1.000 words)
DIARY ENTRY hzm554 | 6

References

Primary source:

Beers, K., Hougen, M., Jago, C., McBride, W., Palmer, E. & Stack, L. (2015). Collections,

Grade 9. USA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Secondary sources:

Textura-de-papel-antiguo-1552 [Online image]. (n.d.). Puro arte humano. Web.

https://www.puroartehumano.org/textura-de-papel-antiguo-1552/.

Wilde, O. (1891). The Fisherman and his Soul. In House of Pomegranates. (pg. 73-146).

London: Methuen & Co. Web. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/873/873-h/873-h.htm.