The story “ The Reluctant Dragon” talks about a boy befriending a poetry-loving dragon. Long ago, there was a boy who liked to read books. He discovered a dragon living in the cave above his home. After getting to know the dragon for some time, he found the dragon in fact was very nice so he befriended the dragon. One day, the villagers sent St George to kill the dragon. The boy wanted to save his friend the dragon so he talked to St George and introduced him to the dragon. St George thought the dragon was harmless, so he decided to not fight with the dragon. They found a solution: A fake death. On the battle day, St George harmlessly speared the dragon through a shallow fold of dragon’s skin, and the villagers were happy. St George then said that the dead dragon now was reborn and became a good one and he assured that the dragon was not dangerous to people anymore. The villagers then accepted the dragon and loosened him.
People should not judge people or things just by how or what they look because appearance cannot represent everything. The outside appearance of something is not an indication of its value or worth. The villagers see the dragon as a scary, mean, and harmful creature so they send St George to fight with the dragon. It is human nature that when people tend to think ugly objects as bad things, people will dislike them or make them disappear. But sometimes these ugly objects are actually nice things. People need to spend some time interacting with the object and understand it before giving comments, just like the poetry-loving dragon in the story. The dragon might scare people away because he has the scary appearance, but in fact the dragon is a friendly animal who loves to read the poems. This tells us not to judge people by their appearance. People need to spend some time getting to understand people or things before making the comments.
People from different backgrounds or different worlds could develop authentic friendship as long as they have the same or similar affection. A true friend is someone who does and speaks from their heart with good intentions. Both the book-loving boy and the poetry-loving dragon enjoy reading, so they become friends. The boy tried his best to save his friend the dragon by finding St George, talking to him about the dragon, and thinking of the solution while the villagers all wanted the dragon dead. When a person (the boy) spends some time getting to know another person (the dragon) who is not from his world or speaks the same language, this person can still make friends with another person as long as they have the same interests. When seeing the friend is in danger or being bullied by others, a true friend will bravely stand up against others and try his very best to save his friend from being harmed, just like the boy protecting the dragon. Having the same or similar interests is the foundation in friendship. The true friends will stay with you and provide you support and protection through the tough time.
When facing a dilemma, people should try to discuss with others and make a win-win situation where all people could get the benefits. A win-win situation involves a solution to let people who are in the event get what they want and be happy about it. The villagers sent St George to kill the dragon, but both St George and the boy did not want the dragon dead and the dragon did not want to fight with St George. So they came up with an idea of the fake death. St George has a problem: kill or not kill George? The villagers want to kill the dragon because they thought the dragon is a harmful creature, but St George doesn’t want to fight with the dragon because he thinks the dragon is kind and friendly. If St George doesn’t kill, then the villagers will find another person to kill the dragon, and the dragon might die. So George decided to “kill” the dragon but it is a fake kill. In this way, the villagers will be happy, the boy and St George will still have their friend the dragon alive, and the dragon could go back to his previous peaceful life. It is best for people to use a win-win strategy so the greater long-term benefits could be created for everyone.
“ The Reluctant Dragon” is an interesting story about a dragon who loves peace and who loves to read the poems. This story teaches me that appearance is not the main thing for people to make the judgments about something. It takes time to understand the truth of the thing. In addition, anyone could befriend another based on the same or similar affection no matter where they come from. A true friend will stand by you no matter what. Moreover, when facing problems, people should try to think of a win-win strategy to meet the needs and goals of all people who are in the situation, so everyone can gain what they want and be happy.
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