It’s a choice, Wesley, that each of us must face: to remain ordinary, pathetic, beat-down, coasting through a miserable existence, like sheep herded by fate, or you can take control of your own destiny and join us, releasing the caged wolf you have inside...This is the decision that lies before you know: the sheep, or the wolf. The choice is yours.(韦斯利,这是我们每个人都必须面对的选择——是继续在悲惨的生活中品尝平凡、可悲和沮丧,就像被命运驱赶到一起的羊群?还是加入我们的行列,释放囚禁在你内心深处的狼性,将宿命掌握在自己的手中?……在你真正做出决定之前,你并不知道,要成为羊,还是成为狼?这由你自己选择。)
本段中,单词or前后连接的to remain(= you can remain) ordinary...和you can take control of...是两个并列成分,分别描述了被命运主宰的“羊”和主动把握命运的“狼”的两种截然不同的生活。由表示“选择”的or连接的并列成分在英语中很常见,莎士比亚戏剧《哈姆雷特》中的名句To be, or not to be — that is the question(生存还是毁灭,这是一个问题。)就是这种用法。而面临命运选择的韦斯利是否与哈姆雷特经历了同样的挣扎?