Introduction
Lu Hsun is a Chinese writer who had a great influence on the development of culture and socio-political thought in his native country and was the founder of modern Chinese literature. Despite the small volume of his works, the author was able to masterfully reveal the most pressing issues of his time. Lu Hsun discussed the complex inner world of a simple Chinese and showed how deep the feelings of an ordinary and unremarkable person could be. The beginning of the 20th century was a challenging period for the author’s country, and he was one of the first to declare the importance of reformation changes in his stories. As objects of analysis, such Hsun’s works will be considered as “A Madman’s Diary” and “Kung I-chi.” Through his stories, Lu Hsun educates the reader, urges everyone to introspect, and emphasizes the nuances of the injustice of not only authorities to people but also ordinary citizens to one another.
“A Madman’s Diary:” Reflection
The story of “A Madman’s Diary” is a collection of human notes and includes 13 short fragments. The unique feature of this work lies not only in its writing format but also in the subtexts that the author conveys. The insight of a person who supposedly lived in ignorance for 30 years may be compared with real events taking place in China at that time. When writing this story, Hsun was over 30, and, given his reformist views and revolutionary ideas, the insight that descended on the character from the moon is an analogy to the events of that era. Imagery is the main literary device that the author uses in this story. For instance, Hsun presents his character as a person who sees non-existent words in the book – “eat people” (13). Subsequent events, when all family members find themselves involved in this apparent craziness, emphasize the antisocial nature of Chinese politics and people’s unwillingness to compromise. One of the most vivid sayings is as follows: “members of the same group can still eat each other” (Hsun 18). This approach reflects the author’s dissatisfaction with existing orders and social norms.
Realism utilized by the author as an additional symbolic tool is a significant stimulus that aims to influence the reader. The symptoms of a person who is gradually losing his mind, in particular, visual hallucinations, are presented in detail and believable. The fear, despair, and other negative feelings that the character experiences are described in the following words: “I don’t know whether it is day or night” (Hsun 15). However, when taking into account the subtext of the narrative, these images may be perceived as satirical observations and a mocking look at the real structure of society. At the same time, there is no evidence that the author believes in the bright future of his country. The final sentence conveys Hsun’s pessimism: “save the children” (21). All the author’s work reveals the ideas of struggle and the importance of following the right ideals, but in “A Madman’s Diary,” the desire to change is not noticeable. Thus, this story is one of many examples of Hsun’s creative heritage, which is closely associated with pressing social problems and reflects the existing negative traits of those who are ready to betray one another.
“Kung I-chi:” Reflection
The story “Kung I-chi” was published shortly after “A Madman’s Diary.” Its title is the name of the main character, an old and intelligent loser who has the status of a local jester. The apparent dissonance between the untidy appearance and the ability to express his thoughts exquisitely defines Kung I-chi as a small person that Hsun often represented in his works. The character is ridiculous to everyone and is not taken seriously, which makes him an outcast. Two plans may be distinguished in the story: a small Chinese town in which Kung I-chi lives and a social circle in which there is a spirit of arbitrariness and abuse of the personality. For these people, the life of others is of no value. The words of the tavern owner confirm the indifference that people treated the main character even after Kung I-chi’s disappearance: “Kung I-chi still owes nineteen coppers” (Hsun 27). Nobody cares about the reason that pushed the character to steal, and only the fact of punishment is of interest, which reflects the low values of society and their neglect of others’ problems and difficulties.
When analyzing the ending of the story in which the character is likely to die, one can note a possible parallel not only with physical but also with moral exhaustion. After Kung I-chi visited the tavern for the last time, crippled and tired, he found neither compassion nor understanding. The heartlessness and cruelty of society may be the real causes of the character’s death. The narrator saw that Kung I-chi’s “hands were covered with mud – here must have crawled here on them,” but not one of the people gathered around helped the old man (Hsun 26). Therefore, the problem of a small person who remains misunderstood and unrecognized is Hsun’s story leitmotif and emphasizes the imperfection of the society of the time in which the author lived and worked.
Hsun’s Revolutionary Work
The recognition of the importance of Hsun’s work is largely due to the revolutionary nature of his stories and an innovative approach to displaying social issues. The era in which the author lived was an ambiguous period when ordinary people were under the oppression of the authorities and did not have the right to express themselves freely. Society, in turn, sought to satisfy base needs, and the value of the individual was absent. However, Hsun’s stories that were full of subtexts and half-hidden meanings helped make all these flaws public. The author openly declared his unwillingness to live in an environment where class inequality was the dominant course of state policy. The reflection of his revolutionary ideas allowed Hsun to gain world fame. His images of a small man also used by some other writers contributed to orienting readers to changes both in relation to life in general and to one another.
Conclusion
The reflection of acute social problems, in particular, the injustice of state laws and people’s indifference to one another, is the basis of Hsun’s stories “A Madman’s Diary” and “Kung I-chi.” Unwillingness to pay attention to others’ problems is presented in a satirical manner, and subtexts are often found in both works. The background of the stories is the satisfaction of base needs and the total neglect of the anxieties and difficulties of the individual as a full and deep being. The revolutionary character of Hsun’s works consists in the author’s attempt to change the existing foundations of society and draw attention to the acute issues that everyone can face.
References
Hsun, Lu. Selected Stories of Lu Hsun. Wildside Press, 2016.