“The Real Story of Ah Q” by Lu Xun
The short story “The True Story of Ah Q” is a satirical fiction that addresses the encounters of Ah Q, who is a peasant in the rural village of Weichuang. The story starts with a flippant tone where the narrator dismisses Ah Q saying that “Ah Q, you miserable wretch! Did you say I belonged to the same clan as you?” (Hsun Ch.1) The author uses Ah Q to represents the moral character of the whole nation and particularly the lower class system, which existed.
By applying one character, to represent the entire nation, he allows the Chinese themselves to study their identity and limitations. Ah Q has no good job and is less educated yet he is in self-denial and has inner conflicts that the author wishes to expose. Lu Xun not only articulates the level of negativity of the Chinese citizens but also demonstrates the importance of culture in declining the status of the nation. To illustrate this, Ah Q is convinced that Chinese is the greatest nation since it has a lengthy past (Foster 179). He is xenophobic and has a high disregard for those individuals who have contact with western culture terming them as weak.
Unlike the others who are ready to embrace change, Ah Q is convinced that he cannot fall a victim since he has stout morals and refers to westerns as “Imitation Foreign Devil.” He is portrayed as having achieved spiritual conquests, although it ironically turns out that it was mere self-deception. Ah Q is a bully since he harasses the impoverished individuals while holding high regard for the superior class. In his mind, he counts himself as a spiritual hero and is exposed by Lu Xun as an individual who worships his culture but eventually is executed by the same values he advocates for slight misconduct.
Lu Xun aims at making the reader sympathize with Ah Q and indirectly wishes the reader to know that Ah Q is not responsible for his victimization. This satire may be primarily geared towards imprinting a lasting impression of the national character (Foster 182). The story is dominated by satire, even from the character’s name Ah Q. The name is sort of ridicule since it is the name of a person who is ignorant of the real world claiming, he is an achiever and is superior to others.
The term points up to a narcissistic person who vindicates each fiasco he encounters as a psychological conquest. The narrator points out that he is not even aware of the surname of Ah Q, where he comes from, or his identity as he states, “In addition to the uncertainty regarding Ah Q’s surname, personal name, and place of origin, there is even some uncertainty regarding his “background” (Hsun Ch.2).
The classical language that the author uses incorporates classical expressions which are expounded satirically. For instance, he uses the words ‘commentary’ & ‘sub commentary’ to expose satire, which establishes a tone of humor and shows the insignificance of the verities of the earlier period. The context of the story significantly depicts satirical overtones, for instance, the already quoted passage “As for the public opinion in Wei Village,” appears as if every word hurts (Lyell 300). The national identity of Ah Q intersects with other disciplines such as politics, religion, and economics. It is satirical how the author is obsessed with the character of Ah Q to expose his arguments in the evaluation of his own culture.
His literary critique on Ah Q is articulate, exposing the crystallization of conservative Chinese values. Through a narrator who remains anonymous, the reader gains a revelation of the Chinese values and the fact that the people unable to embrace change. It emphasizes on the fact that the Chinese are living like aliens in their own country since they figure themselves as the best. This reasoning is futile since, for a nation to develop, its people must be ready to learn from others, embrace change, and make the necessary adjustments in their lifestyle.
The realist Lu Xun’s story reflects in a satirical manner the social traits that dominated the Chinese people during the 1911 Revolution. It was a time when China was experiencing governmental and societal turmoil arising from the 1911 Revolution as well as the May Fourth Movement. By then, China was encountering a controversy between traditional values and modern western colonial thoughts at the time the story was written at around 1921 to 1922.
Western capitalism thrived when the Qing Dynasty collapsed, and this did not affect the Chinese who lived in the countryside. It is this Xenophobia that the author depicts in the story which pulled down the status of China. As it is pointed out, the ignorance couldn’t be eliminated just by switching from one government to another else China needed more than that. It required its people to change their attitudes, which could be facilitated by the thoroughness of lifestyle changes and the attainment of modern education. The concept is portrayed in the novel in a satirical manner where the author portrays the Chinese as peasants materially and psychologically due to their status quo.
This is illustrated from the view of Ah Q who says that “Have you seen an execution?” asked Ah Q. “Ah, that’s a fine sight…. When they execute the revolutionaries…. Ah, that’s a fine sight, a fine sight” (Hsun Ch.6). The author lays criticism of the miserable cultural values way of life that impoverished the Chinese due to the dominance of the feudalist societal arrangement over a long period. Therefore, great social pressure overburdened the common people, which resulted in their barbarism.
Lu Xun critically emphasizes that such individuals had an obsession with their cultural past and were not ready to embrace change, which came with civilization. They never could achieve anything since they blindly followed the injustices present in society. The solution to the contemporary state of china required a social revolution that would eliminate feudalist’s way of thinking and attain a nationwide democracy.
Therefore, the 1911 revolution in the twentieth century seems a disappointment according to Lu Xun who exposes his criticism on the deep-rooted traditions of the masses. Having made Ah Q to be executed, he symbolically emphasizes that for a real change to occur in the society, there have to be some aspects that have to be uprooted from existence entirely. The society only accommodates those people who are open-minded and discards those who are conservative or for the status quo, which is essential for its status to be uplifted and for development to be real and physical.
Works cited
Foster, Paul. AH Q Archaeology: LU XUN, AH Q. AH Q Progeny and the National Character Discourse I Twentieth-Century China. Oxford: Lexington Books. 2006. Print.
Hsun, Lu. The True Story of Ah Q. Objective Systems Pty Ltd CAN 085 119 953. 2006. Print.
Lyell, William. Lu Hsun’s Vision of Reality. Berkeley: University of California Press.1976. Print.