Susanna Zhang
Eacs 4B Section 6pm During Lu Xun’s study in Japan, some topics that he was interested in were “What are the qualities of the ideal human, what does the Chinese character lack most, What is the source of illness.” This made me pause for a little while and try to answer these questions myself. Just like Lu Xun, I was also surprised that his mother called him back to China was for an arranged marriage to a girl that he has never met. Usually in novels, we hear the women’s point of view in the marriage. The author then goes on talking about Lu Hsun’s literary work. The author says “many of his stories are flawed, though they are genuine by virtue of their depth, strength, and gravity.” You can tell that Lu Xun was a great write through the words the author uses in describing each work as “masterpiece” in “Madman’s Diary”, “transcends cultural boundaries and should reach the reader’s heart” in “New Years Sacrifice,” ect. I learned that Mao admired and respected Lu Hsun and “hailed him as the commander of China’s cultural revolution.” The author comes up with three reasons for this. First, Lu Xun’s literature was based on utilitarianism, secondly, he “subsumed literature and arts under politics”, and finally because Lu Xun was a “relentless fighter.” One of my favorite articles was a “Madman’s Diary.” The narrator had illusions that the doctor was going to eat him and that his own brother was the doctor’s accomplice. When the narrator says “ I know their way; they are not willing to kill anyone outright”, shows that these people are superstitious and don’t dare to murder people in fear of some consequences. The narrator first asks a young man “Is this (eating people) right?” and a few days after finally develops the courage to tell his brother his thoughts. Then I am confused at what happens after, but the narrator mentions his sister who died