Lu Xun is a traditional Chinese story that I’ve always heard incomplete bits from either from my family or my teachers. When I finally read the whole thing, and got an understanding of what life was like living in feudalism where women were merely objects that were never recognized for good but only if they hadn’t marry, I was upset that humans were once treated that way. To be a successful woman, so to speak, one had to be arranged into a marriage and be kind, hardworking and strong. The story of XiangLin’s wife showed that her husband had died leaving her to be a widow which made everyone in society look down on her. She was then forced to marry again, she’d rather die than to be miserable. This was ironic because society demands that all woman must be married off and that is the only way a woman will somewhat be accepted but XiangLin’s personal morals are greater than that.
I can’t even imagine how to put my emotions together in an environment and century where each household consisted of women focusing on their husband and chores. No family focused on affection and happiness. Obedience and loyalty was wha determined fate for a women. I’m curious to know where such a thing came from, and why it lasted for so long until women can finally find happiness because men could have fought for women too. Men could have fantasized for a sincere and loving wife that would do everything a woman was expected to do.
In the story, XiangLin’s wife loses her second husband and her son, and had to go back to her uncle’s house. Her uncle does not like her, and she loses every hope she had that kept her alive. People would not feel remorse for her after laughing at her life like it was a tragic story. This comes to show that even though XiangLin’s wife did not match up to the traditions of a chinese woman, she would have been really loved and appreciated if she were to be in a later time period and if marxism had taken over for being her genuine self.