Author: c.zhu3

Lu Xun’s “New Year’s Sacrifice” is a short novel, which demonstrates profoundly the true face of Chinese rural areas during that period. After reading it, my heart is very heavy. This article says that Xianglin’s wife is despised by everyone because her two husbands and child is dead. Even though she offers a threshold, but still does not change everyone’s contempt for her. Finally, she died in the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year).

The author uses flashbacks to create a persecution in feudal rituals. Spring Festival is the most important festival in China. In my memory, that is the happiest time of the year. I don’t need go to school. I could get red packets from elder. Parents prepare new clothes for me. and they buy everything I want. Xianglin’s wife choose that great moment to die. It is hard to know how tough her life is.

In the novel, “the very sky seems to proclaim the New Year’s approach.” The next day, “The sky became overcast and in the afternoon it was filled with a flurry of snowflakes.” However, “every family was busy preparing for the New Year sacrifice. This is the great end-of-year ceremony in Luzhen, during which a reverent and splendid welcome is given to the God of Fortune so that he will send good luck for the coming year.”  I believe author describes the bad weather forebodes a bad thing should happen later. As I know, Lu Xun published this novel on February 1927. It was after the Xinhai Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1911. Lu Xun cheered the explosion Revolution of 1911 great enthusiasm, but he was disappointed soon. After seeing the Revolution of 1911, the imperial regime was overthrown. Meanwhile, it was replacing by the rule of the warlord bureaucrats of the landlord class. The foundation of the feudal society was not completely destroyed. The Chinese people, especially the peasants, became increasingly impoverished. They lived a life of hunger and cold, and the patriarchal concept and feudal ethics were still the spiritual shackles that were pressing on the people.

Xinglin’s wife was very tragic. At the age of twenty-seven, she became a widow, and she was a female worker for the Fourth Uncle. In the beginning, the image of Xianglin’s wife was printed in my mind. A woman who was full of hope of life. Working hard to survive and “Little by little the trace of a smile appeared at the corners of her mouth, while her face became whiter and plumper.” However, fate always treat people unfair. No matter how hard she is, she still could not get rid of the life of being manipulated by others. She became a tool for “mother-in-law” to make money. Later, she was forcibly married to sixth son of the ho family. As a result, her second husband was also dead. And the child was eaten by the wolf. Because of, at that time, people believed that good women did not marry two men, Xianglin’s wife was full of indifference and contempt. How ignorant! Even Xianglin’s wife, she believed that women can’t marry two men. She was afraid of she would meet two husbands after death. She asked Lu Xun, “Do dead people turn into ghosts or not?” and “Then will all the members of a family meet again after death?” When Lu Xun answered yes. She also thought they could meet in the hell.

When she sold to Ho family, Xianglin’s wife against it strongly. “She bashed her head on a corner of the altar, gashing it so badly that the blood spurted out. Even though they smeared on two handfuls of incense ashes and tied it up with two pieces of red cloth, they couldn’t stop the bleeding.” I should say how brave she is. She refuses to yield to fate. But, all of all, she is just an ordinary woman. She is unable to resist “destiny.”

The tragic fate of Xianglin’s wife makes me so sad. In fact, I believe they are more hatred towards that society. People was talking Xianglin’s wife like a joke after the meal. And the stubborn and indifferent attitude of the Fourth Uncle had made her fall into despair again and again. That makes me thinking, why people refuse to give her the opportunity to live a normal life for the last time.

There are enough to see what kind of ignorance, ruthlessness and numbness people in the society at that time. Xianglin’s wife finally became the victim of the fall of the society, and the defender of the feudal ethics represented by the Fourth Uncle, who executed the accomplice of her death. When she died on the New Year, the great sorrows and joys were united. Even the sky, the evening clouds and the firecrackers showed endless sorrow. The lively festive atmosphere is in stark contrast to the pale reality. Sadness is not only for Xianglin’s wife, but also for that society. The sad society that was destroyed by feudal thoughts, ethics.

People who have been deeply poisoned by feudal ethics seems like have already lost their sensation. The nature of “cannibalism” in feudal society is indeed hateful, and the ruthlessness of human nature has also been uncovered.

In the text book, “He told her his design, first of killing her, and then his enemies, and next himself, and the impossibility of escaping, and therefore he told her the necessity of dying. He found the heroick wife faster pleading for death, than he was to propose it, when she found his fix’d resolution; and, on her knees, besought him not to leave her a prey to his enemies. He (grieved to death) yet pleased at her noble resolution, took her up, and embracing of her with all the passion and languishment of a dying lover, drew his knife to kill this treasure of his soul, this pleasure of his eyes; while tears trickled down his cheeks, hers were smiling with joy she should die by so noble a hand, and be sent into her own country (for that’s their notion of the next world) by him she so tenderly loved, and so truly ador’d in this: For wives have a respect for their husbands equal to what any other people pay a deity; and when a man finds any occasion to quit his wife, if he love her, she dies by his hand; if not, he sells her, or suffers some other to kill her.”

“Oroonoko” is a short novel which is written by the female author Aphra Behn, who casts herself as a participant narrator. In the video, from 4:37 to5:35, the end of the tragic love story attracts me. I asked myself, what kind of love author wants to show us?

This tale tells the tale Prince Oroonoko becomes to the royal slave. Oroonoko is not just any old slave—he is the last descendant of a royal line. He is educated and ability to speak French and English. He is good at hunting, visiting native villages, and capturing an electric eel. In the story, love is the play’s dominant and most important theme. The play focuses on the love between Oroonoko and Imoinda. In the beginning, they cannot be a couple because Oroonoko’s grandfather wants to marry Imoinda. Imoinda refuses the old king. She also is punished for her actions and being sold as slaves. However, when English captain sells Prince Oroonoko as a slave to an English colony, Oroonoko meets Imoinda again. Then, they can live as husband and wife, and when she becomes pregnant, Oroonoko petitions for their return to their homeland. He organizes a slave revolt. Finally, he fails. Oroonoko has lost hope in returning home or living happily with Imoinda, and now only hopes to avenge his honor by killing his enemy. Before he avenges, he plans to kill Imoinda because of love. He does not want his unborn child is a slave. I believe it is a special love to his baby as well. Here, a fate worse than death.

Imoinda, in the beginning, is enforced to married to the old king, and she realizes that obedience is not always a form of love when free will is not present. In the end, She willingly accepts her murder at Oroonoko’s hand, happy to be able to prove her faithfulness. As we know, “love is a violent, ecsdtatic, overpowering force that supersedes all other values, loyalties, and emotions.”

As Maria Popova says, “Every generation believes that it must battle unprecedented pressures of conformity; that it must fight harder….” I want to say, we must fight harder than any previous generation to protect our soul.

Text book: “One day, when the sun shone on the red leaves that strewed the ground and diffused cheerfulness, although it denied warmth, Safie, Agatha, and Felix departed on a long country walk, and the old man, at his own desire, was left alone in the cottage. When his children had departed, he took up his guitar and played several mournful but sweet airs, more sweet and mournful than I had ever heard him play before. At first his countenance was illuminated with pleasure, but as he continued, thoughtfulness and sadness succeeded; at length, laying aside the instrument, he sat absorbed in reflection.

‘At that instant the cottage door was opened, and Felix, Safie, and Agatha entered. Who can describe their horror and consternation on beholding me? Agatha fainted, and Safie, unable to attend to her friend, rushed out of the cottage. Felix darted forward, and with supernatural force tore me from his father, to whose knees I clung, in a transport of fury, he dashed me to the ground and struck me violently with a stick. I could have torn him limb from limb, as the lion rends the antelope. But my heart sank within me as with bitter sickness, and I refrained. I saw him on the point of repeating his blow, when, overcome by pain and anguish, I quitted the cottage, and in the general tumult escaped unperceived to my hovel.’”

In the book, monster went to the cottage when the old man was left alone. He walked in as a stranger. He introduced himself to the old man. The old man is kind to him because he is blind, but then the younger people return and drive him away. They were scared by the monster. Finally, they moved from the cottage.

After the family moved, the monster went to find Victor. On the way through the woods, he saves a little girl from drowning, but her male companion assumes the monster is attacking her and shoots him in the shoulder.

However, in the movie, it describes different with the original book. (1:01:47-1:08:54), it designed the monster saved Emily, and the old man and Emily accepted the monster. They had a happier time with living together until Felix saw the monster. I think the bear fight is a good part of the movie.

The monster is created by Victor. He tries to connect with people, but even his own creator abandons him because he is so ugly. He closes to the cottage family because he wants to join them. He wants friends to talk and play. However, they hit him without any reasonable reason. All the monster needs is only love. Why we use the different way treat to him just because he is ugly? I was taught that do not judge people by their external appearance.  Judging someone by external appearance can be deceptive, and also prevent you from getting to know a person reinforce stereotype, superficial and limiting. In the movie, monster saves Emily because his true natural is not kill people. He can play with Emily because he admires companion.

https://tubitv.com/movies/329398/bartleby

The Movie I watched was Bartleby (2001), which is a newer version of the original movie. From the movie began till the end, I really like the way that director filled up the major scene not only with a joyful color such as yellow and shiny green background in the office but also with melancholy pale Bartleby’s face through most of the film. The conflict is so strong and well balanced to a point that the viewer won’t notice its existence; like it supposed to be that way.

The intro of the movie is mystery. The plaintive melody comes with a pale face guy walking on the New York freeway pedestrian bridge, grabbing the barbed wire and looked down on the freeway traffic; a typical guy driving with a typical family sedan just pass by. He was drinking a cup of coffee when he was on the way to work, just like everyone who lives in New York City. The fate made them meet up at this cross section. After the promotion scene for this regular guy as a “Public Record” department manager, the ironic blend and boring office that sitting on a typical Manhattan area take a few second of the film.( From 02:20 to 04:07) This is one of the favorite scenes I like because it is so simple, so cliche, but it works so well for this dark morality, philosophical short story and when I watched till the last part of the film( From 1:16:03 to 1:18:57), I realized that the director use most of the intro scene but change the character to refer to the intro and the fact that how Bartleby become as what we see in the movie which is another reason why I like this part of this movie.

Another part of this film is that Bartleby looking for opening of the window and keep on staring at the air vent and saying, “I prefer not to.” to every question that people asked him. I think this is the most important part of this movie, his pure honesty and truth known character made him has a different level of notice compare to others, made the manager who put sympathy to him realized the truth and become Bartleby at the end. It’s so ironic that no one believe or face the humanity and the life and death, and the last word he said is “I would prefer not to.”

 

“Metamorphosis” is a short novel written by Franz Kafka. It told a story of salesman Gregor Samsa suddenly found himself transformed into a bed bug in the morning and struggled to adjust to his new condition. In the video(1’46”-5’20”), through the center of Gregor’s room as the visual center, described what happened after family members even his boss knew he was late to go to work. The funny thing was that the video did not give the face of the people who were coming and speaking with Gregor. I only guessed from the attitude of them voice.

In the book, I found the answer. Gregor’s room, “a proper room for a human being, only somewhat too small, lay quietly between the four well-known walls. Mom came to knock door first. She said ‘it’s quarter to seven. Don’t you want to be on your way?’ and mother used soft voice. already his father was knocking on one side door, weakly but with his fist. ‘Gregor, Gregor,’ he called out, ‘what’s going on?’ And after a short while he urged him on again in a deeper voice. ‘Gregor!’ Gregor!’ At the other side door, however, his sister knocked lightly. ‘Gregor? Are you all right? Do you need anything?’” Gregor’s boss was coming later. He told Gregor’s mom, ‘My dear lady, I cannot explain it to myself in any other way, I hope it is nothing serious. On the other hand, I must also say that we business people, luckily or unluckily, however one looks at it, very often simply have to overcome a slight indisposition for business reasons.”

Here, the mother’s gentle concern was followed. The father knocked on the left with a fist and kept urging. The sister was on the right, asked him to open the door with a sad voice. The three family members who did not know what happened to Gregor. They surrounded Gregor and urged him to wake up. I could feel the pressure from them. I asked myself, what was the relationship between them? After reading the story, I understood the author described their own personality separately in the beginning.

In the story, his father “was throwing apple after apple. Immediately a second one flew after it. Gregor stood still in fright. Further flight was useless, for his father had decided to bombard him.” Also, every time Gregor tried to enter the living room. He would be ruthlessly attacked and driven away, from health to serious injuries, and finally to death. This warm and lively living room became to the dark and dirty Gregor’s room. It is a paradise, but it is also a hell. The perspective of the story is basically the view of Gregor, no matter where the other positions changed. However, the focus of the reader’s vision was always in the room where Gregor lived for five years. From the room of Gregory, you could see other rooms and knew the changes in family life after the deformation.

There is one of kinds of “deformations” in the story: the transformation of various interpersonal relationships. That is, after he became a bedbug, the relationship with the society and Gregor family was completely changed. And Gregor had seen the darkest side of the relationship between people.

I liked this video because I resonated with his points. In the video, (00:59) John Doherty, a construction worker thought poetry was intimidating initially. He thought a lot of words and a lot of order “which did not belong together and that is challenge of it”. However, when we finished reading the long word, we felt so good.

“Song of myself” is a poem by Walt Whitman that is included in his work Leaves of Grass. The first published book for Whitman was the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass. After that, he kept revising and adding to this book throughout his life. John said he could not understand when he first time read the poem, but once he did, once him came to understand, he felt like he has achieved something.

Before Whitman became a published poet, he was a schoolteacher and a journalist. He did not go to the top school and he let himself writing by immerse himself in Shakespeare and other classics.

In the poem section 13, Whitman wrote “Oxen that rattle the yoke and chain or halt in the leafy shade, what is that you express in your eyes?

It seems to me more than all the print I have read in my life.

My tread scares the wood-drake and wood-duck on my distant and day-long ramble,

They rise together, they slowly circle around.

I believe in those wing’d purposes,

And acknowledge red, yellow, white, playing within me,

And consider green and violet and the tufted crown intentional,

And do not call the tortoise unworthy because she is not something else,

And the jay in the woods never studied the gamut, yet trills pretty well to me,

And the look of the bay mare shames silliness out of me.”

Here, Whitman saw more meaning in the eyes of an ox than in all the books he has ever read. and he claimed that studying nature is more important than studying books or philosophy. John in the video said “those lines it is so encouraging. Whitman tells you what you’re thinking, and it seems like speaking directly to I when I read it. Those lines in mind no matter what I read now”. The connection we felt with the poem, for John was not due to the fact that Whitman talked about laborers or physical laborers working outside. It told us see things in life and in everyday existence that you hadn’t noticed. For the students, I might be learning the knowledge from the text book but I could not learn everything I needed to know from book. Whitman also told me the new way to get more was learning from life. I needed to discover things for myself through participating in the daily life, enjoying the moment and getting the higher experience. All of the experience I might have taken it for granted before.

When the play to 03:28, one of their first adventures involved Don Quixote was trying to attack a field of windmills, and thinking they were enchanted giants. He was injured again but did not really hurt, and they continued on their way.

In chapter VIII, when Don Quixote and Sancho Panza came in sight of thirty forty windmills that there were on plain, and as soon as Don Quixote saw them, he told Sancho they were Giants.  “Don Quixote charged at one at full speed, and his lance gets caught in the windmill’s sail, throwing him and Rocinante to the ground.” We know that Don Quixote mistook for giants. This was a famously mistook that windmills looked like giants which were charging at them to do battle while Don Quixote himself as a fictional character. However, the windmills that he attacked very real things.

Don Quixote, who was obsessed with the chivalric romances novel all the time, was doing his knight dream, wearing an old armor, tying the helmet, naming the skinny horse, robbing the rich and helping the poor. All of those he did just for his dream. To become a real knight, he loses his sanity and did like an idiot. We thought Don Quixote was a joke. His words were mad. His behavior was grotesque. He had no idea of he and his servant Sancho became the jokes of the boring life of the princes and nobles.

In the end, even Don Quixote’s arrogant fantasy did not get a romantics ending. He was awakened and cried in the indifferent reality.

I am wondering who has never had a dream? Everyone has had an illusion when they are cognizant about the world. When they were young, they dreamed of becoming a scientist, an artist, a big star, and a young man with no regrets when they were encouraged. Fearlessly contending with the rules and regulations and on the road to chasing dreams, catching the wind-like poetry, exploring the meaning of life, traveling casually, running, singing, dancing, and going to love… We thought Don Quixote is an idiot who was living in the dream. And who is not Don Quixote?!

 

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The play, I watched, was published by Granada Television in 1984. It was directed by Michael Elliott. The producer was David Plowright, who was high up in the ranks of Granada. With the actor Laurence Olivier who played King Lear. The English play writer Charles Bennett said Laurence Olivier could speak William Shakespeare’s lines as naturally ask if he were “actually thinking them”.
In every sense of the word, this is an old King Lear. At that year Olivier was 77 years old. This was the second time Olivier played Lear. I agree that age is a key thematic arc of the play. King Lear’s primary tragic force is because he got older. When the old Lear came out with his youngest daughter, he was holding the chair and walking not very stable. So I believed that it was the time to divide up his kingdom among several heirs, even it is terrible. Olivier truly understood this role. When everyone kneed to him, we can see his confidence on his face. Lear is a man who wanted to enjoy his “retirement” while maintaining his dignity. Then, when people put the map in front of him, I could feel the disdain when he had real power in his hand. After his daughters expressed their love to him, he used his sword to divide his territory on the map. At that moment, he liked an admired person. His daughters were trying to please him and got more property. Olivier could play the character very well. This is the reason I chose this video.
The background of music is also my favorite part. The music is a little exciting, like the horn that blew on the battlefield. The soldiers are ready to fight. Meanwhile, the music is a little sad. It is a sign that there were bad things would happen, which King Lear would almost certainly guarantee a war between them in the future.