Lu Xun’s “In The Wine Shop” and Tolstoy’s “Death of Ivan Ilyich” both share a connection of realism. The works focus on the unembellished lives of individuals who have dealt with difficulty. The two individuals that bear a resemblance are Ivan Ilyich and Lu Wei-fu. Although the circumstances of Ivan and Wei-fu are vastly different (Ivan agonizes over his illness whereas Wei-fu reminisces over past experiences), both characters highlight futility. An example is that Wei-fu has once taught Confucian classics to his pupils, but no longer cares for the true purpose of his teachings. When the narrator questions Wei-fu about it, Wei-fu replies with “their father wants them to study these. I’m an outsider, so it’s all the same to me. Who cares about such futile affairs anyway? There’s no need to take them seriously.” Wei-fu furthermore shows the meaningless progression of his life by the comparison of bees and flies – they always fly away but come back to the same spot. Wei-fu revisits the town and tells the story of his deceased brother and his neighbor’s daughter possibly to reflect on the things that have changed, and how he is still tormented by the past. In Tolstoy’s work, Ivan llyich also supports the idea of futility because he has been conforming to society his whole life, but does not realize what he should have done until he succumbs to his illness. A fundamental difference is that although Ivan Ilyich and Wei-fu are both unable to change, the narrator from “In The Wine Shop” keeps trying to move forward: “As I walked alone towards my hotel, the cold wind and snow beat against my face, but I felt refreshed.”
Despite their similar solemn tone, Lu Xun’s and Tolstoy’s works differ in point of view. The first-person point of view of “In The Wine Shop” and the third-person point of view in “Death of Ivan Ilyich” is very significant in getting their messages across. “In The Wine Shop” feels very personal; readers can sympathize with Wei-fu because they feel a connection with the thoughts of the narrator. “Death of Ivan Ilyich” on the other hand is not as sympathetic because readers know from the beginning that the protagonist was going to die. This detaches many readers from understanding the thoughts of the character.
Yanfen, You have done a nice job of suggesting some unexpected connections between Lu Xun and Tolstoy’s texts, particularly around the theme of futility. One thing that I might suggest, however, is that Tolstoy’s text suggests, in its final pages, a way out of the “futility” of modern life through Ivan Ilyich’s final redemption and the religious model it suggests. Lu Xun’s text may or may not offer a similarly hopeful resolution -though I think you are right to point out the text’s final lines as a possible suggestion of hope or progress. Also, one important difference between the two texts is that in Lu Xun’s text, both the narrator and Weifu, as young men, dreamed of doing something meaningful with their lives and hoped to change their society for the better; it is only as they age, that they become disillusioned and cynical. This contrasts with Ivan Ilyich who grew up thinking only about his own materialistic ambitions.