–The story’s narrator is revisiting a place he once lived. Explain the significance that this “revisiting” has in relation to the themes of the story.
–What is the connection between our narrator and Weifu? Why do you think so much of the story is spent on Weifu’s life, while the narrator shares very little about his own life experiences?
–Explain the significance of the story about reburying Weifu’s little brother?
–Weifu recalls when he and the narrator used to pull the beards off religious statues in the Temple when they were younger. What is the significance of this memory?
–Describe an instance of filial piety in the story. What is its significance?
–What aspects of this short story seem to you to be particularly modernist?
Explain the significance of the story about reburying Weifu’s little brother?
We see the true colors of Weifu as a person who is deceitful. In digging his little brother’s burial ground, he finds nothing. Rather than informing his family of his findings to investigate the matter further he instead chose to deceive his own mother by grabbing a clump of clay from where his body would’ve been and placed it in the new coffin in which he buried next to his father burial spot in order to have his mother at peace. He enclosed this burial with bricks so no one else can open and investigate further.
This is an interesting perspective on Weifu.
What aspects of this short story seem to you to be particularly modernist?
“In the Wine Shop” by Lu Xun this short short illustrates modernist literature through its use of symbolism, self analyzing narrative, and critique of societal norms. The story uses the melting snow as a symbol to represent decay and the inevitability of change, reflecting on the passage of time. This symbolic theme of change and time is a common trait in modernist works. The narrative also delves into the characters’ inner thoughts and feelings, which prioritizes the personal experiences over objective reality. This focus on individual perception is a key aspect of modernist writing. Additionally, the story critiques traditional societal values and norms, examining the characters’ life choices and reflecting a common modernist skepticism towards established themes. The narrative’s unstructured writing, which can be initially confusing, further underscores its modernist qualities. Overall, “In the Wine Shop” it showcases modernist themes through its focus on individual experience, symbolic representation of change, and critical examination of societal expectations.
Abigail, This response does not sound like you. Please don’t waste your time or my time by presenting work that is not your own.
–What aspects of this short story seem to you to be particularly modernist?
I would say the different examples of the characters refuting the ideology of the old ways, as they rather prefer the new way of going about things. An example of this is cutting of the beards of the statues. The beard represents the old school way of thinking, as the Marxists always used to grow their beard long. Cutting the beard shows how they are out with the old, and in with the new, as they want to push modern ideology to their peers. It represents how these 2 friends think they can change the way China thinks, and push modern ideology to the area around them.
Hi Richard, I agree with you and would also like to add that another modernistic idea in this passage is the fact that Confucianism seems like a boring topic to teach and Weifu would much rather focus on things such as math and science.
The Marxists ARE the new guys. The statues with the long beards are Confucian scholars.
What is the connection between our narrator and Weifu? Why do you think so much of the story is spent on Weifu’s life, while the narrator shares very little about his own life experiences?
Weifu and the narrator first met back in high school years ago. The story focuses on Weifu’s life because the narrator aims to illustrate how life can have its ups and downs. According to his stories, Weifu is experiencing heightened emotions as a result of the stresses he has had to deal with post-high school. The narrator shares very little because he intends to give the floor to Weifu.
It’s not post high school. Weifu and the narrator worked as TEACHERS together in this town.
–Describe an instance of filial piety in the story. What is its significance?
–Explain the significance of the story about reburying Weifu’s little brother?
Filial piety is when someone gives respect to their elders such as ones parent, grandparent and etc. One instance in the story that shows filial piety is when Weifu listens to his mother to move his brother’s coffin. This is significant since Weifu didn’t really know his brother as he died young plus the burial process would cost him, but regardless he makes an effort to move his brother’s coffin to a new burial spot as his mother wanted him to do so. During the process of uplifting the coffin and making a new coffin for his brother Weifu was very emotional, even though he didn’t know his brother at all he still had feelings for his brother and felt a sense of loss. This is shown in the text when Weifu says “My heart beat faster and I set these aside myself very carefully, wanting to see my little brother. However, I was taken by surprise. Bedding, clothes, skeleton, all had gone!”
Later in the story when he is in the process of redoing the coffin he puts clay inside and surrounds it with brick as to deceive his mother. Since the body had already rotten away there was nothing left and knowing that his mother would be devastated he made it seem as there was nothing wrong. This is very important as it shows that Weifu rather lie to her mother then tell her the truth to keep her at ease. He says in the text “In this way I can count the affair ended, at least enough to deceive my mother and set her mind at rest”.
The story of reburying his brother was important as it showed that he had compassion for his brother even though he had never met him but still he could not bring himself to tell his mother the truth as he cared for her and did not want her to become sad.
Describe an instance of filial piety in the story. What is its significance?
One of the moments where we see filial piety being present in the short story is when Wei-fu returns to the old town to rebury his little brother. I chose this instance because Wei-fu does not seem to be interested in this matter, in fact, I would even say he barely feels a connection to this brother and even then, he decides to go to his rescue. He does it to please and honor his mom which is exactly what filial piety is, he mentions how his mom hasn’t been able to be herself since she found out the state of his little brother’s burial and how he felt the duty to come and fix this solely for his mom’s pleasure. The significance of this action is how Wei-fu character is someone who decides to put his ideas and decisions after and prioritizes others. It also tells us how he continues to live on the old tradition and mindset of the old culture but the most important thing this filial piety tells us is the lack of individualism freedom he has over his life.
–Explain the significance of the story about reburying Weifu’s little brother?
The significance is that it shows how Lu Wei-fus’ views on life have changed over the years. He used to be devoted to the revolutionary way of thinking, which was thinking like the West. When he makes the effort to go out of his way to bury an empty coffin in order to please his mom, we see a shift from his old way of thinking. The shift is from his idealist revolutionary thinking to a traditional way of thinking as he showcases filial piety for his mother.
Explain the significance of the story about reburying Weifu’s little brother?
The significance of the story about reburying Weifu’s little brother was to show the amount of respect he had toward her mother. She buried an empty coffin which was her mother wishes and he accomplished that with his commitment to traditional values. Even though it was pointless, he did it because of his mother wishes. It shows the social norm and the family bond that Weifu had for her family.
Explain the significance of the story about reburying Weifu’s little brother?
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The significance of the story about reburying Weifu’s little brother is that it depicts the character changes that the narrator notices in Weifu. The first one of those changes is that he has become much more docile and just does what everyone asks him to do and listens to his mom. The second important part of this story is that it shows that Weifu’s work in this instance and life in general, the way he sees it, is futile. Lastly, this story shows that had he been there a bit earlier he might have been able to still rebury the body of his brother, and not just the remains of the wooden box. All in all this can be compared to China before and after the revolution and the affects it had on the people living during thsoe times.
I am intrigued by your final sentence. What parallel are you suggesting between this anecdote and China as a whole?
–Describe an instance of filial piety in the story. What is its significance?
An instance of Filial Piety in the story is when Weifu buries his little brother’s coffin. When Weifu uncovered the coffin, instead of telling his mother to not waste his time burying his brother’s empty coffin and to let his mother know that the remains were not there. He just proceeded with his mother’s initial wishes and did what she asked even though it was a waste of time. This is a perfect example of Filial Piety because instead of doing what would be easier and the choice that should be obvious Weifu still did what his mother wanted as a sign of respect towards an elderly person even though it was sort of a waste of time and unneeded
Explain the significance of the story about reburying Weifu’s little brother?
The significance of the story about reburying Weifus little brother is that it showed that Weifu was caught acting in the old version of China that he used to reproach. When he was younger him and the narrator used to detest the societal norms in China and advocated for revolution and a new China. Old china used to follow filial piety and teach confucian beliefs; Weifu is following the way of life of old china despite being progressive when he was younger. This story about his little brother shows how he changed from being a revolutionary to the very thing he was fighting against.
Explain the significance of the story about reburying Weifu’s little brother?
After reading “In the Winehop” by Lu Xun, there’s a moment in the reading that is extremely significant. The moment is when he reburies his brother by burying an empty casket. This all came to play because a cousin had told him that his little brother grave was being swamped and was afraid that it could have slipped into the river. His mother was not feeling good about this situation and caused her to have sleepless nights. Therefore he went to his grave and dug up his brother grave alongside 4 work men. However there was little to nothing to be found. He prepares a new coffin and moves it to the grave here his father had been buried.
But this doesn’t tell us what makes this anecdote significant!
Weifu recalls when he and the narrator used to pull the beards off religious statues in the Temple when they were younger. What is the significance of this memory?
The significance of this memory is that it emphasizes how the two characters have changed through time. The memory shows that when they were younger, the two characters wanted to leave the Confucian ideals behind, and embrace more of a modern perspective. This memory allows readers to clearly see the contrast with how Weifu was in the past, compared to how he is currently.
Describe an instance of filial piety in the story. What is its significance?
Filial piety is the virtue of younger generations giving love and respect to their elders. An instance of filial piety in the story is when Lu Xun traveled to another town to get an artificial flower for Ah Shun, his love interest at the behest of his mother. He does not mind going for Ah Shun, however when he returns to find out that she had died. Not wanting to displease his mother he decides to give flower to her sister, Ah Chao instead and tell his mother that Ah Shun like the flowers. This significant because when he was younger he didn’t want to conform to the traditions of Chinese culture, however, as he is older he finds himself conforming to such traditions to avoid having to make his mother unhappy at the cost of his own self.
Explain the significance of the story about reburying Weifu’s little brother?
Weifu’s decision to rebury his little brother is significant as it reflects on weifu’s change in perspective over time. In the past weifu was described as an idealistic person. We can see this when he mentioned revolutionizing China. However, the act of reburying his brother reflect on weifu’s change in his idea and his commitment to the traditional value.