The short story “A Minor Incident” by Lu Xun is one of the shortest stories from the Outcry compilation, but I feel it has one of the strongest messages. The story starts with the narrator lamenting the fact that 6 years of his life has gone by and in that time, even with him being witness to what some might refer to as matters of national importance, nothing has made a positive impact on him. In fact, Lu Xun writes that if forced, he would declare their influence on him as something that “succeeded only in further blackening [his] already black mood- increasing [his] contempt for the people around [him]”. Right after that he speaks of a tiny incident that occurred one winter morning that stayed with him years later- of when he flagged down a rickshaw (kind of a mix between a carriage and a wheelbarrow) and after riding for a bit, the runner accidentally hit an old woman. The narrator felt certain that the old woman was fine and that no one had witnessed the event so he told the runner to leave her and carry on since he felt staying was just asking for unnecessary trouble. Instead the runner ignored him, asked the woman how she felt and then helped her off the ground towards a police station that was nearby. At that moment, the narrator saw the runner in a new light- he seemed to have gotten taller and his back broader, the runner’s presence bearing down on the narrator and “pressing out the petty selfishness” he had. This part is important because in the beginning the narrator seems to have lost faith in humanity and while he states that this is a minor incident, what occurs is much more than that because it is something that restores his faith just a little bit. This small act of kindness that he witnesses causes him to make one of his own- he gives the policeman a handful of coins to give to the runner and goes on his way.
The narrator never forgets that moment; though it shames him to remember his own actions, the memory of that morning also forces him to look hard at himself and urges him to change. This story brings to light the truth of how most people don’t often do the right thing, simply because it inconveniences them; they do them if they witness someone else doing it and that causes them to reflect on their actions. The narrator was ready to leave the old woman because he felt helping her was a waste of his time. After he saw the runner help the old woman however, he felt shamed and decided he wanted to change himself for the better which is how most people act- they are selfish until someone else does something that brings to light just how selfish they are and it causes them to want to change.
Questions:
1) Being completely honest, who would you have been in this story- the narrator who wants to leave the old woman, or the runner who stops to help her?
2) Do you feel that him calling this a ‘minor incident’ is a bit of an oxymoron or ironic, considering it had such an impact on him?