Lu Xun was a famous writer who lived in the darkest time of modern Chinese history. Almost all his works have similar theme which is criticizing the corrupted society and feudal ethics and rites. Diary of a Madman is one of the most representative works that Lu Xun wrote. Diary of a Madman used diary format, detailedly portrayed the psychological changing of this Madman. In the first three diaries, he noticed somethings were wrong around his neighborhood, suspected his neighbors were going to do something bad to him. His mood was like the nights, the “moonlight’s really nice” in one night, then the second night was “no moonlights at all” (244). Eventually, he “realized” that others were going to eat him. In the 4^th and 5^th diary, he thought everybody who got close to him were cannibals and wanted to eat him, including doctor He who came to treat him and his own elder brother. Even the food he ate, he “couldn’t tell whether it was fish or human flesh” (246). From the 6^th diary to the 9^th diary, he firmly believed others were going to eat him, and he tried to fight back. Through the conversation between the Madman and the stranger he met, we can see he tried his best to convince a stranger that people have been eating human for long time, but he failed (249). In the 10^th to 12^th diaries, he accepted his “fate”, and thought he was one of the cannibals. The psychological changing indicated the Madman’s illness was becoming more and more serious. Furthermore, the psychological changing process is basically the flow of the whole story. The diaries recorded the psychological changing of this Madman day by day. In other words, each diary represents different stage of the Madman’s illness. While readers are reading these diaries, the diary format leads readers to understand the psychological changing process of the Madman step by step. As a result, readers are easier to follow the flow of the story. Besides, the diaries were written with first person perspective so that readers are be able to read the story from the Madman’s point of view.

In addition, Lu Xun wasn’t simply saying human beings were cannibals. The true cannibal was the feudal ethics and rites which have existed in China for more than four thousand years. The feudal ethics and rites have a lot of fatal weaknesses. For instance, unequal social position for men and women, bureaucratism, etc. Yet, the feudal ethics and rites still existed in the society. “Just because it’s always been that way, does that make it right?” (249) Existing mistake doesn’t mean is right. Mistakes are needed to correct, sooner or later. Therefore, the corrupted society needed to change. Social changing was not only Lu Xun asked for, but also the people demanded. “If you don’t change, you’re going to devour each other anyway.” (252)