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.
The idea of this “revisiting” is important because it showcases the narrator’s surprise at what the place he once lived in has become. Near the beginning he stated “… from the landlord down to the waiter there was not a single person I knew—in ‘One Barrel House’ too I had become a complete stranger. Still I walked up the familiar flight of stairs in the corner of the room to the little upper storey.” Even though a lot was different from the people to the way the area looked, what remained the same was the old wine shop. So from this point of familiarity he tells the stories of how his old friend has changed as a person. He used to be a person filled with activism and wanting to change but now he is just like everyone else. He just follows the commonly held beliefs like everyone else, and has lost all his spirit.
Explain the significance of the story about reburying Weifu’s little brother?
The story about reburying Weifu’s little brother is significant because it showcases the change that Weifu went through over the course of his life. At a young age, he was all about creating a revolution and moving away from the old ways. That was his sense of pride but that seemed entirely diminished when the narrator and Weifu was speaking, He seemed saddened by the world and following the paths of others instead of being the outlier that he used to be. In regards to the body of his brother, when he discovered that the casket was empty, he still continued and buried an empty casket again. He didn’t say anything or question why he was doing it, he just practiced filial piety. He just listened to his elder and did what he was told.
You describe how the narrator finds that both the place and his old friend Weifu have changed, yet we never really learn whether or how the narrator himself has changed.