tz159300 – ENG2850.TIMOTHY ZHAO

New Year’s Sacrifice

In my opinion, The New Year’s Sacrifice is one of Lu Xun’s best-written novels. He used the “I” vision to show the character Xiang Lin’s Wife lively, exposing the bleakness of the world and the darkness of the feudal society. Whether it is from the subject matter or the writing method, The New Year’s Sacrifice is an excellent novel.

The novel began with an unfortunate way to create the atmosphere, writing the snow fluttering, making people devastated, desolate and painful. Then Lu Xun slowly used the death of Xiang Lin’s Wife to lead to the tragedy of her life. Lu Xun’s naturally narrative the life of and Xiang Lin’s Wife: escaping– working – being tied away – remarriage – losing his husband – working – being cast aside, all are entirely expressed without any restraint. Lu Xun did not express sympathy to Xiang Lin’s Wife in the text, but he could firmly grasp the reader’s heart in the narrative and make everyone sympathize with the character.

I think the article is not only about life, but also to reveal the life and present the dark ignorance of the society at that time to the readers. After her second husband died, Xiang Lin’s Wife returned to work in Lu Chen. The owner did not care about her, but only concerned that her performance was not as good as before. She was also thought that she was a bane and people did not let her touch the supply in the sacrifice. The poor woman used her one-year salary to donate a threshold, but it still did not change the views from others. She can’t convince herself. She was quickly aging, and first killed herself mentally. Xiang Lin’s Wife died in the Chinese New Year’s Eve, but no one treats her as a human being, just saying that she is not the time to die. When I finished reading this article, I felt very depressed. At the same time, I also deeply felt the spiritual strength of Lu Xun. He used the pen to fight against the darkness and used articles to liberate people’s thoughts. He can be said to be the godfather of the Chinese spiritual realm. In this article, Lu Xun designed a numb character, Xiang Lin’s Wife. When she was laughing at others, her eyes just stared at the front. This sharp contrast is impressive. In my opinion, this also expresses the helplessness of Lu Xun when he faced the weak people in the past, and they were unwilling to wake up.

I feel the most wonderful part of the article is the title. In Chinese, the title of this novel has the meaning of “blessing.” Why is the article not simply called “the death of Xiang Lin’s Wife”? This is meaningful. The article is written about a tragedy. Although the English name is translated as “sacrifice,” it is a promising topic in Chinese. It is the most brilliant place for Lu Xun. It uses simple questions to express grief and hope, and lead people to reflect. The author presents the deep ignorance of the society at the time to the reader and describes a person who suffers in the old feudal society. Lu Xun also explained the truth to the people through this work: Xiang Lin’s Wife’s hard life is not caused by one person, but the old society in which she lives is such darkness, which is deeply rooted in feudal ethics for thousands of years. The Xiang Lin’s Wife’s sadness is that she does not realize how she lives in a society. She does not see that she is so small and does not understand that fate is not her own.

At the end of the story, Xiang Lin’s Wife, the incarnation of this tragedy, has gone through all the pains of the world, with full of humiliation and hurt, and finally left us. Xiang Lin’s Wife came to the world with his longing for the world but left with the endless sufferings of the ancient capital. Although we are full of pity for this story and its characters, it is more like of a judgment of society. This is the same as what I think of another famous novel that written by Lu Xun, which is, Kong Yiji. The story’background is also the old life of the old society. The protagonist is also suffering, and it is also difficult to live in the society, slowly dying, leaving a painful and sighing figure. All of these are the same as the story of Xiang Lin’s Wife. This reflects the decay of the feudal society. It also showed those peasants who struggled hard and sighed with helplessness. They all disappeared along with the demise of a dynasty, and there was not even a trace in history.

I think Lu Xun expressed in this article is also helpless. This kind of helplessness is contradictory, deeply afflicting his soul. For such a soul, I sympathize with him. Some people say that Lu Xun has left us. I do not think so, because it is just from the novel that Lu Xun is still very close to us. The things that far from us are the feudal society and the ignorant people.

Frankenstein

Human beings are self-contradictory creatures that can use agile minds to create something that is considered beneficial to oneself. However, then the head began to think about why he wanted to do this, and then he continued to judge himself and complain in his heart. Just as with Frankenstein, after a series of glory and struggle, he went to death.

What I feel most about this book is that when the monster reunited with its creator, he said that his nature is also kind and benevolent and that pain is what makes him a devil. Think about it, what made the monster that used to capture everything around with curiosity eyes become a killer? It is the environment in which it is located. Even if it has a kind heart, people can avoid, scream, and even add their fists as soon as they see their face; even if its original intention is to help the drowning girl, only a cold bullet is finally obtained. The indifference of the world stripped away its soft inner shell. It also thought about getting better, but Frankenstein feared that the tragedy would reappear against help and ruin its hopes.

The original intention of Frankenstein to create a monster was to save people from death, because his mother, a kind and lovely lady, died of scarlet fever. He revived the death, but he fell into endless grief and torture. I think that Frankenstein is a representative of human beings and he represents the self-contradictory.

It often happens that our ruthlessness and indifference will make us like Frankenstein. How dangerous it is! So why not take care of a caring heart? I think Mary Shelley may want to tell us to be kind to others while treating others. I hope that people can love each other and let all the “Frankenstein” be like the ending of the novel, and they can repent of their faults and take responsibility. Moreover, all the monsters will disappear into the frozen Arctic forever like the ending of the novel.

Men were always trying to use the dead to create life. They have the delusion to invade the realm of God and blaspheme the power of God. However, the final tragedy is made by themselves. It is the tragedy from the Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.

Oroonoko

If you feel that your life is terrible, look forward to a start again, and as long as things are not good, you will be furious, maybe you have gotten the blame. Maybe you are indeed wrong, but the path of life is coming out of yourself. There is no guarantee that the god of destiny will treat everyone fairly. Therefore, unless you want to make life more difficult, I advise all of us to learn from the great prince Oroonoko. He is the master of Oroonoko published in 1688, from a story about betrayal, true love, and perseverance.

Oroonoko is a tall, proud, and arrogant prince. He fell in love with Imoinda and married, but he experienced all kinds of hardships. The wife was taken away; he fled but was caught and sold as a slave; the husband and wife reunited in Suriname miraculously, and Imoinda even cherished the children of Oroonoko. However, the couple’s pleading to return to their hometown was ignored. They feel that they have been rejected by the whole world and betrayed by the political forces that caused them to become slaves. From then on, the situation went from bad to worse and fell into an endless abyss.

No one is qualified to blame others in front of Oroonoko. Not only did his wife be robbed, but he also suffered unjust enslavement. Later, when he had nothing, he had to face the terrible ultimate torture, that is, his hands and feet were cut off one by one. However, shortly before being tortured, he got to know the soothing power of the pipe, so he relied on smoking to get through torture, his attitude was optimistic, and his thoughts were calm. It is not encouraged smoking but hopes that everyone can follow the detachment attitude of Oroonoko in the face of injustice and live an authentic life without complaints.

The narrator and protagonist of this novel are new characters in the new era appearing in the framework of the old story. The background of the story has also changed from legendary Africa to realistic America. The colonial maritime activity is like a magic wand, turning the African prince Oroonoko into a slave, and Suriname’s complex ethnic relations and political situation are also one of the essential elements of the whole novel, making the whole story different.

Metamorphosis

The video I selected is a small scene from the Metamorphosis. It was mainly performed by Janusz Madej at the Department of Acting Amsterdam (2005). This simple little show mainly presents the process that Gregor has just transformed into a giant insect and then discovered by his family and his manager. Unlike other stage performances of the same drama, this performance uses almost no props but languages and bodies to convey the original content to the audience. Among them, we can feel more about the characters’ inner activities and emotional changes.

The burden of life is heavy for Gregor and has to be carried. At the beginning of the novel, there are many monologues about the protagonist complaining about the exhaustion of life, such as: “O God,” he thought, “what a demanding job I’ve chosen! Day in, day out on the road. The stresses of trade are much greater than the work going on at head office,” and “If I didn’t hold back for my parents’ sake, I would’ve quit ages ago.” After everyone saw him become vermin, the frail mother was immediately stunned, the manager was scared away, and the father showed a wicked look and drove him back to the room.

There are three kinds of “metamorphism” in the story: Firstly, the physiological metamorphism, which is that Gregor suddenly found himself turning into a giant insect in the morning. Secondly, behind the physiological metamorphism is deeper psychological metamorphism. Gregor is the pillar and the money-making machine of the family and the company. The character’s inner need was unconcerned. He is extremely eager to get rid of the stresses of life. The third is the metamorphism of various interpersonal relationships, that is after he became some vermin, the relationship with the society and his family was utterly subverted, and Gregor was able to see the darkest side of the relationship between people. The whole family’s attitude towards Gregor is also changing as his role in the family changes; until his death, the family was relieved and asked to leave for an outing.

If the author does not intend to make Gregor become a disgusting and unacceptable thing but become a kitten, a puppy, a flower and grass, the alienation of his family and the indifference of society will not be completely exposed. It is absurd that people transform into a giant insect, but the family’s reaction to this incident is real. In real life, when a person becomes a terminally ill patient from the family’s pillar, his family will initially be very concerned and very sympathetic. However, when the patient gradually loses all kinds of abilities, when the economic burden is getting heavier, the family’s boredom and complaints will naturally arise. Moreover, when the patient becomes the biggest obstacle to the family’s new life, the family will even be happy for his disappearance. The main idea of Kafka’s works and the literature of the Absurd is to reflect the alienation and absurdity of the relationship between man and society. These cannot but be of deep reflection.

Bartleby

“I would prefer not to.” This sentence repeatedly appears in the video I selected and is also the most representative line of the protagonist.

Imagine that you have a specific career or hobby and have made achievements in this field, but suddenly, you are far from this and will not continue it anymore. This is what Bartleby did in the story. Although seemingly exaggerated, it is true. Bartleby is mysterious and lonely, who is left to people of a sad prototype that rejects the world. The phenomenon of Bartleby is widespread and not far from us. We can even say it as a personality symbol in the depths of each of us. To everyone, there is a shadow of him.

According to the story of the scriveners on Wall Street, this book demonstrates the dilemma of interpersonal relationships in the rapid development of modern society. The scriveners represent a group junior staffs whose work and life are standardized and mechanized repeatedly every day according to the labor employment contracts. The video I chose vividly restored the scenes in the book that happened in the office by using several simple minifigures. Such small scene restorations are not only interesting but also intuitive. When watching this video, readers can easily follow the perspective of the old lawyer. Although the background of the story is Wall Street more than a hundred years ago, the office workplace ecology seems to have no difference in time and space. Even in the 21st century, there is deep resonance.

There are three other scriveners in the story, Turkey, Nippers and Nut, who have their own hobbies and habits, but they all listen to the employer’s orders to complete the daily tasks and make the daily operation of the office in a delicate balance. However, Bartleby, a former member of the “Dead Letter” Group, is a maverick clerk. He broke the contractual spirit prevailing in modern society, refused to obey the boss’s orders, and sometimes even motionless, without words, stubborn and weird. There are several descriptions of these images in the text that reflects this contrast, for example, “Half-past twelve o’clock came; Turkey began to glow in the face, overturn his inkstand, and become generally obstreperous; Nippers abated down into quietude and courtesy; Ginger Nut munched his noon apple, and Bartleby remained standing at his window in one of his profoundest dead-wall reveries.”

In fact, the change in Bartleby’s work attitude is not without reason. The simple writing and copying behaviors of lawyers and scriveners are actually helping the real estate capitalists to squeeze people who cannot afford a house or can’t live in a house. “Do you not see the reason for yourself” when asking Bartleby about the reason for his changing he indifferently replied. If we can link the scriveners’ job to the injustice of capitalism, then Bartleby makes sense. It symbolizes the subversion of the established social order and the faint voice on the edge of the mainstream ideology. Unfortunately, this resistance was finally proved to be ineffective, and it led to his self-destruction. On the other hand, whether this resistance is valuable or not, it deserves more thinking.

Song of Myself

The video I chose was the sixth chapter of Song of Myself, which was read by a youtuber. In the video, the pictures of grass and children are used to match the text in the poem. When I closed my eyes to listen to this chapter, I thought that reading this way made me more immersed.

What I am most interested in in this chapter is that it raises the topic of racial equality through a problem with children, that is, “A child said What is the grass?”. In the era of the author Walt Whitman, the racial issues remain one of the main contradictions in American society. In Song of Myself, the author did not use sharp language to explain his point of view. But there are lots of good sentences, for example, “Or I guess it is a uniform hieroglyphic, And it means, Sprouting alike in broad zones and narrow zones, Growing among black folks as among white, Kanuck, Tuckahoe, Congressman, Cuff, I give them the same, I receive them the same.”. The words are very powerful when someone reads it out and agrees with what he expresses. This expression is not intense, but the author’s first-person perspective will make readers more immersive.

I am impressed by a passage in the following paragraph: “What do you think has become of the young and old men? And what do you think has become of the women and children? They are alive and well somewhere”. This passage makes people feel integrated into some elements of religion and philosophy. When people die, they will go to heaven to be quiet. At the same time, they also suggest that regardless of skin color, gender, age, and after everyone’s death, everyone’s home is equal and quiet. Through the question and answer method, the author gives the readers an affirmative answer. At the same time, when the author wrote down the question, he also thinks about it. It makes people feel that there is a lot of inquiry about philosophy in this poem.

Another reason I like this passage is that I agree with the author’s point of view. I believe that people should be equal and respectful, regardless of race. I chose this video also because the readers read it with rich emotion. When I close my eyes and admire, I feel that these words will be conveyed to the depths of everyone’s heart. Maybe I can’t fully understand it, but this rich emotion can be transmitted and touched.

Don Quixote

48-52 mins

famous writer of the Russian Empire, Ivan Turgenev, once said that there are only two kinds of people in the world, one is Hamlet and the other is Don Quixote. It can be seen that the connotation of Don Quixote’s story is far more than a knight of the windmill. The video I chose is a one that combines the Don Quixote’s story with ballet.

Don Quixote’s story is relatively unwritten, as well as the clues are not very clear, therefore, it is not easy to adapt it to a ballet. The ballet which adapted from Don Quixote in the early days were not very successful. This problem was solved in 1801 by the director of the Paris Opera House, Miron. He focused on the love of a pair of young men and women, and converted Don Quixote into a clue to the story, which constantly promoted the development of the story.

In this ballet, Don Quixote is still immersed in his own fantasy, but his unreasonable troublesome has just contributed to the marriage of the protagonists, Basilio and Kitri. This adaptation was very smart. Because he did not change the character of Don Quixote’s, he is still the person that full of knight fantasy and spirit.

One of the most impressive scenes of Don Quixote’s story is that he imagines a huge windmill as a monster and fights against it. This ballet kept this scene very well, and after Don Quixote failed to fall into a coma, like entering a fairy’s dream, he imagined Kitri as his Dulcinea. Of course, everything is beautiful in the dreams but also short-lived when Lorenzo and Gamache interrupt Don Quixote’s dream. Don Quixote wants to help Basilio and Kiti, so it creates a ridiculous and a little comedy ending.

Overall, I really like the adaptation of this ballet about Don Quixote. It not only completely preserves the character of Don Quixote, but also gives everyone a relatively good ending.

King Lear

The video I chose was from the stage drama Lear King on the National Theatre channel. This section is SCENE1 in ACT1. The most interesting part of this video is the costumes of the actors. The actors are dressed in suits, while the actresses are wearing modern costumes. This change in stage costumes makes the whole scene happen as if it did take place in modern times.

In the whole video, the plot of the story has not changed. It is still in accordance with the original work. King Lear asked his daughters to speak in turn and express their love for him in exchange for land and wealth. The difference is that in this video, King Lear’s dress is far from what we saw in the class before, and even generate different associations and speculations about the identity of this person. King Lear in the video is more like a boss of a big enterprise who is distributing his private property to his daughters. In the same way, King Lear always using power as a bargaining chip for exchanging the love in the two stage plays.

It is not wise to exchange power with power. I don’t think this will work in any era. King Lear’s eldest daughter, Regan, and his second daughter, Goneril, have the same lines in the video. The eldest daughter is like reciting a manuscript. The performance of the second daughter is even more exaggerated. No matter how much they say that they love King Lear, when the purpose of their speech becomes to the exchanging for power, this love does not exist. The tragedy of King Lear was also born here.

I think that the costumes of the actors are deliberately modeled on the wearing of the modern people. This is another main reason why I chose this video. I think the crew wants to express that the tragedy of King Lear is not far from our real life. When people try to use power as a bargaining chip to exchange love, then the tragedy will continue to happen.