(a) Personal limitations
Xiangzi's personal limitations are mainly reflected in his personal character and psychology.
First of all, Xiangzi came from the countryside and was born with a strong sense of small farmers. In other words, Xiangzi's thoughts are fixed and he doesn't know how to be flexible. Xiangzi thought it was not reliable to deposit money in the bank, which led to the tragedy that Xiangzi's property was cheated by Detective Sun.
Secondly, Xiangzi placed too much hope on his health. The only thing Xiangzi can rely on in the city is his own body and inner stubbornness, but as he grows older, his body gets worse every day, and more importantly, Tigress's persecution makes Xiangzi lose his sense of absolute control over his body. "No matter how resentful and hateful she is, she seems to have caught his heart." Xiangzi felt that his efforts were useless, leaving only endless sadness and despair of not seeing the future.
Thirdly, Xiangzi's strong self-esteem is vividly reflected in him. He is afraid of being looked down upon by others, with strong self-esteem and strong consciousness, which also reflects his inferiority complex. From beginning to end, he wanted to have his own car and live a decent life. He is afraid of being looked down upon by others. Later, his good face was also an important manifestation of his strong self-esteem.
(B) the oppression of the social environment
Xiangzi lived in a very sad era, and the people he came into contact with were roughly divided into three categories:
1, ulterior motives, contact with Xiangzi has a strong purpose, such as Tigress and Detective Sun;
2. Greedy, mercenary and morally bankrupt social scum, such as drivers such as Si Liu;
3. People with good nature but tragic fate, such as joy.
Xiangzi lived in such an environment. Whenever he looks at the whole world with a kind, enthusiastic and hopeful heart, he only gets heavy blows again and again.
Let's talk about the first kind of people. They let Xiangzi see the sorrow of this society. Their existence is the catalyst for Xiangzi's blackening. They controlled Xiangzi, but Xiangzi was powerless to resist. Like poison, colorless and tasteless, it can make people bleed to death. The most typical one is Tigress, who doesn't care about benevolence and righteousness, is vulgar and fierce, and controls Xiangzi from the inside out. From the night she first tried to have sex with Xiangzi until a series of events happened later, Xiangzi felt that everything was out of her control. Behind the marriage with Tigress is endless helplessness and pain, which implies Tigress's control and intimidation of Xiangzi.
The existence of the second kind of people is also terrible, even if Xiangzi's willpower is strong, he can't compete with this era. When Xiangzi lived alone and realized his dream of buying a car, his positive attitude towards life was not understood and appreciated by the drivers around him, but was regarded as a different kind. On the contrary, when Xiangzi degenerated into a sexually transmitted disease, instead of staying away from him, the drivers enthusiastically gave him advice, like brothers. In such a society, it is useless to be noble and clean, and all you get is pain.
The third kind of people are actually the same kind of people as Xiangzi, which is the tragedy of this era. They used to be very kind, but this era swallowed them up. Faced with weakness and poverty, they were unable to resist and had to compromise. Only by living like a walking corpse can we truly integrate into that society.
(C) the ills of the times
Xiangzi lived in China where warlords fought in the 1920s and 1930s. "Chaos" is the best summary of everything at that time. After repeated imperialist aggression, China, which was forced to open its doors before being civilized, is like a dirty, uneducated child with birth defects, waiting to be changed. Feudal ideas and hierarchical concepts are still deeply rooted and can never be changed. At that time, the social security system and infrastructure construction were basically absent, and even the most basic legal system was not established. Murder, arson, debt evasion and extortion are commonplace. People don't understand the importance of law. Most people living in cities only care about money, and they can even do whatever it takes to get the so-called money and power.
In this era, money makes the mare go, and poverty means no right to speak, let alone dreams. From this perspective, even if there are legal documents, official corruption and dirty shopping malls, only ordinary people will suffer. As a farmer, Xiangzi was assimilated by this dirty atmosphere after he came to this city. Xiangzi's desire for money and status has become more urgent, and he can even put down his face as long as he has money. Compared with the first time, Xiangzi's experience of buying a car for the second time has changed, which shows how powerful this era is. Also, Xiangzi's legal consciousness was weak at first, and Detective Sun was a typical example. At first, he made readers feel that he was a good man, but later he robbed Xiangzi of all his money, which made people lament the evil and disorder of that world.
In a word, the inevitability of Xiangzi's tragedy is analyzed from micro to macro. In fact, Xiangzi would have been a promising young man if he hadn't lived in such an era. Xiangzi's tragedy is not so much a personal tragedy as a tragedy of society and times.