Abstract: Tragic works always call people to face up to the cruelty of life, the hardships of struggle and the spiritual pain. Lao She's novel Camel Xiangzi is such a tragic work. Xiangzi camel, a foreign driver, is one of the early images of laborers in China's modern literary creation. The bumpy road of his life comes more from his own personality and social influence. It is manifested in three aspects, namely, the character's contented with fate, the darkness of society at that time and the misfortune of marriage. Xiangzi's image poses a very serious and urgent social problem to people, that is, the fate and road of the lower class. It shows the profound ideological and practical significance of this tragic work.
Keywords: China Modern Literature Tragedy Xiangzi Tragedy Character Dark Society Unfortunate Marriage
The image of camel Xiangzi, a rickshaw driver created by Lao She in his novel Camel Xiangzi, is a profound portrayal of the driver's character. It reveals that the bankrupt farmers from rural areas are facing oppression and exploitation from decadent society, and at the same time they are increasingly poor, distorting their simple lives and intensifying the pursuit of "private ownership" by small producers, thus accelerating their tragic ending. In effect, the novel clearly makes readers realize that the man who lingered in the original alley in the great change of production relations and refused to stay in the new production relations, although not an exploiter or a target of public criticism, is also taking a historical tragic road. From this perspective, Xiangzi's tragedy is also caused by his character. In the analysis of Camel Xiangzi, the author has no intention of being unconventional and grandstanding, but it is also an incorrect attitude not to understand the complexity of Xiangzi's personality. The great artistic charm of excellent literary works should focus on the successful shaping of typical characters. So Gorky said: "Typical is the phenomenon of the times" 1. To understand a certain literary model, we should not only explore its rich social content, but also understand its profound brand of the times. At the same time, characters always live in a certain society, and their fate is bound to be influenced and restricted by the times. As far as the tragic fate of Camel Xiangzi is concerned, there are not only personality reasons, but also social influence and marriage tragedy. The author tries to explore the tragedy of Camel Xiangzi from these three aspects.
1. Xiangzi's character?
(1) A simple, kind and upright Xiangzi.
At first, Xiangzi was simple, kind and upright, with a struggling personality and a beautiful spiritual world. Xiangzi is an ordinary coachman with a distinct personality. He has many excellent qualities of working people. He is kind, simple and loves labor. He is a farmer who went to town to make a living after the rural bankruptcy. Because of this, "he almost did everything he could eat with strength." But he finally chose to pull the cart. After pulling the rented rickshaw, he decided to buy a rickshaw to pull it himself and become an independent worker. He is young and strong, hardworking and willing to use all his strength to achieve this goal. In his view, pulling your own cart can "not regenerate the driver's anger, and you don't have to perfunctory others." He believes that with her body and strength, Dora can run fast and save money, and she will certainly achieve her goal in a few years. Strong desire for survival and tenacious spirit of struggle constitute an important aspect of Xiangzi's character. While portraying Xiangzi's hard-working and strong character in the novel, the author also tries to reveal his beautiful spiritual world from a broader life content. He is serious and responsible, paying attention to credit and loyalty. He had an accident pulling a rickshaw and was badly hurt, but his first thought was Mr. Cao in the rickshaw. Mr. Cao felt guilty when he fell, and offered to use his salary to compensate for the loss. He thought Mr Cao was a good man, so when Mr Cao was driven away by the spy, he suffered the pain of being robbed, and he was bent on how to live up to others' entrustment and take good care of Cao Zhai. The works also show Xiangzi's compassionate side. When he saw the old horses and ponies that were more difficult than himself, they lost their heads in hunger on a cold night, he did not hesitate to buy them mutton buns. He also tried his best to give sympathy and help to the unfortunate joy tortured by life. All these show Xiangzi's beautiful mind as a laborer.
Secondly, Xiangzi's character contains the requirements of resistance and independence. Xiangzi usually seems to tolerate all grievances, but his rebellious demands are also reflected in his character. For example, he resigned in Yang Zhai's anger; Revenge on Si Liu, the owner of the car factory, can illustrate this point. He has always been strong and independent, which shows that he is uneasy about his humble social status. He didn't want to listen to Gao Ma's words, usured, coveted 60 cars in Si Liu, and didn't listen to Tigress's words to do small business, all of which showed that he had an idea of demanding independence.
(2) Xiangzi's selfishness, depravity and destruction.
Xiangzi, as an ordinary urban self-employed, lives in the countryside, leaving many distinct marks on his character and even image, whether he is strong, diligent and simple, or narrow, conservative and cautious, that is, his appearance, living habits, mental state and spiritual temperament all have a strong earthy atmosphere, showing the characteristics from the countryside and typical rural habits and peasant consciousness. He is different from the general coachman, and he has no experience in entering the garage, or because he maintains the hard and honest mentality and temperament developed in the countryside. He is different from Gao Ma, who is full of calculation skills. Although he works as a domestic worker in Cao Fu and belongs to the urban self-employed, their manners and behaviors are in sharp contrast with their inner activities everywhere. Therefore, Camel Xiangzi is actually a tragedy in which a simple and honest rural youth degenerates into a city hooligan. In him, the pursuit of being an individual worker and the pure and beautiful peasant character are lost at the same time, which is an important feature of Xiangzi's artistic model and an important clue of this tragedy.
Xiangzi, who used to be as tough as a camel from the outside to the inside, always had an unspeakable loneliness and powerlessness in his heart. He can do nothing about almost anything. When he felt distressed and afraid because he was cornered, what made him sad even more was that his grievances had nowhere to tell. This can't be explained only by the fact that he is an individual worker. They are bound by a scattered and narrow mode of production and lifestyle. It is true that they are narrow-minded and short-sighted. They are selfish and indifferent because they are self-sufficient, but as workers, they are kind and helpful, especially to their own similar workers and unfortunate people. The crux of the problem is not that on the one hand, Xiangzi has completely left the countryside and is unwilling to have anything to do with it, on the other hand, he has not taken root in urban life, and he doesn't even know how to establish proper contact with the new living environment and seek the care and help of others. Only in this way will he feel so lonely, helpless, at a loss, particularly vulnerable and unable to withstand blows and setbacks.
The biggest feature of Xiangzi's personality is the subjective cause of this tragedy. It is his strong desire and urgent requirement to change his social status and life destiny through personal struggle. Since he is heavily oppressed by the whole society, it is naturally difficult for him to succeed in his isolated and scattered personal struggle. Even if he has his own car and keeps it, how can he get rid of the depression and really become an independent and happy worker? This unrealistic plan made him blind from the beginning, and all sincere efforts were beyond doubt. Only failure and tragedy await him. The writer's description of Xiangzi's character did not stop there, but also made a detailed excavation at a deeper level. He wrote that Xiangzi constantly had reflections and doubts about his efforts, so after he lost his car for the first time, he tried to save money by pulling it, but he kept thinking about it. When he remembered it, he felt so jammed in his heart that he couldn't help thinking, what about getting stronger? Even if another one comes soon, how do you know it won't happen again? It can be seen that he had a premonition of the bleak future and asked himself a rhetorical question, but the immediate answer was still "even if you buy it today, you have to buy it tomorrow." This is his wish, hope, even religion. He didn't pull his own car, he lived in vain. His best hope is to buy a car. If you have to buy a car, you can't let yourself down. If you forget this, he will forget himself. He felt that he was just a running animal, and there was no improvement and no human sentiment. "The conclusion is that no matter how much it costs," there is a car that can handle everything ". As individual workers, they only feel their own value and meaning in life in this pursuit. In Xiangzi's place, the car has been integrated into his life, although he has long compared his efforts to "straying into luoquan Hutong, going around and returning to the original place." "But he still ran like this, first full of hope. Here, sobriety and confusion, sobriety and blindness are almost the same thing, and it is meaningless to distinguish them. If Xiangzi had been content with his fate from the beginning without praying, none of this would have happened, at least it would not have made people feel so sympathetic and sigh? The internal relationship between Xiangzi's character and tragedy is very clear in these descriptions.
After working hard for three years, the car was quickly taken away by the mutinous soldiers, and the money he had accumulated was blackmailed by the spy before he could buy it. Although he lost his car and money, he still didn't lose hope of buying another car, but Tigress died in childbirth, leaving him with the last car. This series of blows is undoubtedly very heavy for Xiangzi, who regards cars as his life. The oppression of society and the gloom of the world made Xiangzi feel the hardship of being a man and the bleak future. He finally pinned his hopes on the combination with Joy. Unfortunately, Joy, whom he sympathized with and loved, committed suicide again under the destruction of the dark forces, leaving him with no last hope. An individual worker who wanted to eat by himself was thus eaten by the old society. Xiangzi finally embarked on the road of depravity under the attack of irresistible dark forces. Xiangzi's failure is not only manifested in economic poverty and material losses, but also in spiritual destruction. In the process of shaping Xiangzi's image, the writer highlighted the amazing changes in his inner world. The old society destroyed his ideal of life and made him a completely different person. Before, he set himself a clear goal in life and struggled with hope, but when all this went up in smoke, he no longer had any desire for life. Finally, Xiangzi became a man who did everything, eating, drinking, gambling and even fighting. The original "independent, pure, strong and hardworking Xiangzi" almost turned into a "Xiangzi who only ate some sweet potato skins and whiskers." As Lao She wrote at the end of the first edition of the novel: "Decent, strong, dreamy, self-interested, personal, strong and great Xiangzi, I don't know how many funerals he sent with others, and I don't know when and where he will be buried, burying the last ghost of degeneration, selfishness, misfortune, being born in the womb of social pathology and individualism!" This is a bitter criticism of Xiangzi, and also a complaint of grief and indignation against the evil old society. It can be seen that the image of Xiangzi is typical to some extent, which effectively summarizes the life trajectory of urban individual workers. They struggled desperately to survive, but in the end they failed. Such a personality tragedy not only aroused the readers' introspection at that time, but today, such a small-scale production consciousness still remains in people's minds, hindering the development and progress of themselves and the whole society, and the description can still make people excited, thought-provoking and deeply inspired.
Second, the dark society.
Man's life in society is restricted by society, and his path is determined by his social environment, his social status and his various connections with society. Xiangzi's image was highlighted in the dark society at that time and in his complicated relationship with various social forces. His tragedy is mainly the product of the society in which he lives.
The blow to Xiangzi first came from reactionaries. The first car was taken away by deserters from the northern warlords, and the savings from buying the second car were blackmailed by Kuomintang spy Sun. These descriptions are brief, and things happen suddenly and accidentally, but like all really great realistic works, what they show is the inevitable trend of development.
The news of the war outside the city has been circulating for ten days. In order to covet a few dollars, Xiangzi boldly pulled a cart to the western suburbs. Just out of the city gate, he was taken away by deserters, both men and cars. The works show that it was an era of warlord melee, and the war constantly harassed people's lives and threatened people's safety. It is also mentioned in the work that if deserters are caught by people in the village, at least they are buried alive. From people's abhorrence of deserters, it reveals how these troops brutally trample on the people. In such a turbulent and reactionary era, Xiangzi's bad luck is only an episode in the catastrophe caused by years of war.
Originally, Detective Sun followed Xiangzi's master, Mr. Cao, and had nothing to do with Xiangzi, and blackmailing Xiangzi was not their plan. But since I met him, "Xiangzi deserved it!" Xiangzi's social status determines that any blow can and can fall on his head at will. The more accidental they come, the more they can show the inevitability of this blow.
The work profoundly shows that in the dark old society, as a laborer at the bottom of society, it is impossible to realize the change of living conditions through personal strength and personal struggle, and no matter how much individuals pay, it will be of no help.
Third, unhappy marriage.
The reason of Xiangzi's tragedy is also reflected in Xiangzi's own marriage problem. Introducing Tigress, the daughter of Si Liu, the owner of the parking lot, into Xiangzi's life circle and describing their emotional entanglements became another important reason for Xiangzi's tragic ending.
Xiangzi married Tigress in an unhappy marriage. Their union is always unnatural. Tigress is the daughter of Si Liu, the owner of the parking lot, and Si Liu is a rogue, a cruel and hypocritical rogue. Under his education, Tigress became a rough and aggressive woman, and also laid the brand of the exploiting class. In order to get Tigress to help him run the parking lot, Si Liu is a girl in her thirties, and she still refuses to let her get married, asking Tigress to ruin her youth for him. But like other young women, she pursues her freedom of marriage. He loves young, honest and diligent Xiangzi, and his feelings for him are real. He always hurts Xiangzi, not plays with him. Therefore, her situation is worthy of sympathy. Her insistence on marrying Xiangzi is also a rebellious act for her family. However, due to their different economic status, their marriage life has produced various contradictions, especially the serious differences in their life paths, which have become the pain of Xiangzi's life. Tigress has true feelings for him, but it is largely because of her egoism. She hopes to get her father's permission to let her and Xiangzi run the parking lot. At least she wants to use part of her private money to "get two or three cars" and be a small car owner. Unlike Tigress, Xiangzi intends to own a car, "live comfortably" and be a self-reliant person from the standpoint of class. Obviously, there are serious differences in their attitudes towards life and their personalities, which shows that there will be contradictions and conflicts after their marriage, and they are by no means peaceful. Both of them live according to their own life ideals. Tigress wants to buy some cars and be the owner herself. Xiangzi can stay with her all day without driving. Xiangzi always avoids Tigress. He hates Tigress. It will be very painful to stay at home with Tigress all day. Besides, Xiangzi is diligent and used to this leisurely and enjoyable life. He originally wanted to pull a rickshaw, and he loves to pull a rickshaw. Tigress, relying on her financial strength, always wants Xiangzi to be at her mercy. This made Xiangzi feel pain and injustice. Although Xiangzi has some truth, he clearly feels that "if he wants her, he will lose him", and he is just begging his wife. Even so, Xiangzi's life is stable. It's a pity that they lived for more than a year, Tigress died in childbirth, and Xiangzi lost her financial support and was cornered.
Xiangzi's marriage tragedy made him suffer the same mental torture and blow as the previous two. Neither the deserter nor the spy had the right to kill him, but the trap set by Tigress made him suffer. His sense of responsibility as a man prevented him from abandoning her when she was in trouble. Hit a wall everywhere, he had to go back to her. He had no choice. There is nothing he can do about it. He clearly realized that "life is his own, but it is called the control of others." This has played a more important role in corroding his will to survive, breaking his desire to survive, from hard work to self-doubt and self-degradation. Here, it is manifested as the destruction and torture that goes straight into people's hearts. Xiangzi not only can't get what he wants, but even can't refuse what he hates. These fully depict the complex content of life and Xiangzi's humble situation. The unfortunate experience of Xiangzi's personal life comes from this evil old society in the final analysis. It is through the tragedy in the spiritual life of the characters that the author further accuses and exposes the evil social system.
By digging into the depths of Xiangzi's soul, the author successfully shaped the typical image of the lower class workers in the city and revealed that Xiangzi's tragedy came from the evil old society and old system. The old society not only took away his car and the money he saved with sweat, but also took away Xiangzi's pure soul and the virtue of working people and destroyed his soul. For a person, nothing is more precious than the soul, and nothing is more serious than the loss of the soul. It is through the image of Xiangzi that the author strongly accuses the darkness and evil of this society.
Through the image of Xiangzi, the work puts forward a very serious and urgent social problem, that is, the fate and outlet of the lower class, which shows the profound ideological and practical significance of the work Camel Xiangzi. None of the works reflecting the life of rickshaw pullers after the May 4th Movement has reached this height, and Camel Xiangzi is mature in both ideological depth and artistic skills. The author describes the failure process of Xiangzi's tenacious struggle for an independent human right, which is thought-provoking and inspires people to think about how to get rid of their unfortunate fate and find a brand-new road. This is a powerful artistic appeal of Xiangzi's image through the failure of personal struggle.
Tragic works always call on people to face up to the cruelty of life and the hardship of struggle, as well as people's spiritual pain. At the same time, they solemnly expressed their desire to bid farewell to all things that make people feel pity and fear, expecting them to become the past as soon as possible. Even if all the disasters, sufferings and mistakes described in the works are really over, tragedies, especially the best among them, can also rely on their true descriptions, full of passionate rationality and serious thinking. Not only recorded in the history of literature, but also engraved in people's hearts. Camel Xiangzi is such a work.