This article discusses the tragic consciousness in Lu Xun's novels, mainly from the social background of the tragic consciousness and the life foundation of the author who produced the tragic consciousness. At the same time, it also talks about the profound social significance of the tragedy in his novels. sex. The author believes that the social conditions of modern Chinese society and Lu Xun's own life foundation are the external conditions and internal factors that produced the tragic consciousness in his novels. The history of suffering in modern times has soaked the entire Chinese society with blood and tears; the family tragedy Lu Xun encountered in his childhood and his schooling experience in his youth were the core that turned his thoughts towards pathos. The tragic consciousness in his novels has a profound social nature. Understanding these issues will help us deeply understand Lu Xun's novels and understand the ideological nature of Lu Xun's novels more thoroughly.
Some people say that there is no real tragedy in China, and there is some truth to this. In our ancient literature, it is indeed difficult to find works that can be called true tragedies. The so-called real tragedy refers to tragedies like those written by Aeschylus in ancient Greece, tragedies like "Oedipus the King", and tragedies like Shakespeare's four tragedies. There are profound tragedies. It is a tragedy that is both sexual and completely sad. Such tragedies are indeed difficult to find in our ancient literature. Our ancestors don't seem to like tragedies very much, and always want to look forward to beauty. Some works that can be called tragedies are often embellished with comedy endings, giving readers and audiences a psychological satisfaction, otherwise, they will make the audience burst into tears. , walk out of the theater with a heavy heart, they will not do it. In ancient literature, one of the most tragic works is probably Tang Xianzu's "The Peony Pavilion". It is said that when Tang Xianzu was writing this script, he hid in the firewood shed and cried for three days and three nights, just like Balzac cried over his song. The same as the old man; another actor died on the stage due to excessive sadness when singing "The Peony Pavilion"; an infatuated woman couldn't help herself after reading "The Peony Pavilion" and wrote: "The cold rain knocked on the window and I couldn't bear to hear it, so I turned on the light Look at The Peony Pavilion again. There are people like me in the world, but Xiaoqing is the only one who is sad." This shows how sad this work is, but this work, which can be called the first tragedy in China, still has a happy ending. ending. Others, such as "Du Shiniang Sinks the Treasure Chest in Anger", always make people feel that the sadness is incomplete and not enough.
Mr. Lu Xun has his own unique understanding of tragedy. He believes that tragedy is "the destruction of something of real value to others." Although comedy makes us satisfied, tragedy makes us think more deeply; comedy makes us yearn for the beauty of life, but tragedy makes us face the suffering of life. There are comedies in life, but there are also tragedies in life. When we say that Lu Xun's novels are real tragedies in the history of Chinese literature, we do not mean it from the perspective of how many tears his works can earn from readers. If the number of tears earned is used as the criterion for evaluating tragedy, then Lu Xun's novels can be regarded as It's not a tragedy; only the earlier movie "Mom Love Me Again" and the recent "Happy Mother" can be called "tear-jerking" tragedies. But in terms of the social profundity of the tragedy, these two films cannot be compared with Lu Xun's novels. We often say that Lu Xun's novels are "tears of laughter". This evaluation appropriately expresses the tragic characteristics of Lu Xun's novels. "Laughter" is the external formal feature of his novels, while "tears" are the essence of "laughter"; "laughter" is the first reaction, and "tears" is the result of deep thought. Lu Xun's novels cover up their "tearful" core with a "laughing" cloak. Therefore, the essence of Lu Xun's novels is tragic, and it has a very profound tragic nature. For example, his first vernacular novel "A Madman's Diary" established the tragic tone of his novels. Others such as "The True Story of AhQ", "Kong Yiji", "Blessing" ", "Medicine", "Sorrowful Death", "Flying to the Moon", "Forging the Sword", "Escape", etc., which one is not a tragedy soaked in tears?
Any work is a product of the times and will inevitably be marked by the era in which the author lives. Even if it reflects the events of the previous era, it is impossible not to have the shadow of the current era in it, so explore The formation characteristics of the ideological content of a work cannot but refer to the social background in which the author lives. Lu Xun's novels were produced under the historical background of my country's modern society. His novels were naturally deeply influenced by the times. The formation of his tragic consciousness in his novels must be closely related to the social background at that time. So, what are the characteristics of the social situation in this historical period?
China’s modern history is a history of humiliation. From the beginning of the First Opium War to the founding of New China, our nation has withstood the baptism of war for more than a hundred years. Even in the era when Lu Xun lived, we had already suffered from the disaster of war for seventy or eighty years. Years of being passively harassed and bullied had made every cell in Chinese society soaked with tears. The hearts of the Chinese people had long been saturated. The Chinese people who grew up in the blood and tears have a few past events without sadness. It can be said that tragedy has become something in the bone marrow of almost every Chinese person in that era.
It can be seen that Lu Xun abandoned medicine and followed literature because he wanted to change the indifference and numbness of the people, and he did so with a feeling of worry and anger. This is destined to inevitably bring a profound tragic atmosphere to his articles. And this tragic atmosphere is obviously given by the times and by the suffering modern society.
Lu Xun’s early ideological characteristics are inseparable from his life experience. His family fell from a well-off society into poverty all of a sudden, and he tasted the world at a young age. He went to a different place, took a different path, and went abroad to seek new ideas. He changed his dreams several times and established the ideal of saving the country through literature... This series of experiences had a profound impact on him in his early years. ideas have a decisive influence. The changes in his family made him feel the coldness of the world and the indifference of ordinary people; witnessing the discrimination of Chinese people abroad aroused his strong national self-esteem; the Chinese people's own dissatisfaction made him sad and determined to reform. national character; the influence of the theory of evolution on him has made him always have hope for the future... His dream has changed several times, but it has not strayed away from the core of saving the country and the people. On the one hand, it is the reality of a weak country, and on the other hand, it is the ignorance and numbness of the people. Lu Xun had to express this reality in a sad mood, and spur the people on with a tragic feeling of mourning their misfortune and being angry at them. This naturally makes his works inevitably bring a deep sense of tragedy.
Exploring the national character was Lu Xun’s lifelong career. The issue of national character has always been a problem that Lu Xun thought deeply about, and he used this as an axis to construct a novel world rich in historical inspiration. Highlighting the distortion and strangulation of people's souls by cultural factors among the many factors that have caused the tragic fate of successive generations is the basic focus of the creation of "The Scream" and "Wandering". In his novels, although he has appropriately criticized members of the cannibal genealogy such as Mr. Zhao, Mr. Lu Si, Mr. Si Chrome and the Seven Great Men, and did not hesitate to squeeze out their subconscious despicableness and publicly display it; Many places still focus on severe analysis of stupid and weak citizens. The particularly cruel reality is that those who are devoured by others, such as Mrs. Xianglin and AQ, eat themselves all the time. There are also people like Liu Ma who eat themselves when they are being eaten. Also cannibalizing! This kind of scene has already been shown in "The Diary of a Madman", the first work of Lu Xun's new novel, and it was obviously emphasized intentionally by the author. "I have never been afraid to speculate on the Chinese people with the worst malice."
What Lu Xun wanted to reveal was the bad nature of the national character. In his view, the masses are always publicity material and numbness. Spectators. He wants to use his sharp pen to expose the ugliness hidden in the souls of the Chinese people and attract the attention of enlighteners and social reformers in order to change the national character.