Analysis of Lu Xun and His Works

Name: Date: Course: Professor: Analysis of Lu Xun and His Works Lu Xun’ works are inspired by the transition of Chinese culture and notion of Enlightenment during the 20th century, thorough Lu Xun’s own experiences and observations about the world. Lu Xun was a revolutionary writer who used his unique style to convey his message of political and social change by the use of literature. Lu Xun has a high ability and skill to imbue his writings with a social message. His primary goal is to create social awakening through literature, and he does so by utilizing different writing styles. In his many works, he tackles different situations that provide symbolism that point towards lessons. These lessons are hidden in plain sight, but are revealed in Lu Xun’s works by his writing style and ability to imagine creative stories that present great character development and composition. In his writings, there are 3 evident themes that was concerned about China’s society in Lu Xun’s time. Theres themes can be presented as questions which were in Lu Xun’s mind and these are : What is the problem of China? What are the flaws of the Chinese national Character and Conduct? What are the hindrances to attaining Enlightenment and Spiritual Development? These questions are present in the works titled “Diary of a Madman”, “My Old Home” and “preface to a Call to Arms Lu Xun’s predisposition about life revolves on his own life journey towards understanding his own deep thinking and depression. It is revealed right in the introduction of his “Preface to Call to Arms”, “When I was young, I too, had many dreams. Most of the came to be forgotten, but I see nothing in this to regret. For although recalling the past may make you happy, it may sometimes also make you lonely bygone days. However, my trouble is that I cannot forget completely, and these stories have resulted from what I have been unable to erase from my memory.” (Lu, 1) Lu Xun demonstrates the quality of enlightenment that comes from being centered in the reality of life, and channelling it towards writing and inspiring others to analyze the world. Lu Xun was able to influence society by his discussions and the subjects of his writings that tackled various topics such as politics, culture, economy, poverty, etc. He writes about how people lived their lives as they struggle with the essence of Life Vs. Death. In Lu Xun’s literature, lies an underlying intention to awaken the society about truths about their world. He identifies faith and ideology as obstacles to the dynamic evolution of society. He relates knowledge of history to the importance of learning about the present society. He identifies that China’s history of being ruled and enslaved by barbarians affected the overall behaviour of the people. In his “Preface to Call to Arms”, he states that the flaw of Chinese Character and conduct is in their egomania. This condition made the individual centered on the perspective of their own individual and selfish development. This made the Chinese people have a tendency to bully the weak and be afraid of those who have power. The philosophy of Lu Xun’s work provide an avenue for discussion about the Idea of Enlightenment during the transitory period where Chinese Eastern beliefs and Cultures were Merging with The European’s Western collective. Lu Xun imbues his work with symbolic creativity and societal reflection to tackle issues about their time. He reflects the plight of man vs an animal life in his works. In Lu Xun’s “The Mad Man’s Diary”, he writes about a protagonist who discovers about a long history of cannibalism in China. He realizes that the Chinese people have always been on the game of survival. He describes the sickness of China was in its system of “eat or be eaten”. It is a symbolism of how the Chinese may sometimes seek power and dominion over other men to the point that they are not realizing the destruction and the suffering that they are causing to the other people. He termed it as a kind cannibalism, an act which cannot happen without the consent and collaboration of the other one”. Lu Xun thus emphasizes the importance of attaining Spiritual Realization. It is reflected in the following paragraph XII of Mad man’s diary: “I’ can’t bear to think of it. I have just only realized that I have been living all these years in a place where for four thousand years, they have been eating human flesh. My brother had just takes over the charge of the house when our sister died, and he may well haev used her flesh in our rice and dishes, making us eat unwillingly. “ And in the next part XIII: “Perhaps there are still children who have not eaten men? Save the Children . . . “ (Lu, 18) He urges the people to become more enlightened through the creativity of his literature prowess. This problem is a persistent problem all throughout the history, showing the susceptibility of peo...