The image of children in Lu Xun's works:
A brief analysis of the image of children in Lu Xun's works
The image of children is a reflection of the mental outlook and personality characteristics of children in literary works. Children's literature is a special form in which literature and art reflect social life. When we read the works of the great writer Lu Xun, we can find that there are many images of children in the works. Through research, the children's literature images in Lu Xun's works show diversified characteristics: they have a distinct children's perspective; their works convey innocence and childishness; their works are full of family affection; they all pursue beautiful things; their works have profound cultural heritage. These are all remarkable aspects of the work.
1. Lu Xun’s works all see the world and reflect life from the special perspective of children.
There are many sentences in the works that look at things with a child's immature way of thinking. In the article "From Baicao Yuan to Sanwei Bookstore", when writing about why the young Lu Xun left Baicao Yuan and went to Sanwei Bookstore, the author wrote in this tone: "I don't know why my family sent me to a book school. Maybe it was because I pulled Polygonum multiflorum and destroyed the mud wall, maybe it was because I threw the bricks to the Liang family next door, maybe it was because I stood on the stone well railing and jumped Come down... I don’t know. All in all, I can’t go to Baicao Garden often." This childish voice from the heart was Lu Xun's most sincere call at that time. He didn't understand why he wanted to leave Baicao Garden? Why go to a book school? Lu Xun guessed the reason for leaving Baicao Garden from a child's perspective and psychology. Several conjectures in the article all believe that someone was sent to a private school to be punished after doing bad things. Lu Xun started from reality, and his writings reflected the most primitive and instinctive world view of children. Children's logical reasoning when thinking about things is not smooth and without distractions, which is in line with the characteristics of children looking at things from the surface. Children's vision and way of thinking often have uncertain emotional factors. For example, the article "Ah Chang and the Book of Mountains and Seas" begins with "Chang Mama, as I have said before, is a female worker who has always led me. To put it more generously, she is my nanny, my mother and many others. Everyone calls her this, which seems to be a bit polite. Only my grandmother calls her Ah Chang. I usually call her "Ama" without even using "Chang", but when I hate her, - for example, I know. When she is the one who plots the death of my hidden rat, I call her A-Chang." "A Chang" in the article is the nanny who led Lu Xun. From the family status, Lu Xun called her "A Ma". This is a common name, which proves that "A Chang" was respected in the eyes of Lu Xun when he was a child. If When children have conflicts with adults, the child's psychology is easiest to detect. When Lu Xun learned that "A Chang" had murdered Hidden Rat, he changed the name of "A Chang" and stopped calling her "Ama" , and call him by his most commonly used title - "Ah Chang". Among them, we can appreciate that children use their immature thinking to determine the good and bad of things in the world. Things that can be seen from the eyes of children will have the characteristics of children. Children's eyes are like a pool of clear water without any impurities. The light transmitted from the water is the most thorough. With the immaturity of children, and With the most authentic perspective, we can perceive children's inner world and discover their truth, goodness and beauty from Lu Xun's works. In literary works, readers cannot replace children's eyes with adult eyes. Lu Xun perfected this in these works.
2. The images of children in Lu Xun’s works conform to their age characteristics.
The innocence and simplicity of children convey innocence and childishness. For example, it is written in "Baicao Garden" that "the short mud wall alone is infinitely interesting. Oil flies sing here, and crickets play the piano here. When you open the broken bricks, you will sometimes encounter centipedes; and cantharides." , if you press its backbone with your fingers, there will be a popping sound, and a burst of smoke will be emitted from the rear orifice..." Another example is "The Baicao Garden in winter is relatively tasteless, but taking pictures of snowmen and sculptures will be different." The Snow Arhat needs people to appreciate it. This is a deserted place and inaccessible, so it is not suitable. So we have to come here to catch birds... Sweep away a piece of snow to expose the ground, use a short stick to set up a large bamboo sieve, and scatter some grain underneath. A long rope is tied to the stick, and people hold it from a distance to watch the birds come to eat. When they go under the bamboo sieve, they pull the rope and cover it. "The life in the Baicao Garden is colorful. Breaking bricks, pressing cantharides, pulling Polygonum multiflorum, picking raspberries, and catching birds are all activities that Lu Xun described as unique to children in the Herb Garden.
Children are pure and beautiful, and everything is novel in their eyes, so they have full self-confidence and relatively self-sufficient joy. Adults lack the innocence and simplicity of children. Children take pleasure in very simple things and show innocence, whereas adults have absolutely none of the originality of children. "A golden full moon hangs in the deep blue sky, and below is the sandy land on the seaside, with endless watermelons planted there...". This is the most innocent and playful scene description of children, which arouses Lu Xun's yearning for children's life. There are many things in Lu Xun's works that can reflect the innocence and childishness, such as the games between Lu Xun and Run Tu in his childhood, and Afa and the others went to see social operas, etc. These innocent creations are very meaningful. They are an important part of people's awakening of consciousness, and they allow writers to share similar spiritual phenomena... longing for an innocent childhood. Lu Xun's innocent and childlike descriptions in his works, and those behaviors that belong to children's time, are witnesses of children's love for nature, pursuit of new knowledge, innocence, and childish joy. Therefore, the images of children in Lu Xun's works are characterized by their innocence, simplicity, and conveying innocence and childishness, which is a characteristic of Lu Xun's literary works.
3. Children’s images in Lu Xun’s works are full of family affection.
The work "Kite" is about when I was a child, "I" did not allow my little brother to fly a kite or play with such a useless thing. His behavior was very rough. I finally understood the meaning of games for children. Lu Xun woke up and realized that what he had done back then was simply "a cruel killing of the spirit." "I" in the work is a person who has devoted his whole life to practice "dissecting oneself is no more merciful than dissecting others". Later in the work, when describing "I"'s desire to "make up for the mistakes", two beautiful feelings are more vividly expressed: from "not loving" "Flying a kite", "dislike" a kite, objecting to a little brother flying a kite, destroying a kite to "giving him a kite", approving him to fly, persuading him to fly, and me flying with him, what a change! "I" shook off the mental shackles and seemed to regain the nature of a child, "yelling, running, laughing". In the joyful melody, extremely short sentences jumped with a relaxed rhythm, as if reappearing The lively and joyful scene of children flying kites. This kind of regretful mood is beautiful. We can see the friendship between Lu Xun and his brothers, especially when "I" went to ask for forgiveness from the little brother with a "heavy" heart, but the little brother " "Total forgetfulness", in "my" opinion, is a scene of "spiritual massacre". Listening to the past, I smiled in surprise: "Has such a thing ever happened?" This simple and unpretentious text shows two beautiful hearts, a great wall of soul built by family affection, one who is strict with self-blame and begs for forgiveness. Fault; a childish and innocent person who completely forgets the faults of others. Another example is the two images of the young man Runtu and "I" in "Hometown". They were good friends who talked about everything when they were young. They deepened their friendship through games such as catching birds, watching melons, and thorns. There is such a description in "Ah! There are endless strange things in Runtu's psychology, which are all unknown to my usual friends... Unfortunately, after the first month, Runtu had to go home. I burst into tears and he also He hid in the kitchen, crying and refusing to go out, but was finally taken away by his father. He later asked his father to bring me a pack of shells and some beautiful bird feathers, and I also gave them to him once or twice. things, but we have never seen each other again." From this narrative, we can find that the friendship between "I" and "Run Tu" is like the depth of the sea, the kind of childhood sweetheart, a kind of unrestrained imagination.
4. The children’s images in Lu Xun’s works all pursue beautiful things.
The work "Kite" not only expresses a feeling of guilt, but also shows that it is wrong to suppress children's instinct to play. We can clearly feel that "Kite" is a brand-new work, and the content it expresses is far less than these. "Kite" is described at the beginning: "In winter in Beijing, there is still snow on the ground, gray-black bare branches stick out in the clear sky, and there are one or two kites floating in the distance. I am surprised and sad at the end." He also wrote, "Now, the spring of my hometown is lingering in the air of this foreign place, giving me long-lost memories and an uncontrollable sadness. I might as well hide in the harsh winter." , but it is clearly winter all around, which is giving me a very chilly and air-conditioned atmosphere.” The beginning and end of the work describe a suppressed and blocked spring. "Kite" feels the chill of winter in the spring breeze. This is still a poem about spring and youth. It is Lu Xun's continued "pursuit of the lost youth." "Kite" begins with the lonely spring and gloomy spring scenery in Beijing.
Then there are the memories of "Spring February" in my hometown, "the gentleness of the spring moon". Kite is a symbol of spring in my hometown and a symbol of beautiful youth. It guides readers to savor and reminisce about beautiful things. "Kite" earnestly expresses the nostalgia for spring, youth, and the infatuation and pursuit of beautiful things. It requires a healthy and happy life to coexist with the beauty of spring. If there is no spring, how can we find a new life? Now, the kite incident is a thing of the past, the little brother's mental trauma has long since healed, and spring and youth are elusive. The lines in the question reveal children's pursuit of beautiful things. In the work "Hometown", when "I" returned to my hometown, because my mother mentioned Runtu, "I" recalled my hometown and Runtu more than 20 years ago, especially the scene of playing with Runtu when I was a child. The article shows us a picture with a particularly beautiful artistic conception: "At this time, a magical picture suddenly flashed in my mind: a golden full moon hung in the deep blue sky, and below was the sandy land on the seaside. They were growing endless green watermelons. Among them was an eleven or twelve-year-old boy with a silver ring in his neck and a steel fork in his hand. He wanted to use a skewer to stab him with all his strength, but the skewer twisted and stopped. Its crotch escaped. "What a beautiful scene! Twenty years later, "I" still remember this scene, which shows that the "I" in my youth have deep memories of beautiful things. Only those things that can bring about the most sweet memories can be hidden in the depths of my memory and will never be erased. . The crystal flower in my mind will always bloom in "my" heart. As a child, "I" "never knew that there were so many new things in the world: such colorful shells on the seaside; watermelons had such dangerous experiences." I "previously only knew that he was selling food in a fruit shop." Runtu brought "me" many beautiful and new things. The temptation for "me" is huge. Twenty years later, "I" returned to my hometown again, and there was a scene of depression everywhere in my hometown. "Ah! Isn't this how I have always remembered my hometown in the past twenty years?" The beautiful hometown is gone forever, including Runtu. . Runtu is no longer the Runtu of childhood. Times have changed and things have changed, and I am extremely sad. The low mood further highlights the status of the beautiful hometown of my childhood in "my" heart. "Hometown" reflects the pursuit of beautiful things by children from another aspect, because beauty is the goal that everyone pursues.
5. Lu Xun’s works have the flavor of the author’s hometown.
Shaoxing’s rich local flavor, profound cultural heritage, customs, habits, and culture are all displayed in front of readers. The work "Social Opera" shows a strong local flavor. Social opera is also called the Spring Game, which is a game held in spring. In the old days, people would prepare gongs, drums, opera, etc. to welcome the gods out of the temple on festivals or the birthdays of gods. They would then travel around the streets or villages, which was called "saihui." There is also a specific description of this kind of play in "She Opera". "Social Opera" takes the Jiangnan countryside as the background, showing an ideal rural picture in memory. Pingqiao Village, where the author describes his grandmother's home, is a small village near the river, not far from the sea, extremely remote. This remote seaside village is less influenced by the secular world and retains more of the natural and simple temperament. It is a "pure land" for "me" and a "promised land". The author has ulterior motives for placing many children's images such as "I", "Afa", "Double Happiness" and "Guisheng" in the Jiangnan water towns full of earthy fragrance. Another example is the description of Jiangnan scenery in "Hometown". The unique description of his hometown in "Baicao Garden" all reflects the characteristics of his hometown, Shaoxing. "Ah Chang and the Classic of Mountains and Seas" wrote: "Brother, please remember it!" She said with great solemnity, "Tomorrow is the first day of the first lunar month. As soon as you open your eyes in the morning, the first thing you say is to me." Say: "Mom, congratulations," remember? You have to remember that this is a year of good luck. Don't say anything else! After that, you have to eat some oranges. Lai shook his head twice before my eyes, "Well, all year round, everything goes smoothly..." This is a unique custom in Shaoxing area. Lu Xun was a native of Shaoxing. In many works, Lu Xun superimposed the rich local flavor of Shaoxing with the image of children. It can be seen that Lu Xun was famous for his homesickness and longing for childhood. The two appeared in his works and were Lu Xun's ideals. A combination of perfect things. Reading these works of Lu Xun is like appreciating a picture of a shepherd boy playing the flute in a water town in the south of the Yangtze River, which gives people a melodious and memorable piece of homesickness.
6. The language in Lu Xun’s children’s literature is permeated with children’s characteristics.
The children's language in Lu Xun's works is consistent with their innocent characteristics and age characteristics.
"She Opera" writes about "I", Shuangxi, Ah Fa and a group of people picking mangosteen on the way back from watching a society opera. It writes, "'A Fa, A Fa, this is your home, and this is the Children's Day." From the father-in-law's house, which side should we steal?" Shuangxi jumped off first and said on the shore. We all jumped on the shore. "Wait a minute, let me take a look," he said. No, he touched it once, stood up and said, 'Just steal ours, ours are much bigger. '" It says that Ah Fa advised everyone to steal his mangosteen, which shows Ah Fa's grandeur and cheerfulness! , not adult, in line with children's innocence. "Hometown" describes the words of young Runtu: "He said, 'This can't be done. It has to snow heavily.' We were on the sand, and it snowed. I swept out a clearing, used a short stick to prop up a big bamboo pole, and sprinkled it with When I went down to the valley to see the birds coming to eat, I pulled the rope tied to the stick from a distance, and the birds were covered under the bamboo plaque. Blue back..." Runtu said again: "It's too cold now. Come to our place in the summer. We go to the beach to pick up shells during the day. There are red and green ones, and there are also ghosts and Guanyin hands." The boy. Runtu is a smart, enthusiastic, and energetic little hero. We can know it from his eloquent words. From the above-mentioned words of Runtu, we can know that the child's mind is filled with all those fun things. This is What they are interested in is in line with children's playful nature. Children's language does not have the pretentiousness and subtlety of adults. It is pure and unadorned. "Speech is the voice of the heart". There are not many words about the image of hungry children in Lu Xun's works, but we can understand the psychology of children in these words. In many places, children's love for nature, love for new things, and love for life are shown. mentality. The proverbs also permeate the pure friendship between some children's images and their respective characters. Lu Xun shows the readers vivid children's images in the children's words.
Lu Xun is indeed a literary giant of his generation. In his literary works, readers can appreciate the master's unique writing techniques. With clever arrangements, he showed everyone the multifaceted characteristics of the children's images in his works. Looking at the images of children in modern literary works, many are influenced by Lu Xun. Being familiar with the characteristics of children's images in Lu Xun's works can provide references for the treatment of children's images in contemporary literary creation.