Lu Hsun's novel, My Old Home
Lu Hsun's novel, My Old Home, was published in the early 1990s. Throughout this time, the Chinese engaged in serious and heated debates about their culture, philosophy, history, and other relevant topics. The argument was an early instigation into the fundamental issue confronting the Chinese people; the flaws they had and the alternative solutions they could devise. The period of intellectual debate became known as the May Fourth Movement. The movement lasted around four years, beginning in 1917 and continuing until 1921.
Lu Hsun's Background and Literary Career
Lu Hsun grew up in a rich family but eventually fell into poverty. In the view and hopes to advance his literary career, Lu Hsun took German and Russian language lessons. Later on, he became part of the New Culture Movement, which was part of the circle of Chinese writers. With the thought that the republican government could be succeeded in China, he directed his writing to political directions.This thought of majoring on political situations and occurrences in China popularised his writing in the contemporary Chinese society. In the long run, Lu Hsun became popular in China for his literary works.
Review of My Old Home
The story My Old Home takes place in the writer's minute village in China where the narrator traces his past childhood. The narrator experiences a lot of flashbacks from the time when he was young when he decides to go back to the village. He takes keen interest in the past friendship that existed but rather did not last as it would have been expected. The relationship involved the laborer's son that was part of the family; Ru-ntu. The narrator seeks permission from his father to pay Ru-nu a visit and the approval from his father makes his to float in joy. This was because he had long seen Ru-ntu and had the prior view that Ru-ntu was now the same age as his. In the process of paying Ru-ntu as visit, the narrator meets his past neighbors both of whom he does and does not remember at all.
Main Theme of My Old Home
In my comprehension of the story, Lu Hsun tries to create the theme of majoring in the present and letting go of what had become of the strenuous past. During the visit, the author remembers the hasty preparations before they left as his mother sold out the furniture they had. This was a way in which the mother was trying to get rid of the past and prepare for the future. Also, as they depart from the place, the author's memories about the place begin to fade away. The narrator's efforts in trying to forget the past are evident when the narrator meets Runtu for the second time when they were all grown men. The encounter the narrator has with Runtu is awkward as there had been a long line of years between them and there also a lot that both of them had forgotten about each other.
Symbolism in My Old Home
The narrator uses symbolism in the literary appreciation. The symbol sued in the narration is the house that narrator had initially dwelt in. the symbolism is perfectly used to represent the past that the narrator had struggled to forget and all the partaking that came along with the memory of the house. When the author pays Runtu a visit when they were all grown up, Runtu treats the narrator as his senior and on a higher level than him (Hsun 129). When the narrator lays sight on the house they had initially dwelt in, he flashbacks on the parting day when he was in the body together with his mother, nephew, and Hung-erh. Notably, as the board begun to hit the water as it moved, the author makes a keen realization that the memories and the house were to be left behind. This was a key realization involving the house.
About the Author
The author of the book is a Chinese native. The author uses his personal experience in writing the stories that are contained in the book. According to the available biographical information about the author, he was born in an affluent economic background and later went through extreme poverty in the documentation of the life that he lived at a young age. The works of the author are a marvel within the Chinese society and have served to change the way people think, especially through politics. The author speaks Russian, Chinese, and German languages.
Theme of Moving On in My Old Home
The story My Old Home is a historical account of the author about his native home of which he missed lying in for long. While on the journey to visit back home gain, the author faces a situation where he thinks of his friend Jun-Tu. Jun is the family name of his friend and the Tu is his identical name. The author brings out the theme of moving on in the story. The story begins with the narrator coming back home from the fugitive land in which he lived for many years. Later, the plot of the turns to document an environment where the narrator leaves home while leaving his nephew back. What the author tries to portray is that, while growing up, several things should change, one of them being the nature of relationships that we forge with other persons and the entire human race. The theme of the author also has an inner meaning about the Chinese society. The author has a strong feeling that though the Chinese families have strict cultural laws that bind the family, there is a time when traditions that base on the name of a person are likely to change in the new future.
The Role of Memory in My Old Home
Throughout the story, the narrator has a memory of the old house that also tends to represent the type of life that they lived while young. Notably, there is always that one striving event or circumstance that is always fresh in the mind of an individual. While the feeling may make a person think of his or her past, the feeling also leads to a situation whereby the individual has to accept that there are circumstances that may not be perfect in the society. The mobility of humans may be fluid, but the cultural practices and the ways of life of people are extremely fluid.
The Disconnect from Home in My Old Home
The accounts of the narrator in the story further affirm the way individuals and physical structures facilitate the memory of a given place. According to the narrator, the childhood friend and the old home present the way he views home in the new dimension. What the narrator goes through when he makes a visit back home is a cultural shock. According to the Chinese culture, home is the most revered place that many people look forward to in a bid to reunite with family members. However, the narrator is only psychologically connected to home but has the feeling of physical alienation from the place that he has always regarded as home. The author is an intellectual in the present day and the disconnect and the feeling of being away from home are caused by not being in touch with the reality taking place in the modern day. The accounts of the narrator, thus, expose one to the Confucian traditions.
Work cited
Hsun, Lu. Selected Stories of Lu Hsun: The True Story of Ah Q and Aoter Stories. Place of publication not identified: Createspace Indep Pub, 2015. Print.
