What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
The purpose of "Scream" written by Lu Xun is very clear, that is, to awaken the sleeping people. But although Lu Xun's book has a great influence, Lu Xun has thus established his position as the boss in the history of modern literature. But it is obvious that Lu Xun has not achieved much of his goals, and the people are still insensitive.
(Portrait of Lu Xun)
First, although Lu Xun's voice is loud, its scope of dissemination is limited.
Lu Xun's "Scream" is written very deeply, and the sound is like a hong bell, which is deafening. But this deafening sensation is only an effect on intellectuals. Intellectuals have a profound understanding of "Scream", know that Lu Xun is shouting loudly, have great respect for Lu Xun's articles, and deeply identify with Lu Xun's voice.
However, ordinary people throughout the Republican period did not hear such a voice. In other words, although this sound is loud, this sound is different from the sound that ordinary people can hear, just as ultrasonic waves are to human beings, and the sound of ultrasonic waves seems to be very high-pitched, but human beings cannot hear them.
What does this sentence mean? The main thing is the actual situation of the Republic of China at that time.
During the Republic of China period, the people were hungry, cold, displaced, and at the same time, wars were frequent, so the people basically did not have the opportunity to read and write. Ordinary people don't even have the opportunity to read and write, so how can they have the opportunity to see Lu Xun's books, and how can they have the opportunity to hear Lu Xun's voice?
At the same time, Lu Xun's articles are very literary and have a very profound significance. Even now, we have entered the era of reading for all, and Lu Xun's books have almost become our must-read books. However, many of us still cannot read Lu Xun's books. Even the teachers in the school seemed to have many of them who could not read Lu Xun's articles. When I told the children about Lu Xun's article, I also found it very difficult. Therefore, there will still be so many voices demanding that Lu Xun's articles be removed from the textbook. It is not that Lu Xun's article is not good, but that Lu Xun's article cannot be read.
Since lu xun's articles are still not understood by many people, how is it possible for the masses without knowledge and culture to understand them during the Republic of China period?
Between these two reasons, therefore, Lu Xun's book was very limited in the Republic of China period. Therefore, of course, the purpose of social reform that Lu Xun wanted to achieve was not achieved.
(May Fourth Movement)
Second, the direction of Lu Xun's efforts is inconsistent with the overall needs of society.
The purpose of Lu Xun's novel is actually to transform society and save the poor people from suffering.
Therefore, Lu Xun believes that first of all, it is necessary to dissect the soul of the people, and only by dissecting the soul of the people will the people wake up. Only instead of pursuing that soulless life will we make positive progress and achieve social reform.
Lu Xun's desire arose from the enlightenment of new ideas in the May Fourth period. Moreover, the vast majority of intellectuals at that time also did the same. It's just that they don't have Lu Xun's profound performance.
However, Lu Xun's attempt to achieve social reform through this was obviously impossible at that time. Why? Because the most important theme at that time was the search for the unity of the country and the independence of the nation.
In order to achieve national unity and national independence, the most important way at that time was to use the barrel of a gun. Political power comes out of the barrel of the gun, and only after the power is out can the goal of unification and independence be achieved.
Lu Xun's article obviously failed to achieve this goal, so it seemed useless at the time.
Of course, the meaning of literature is not pragmatic. In other words, even if Lu Xun's article is useful for social transformation, it is futuristic. His shaping and transformation of Chinese soul is eternal.
(Warlords during the Republic of China)
Third, although Lu Xun exerted force, he could not wake up and pretend to be asleep.
What does this sentence mean?
That is to say, at that time, there may be many people who understood the meaning of Lu Xun's "Scream", knew what Lu Xun wanted to say, and what he wanted to transform. However, there are a lot of people who deliberately do not understand. Because understanding it doesn't mean much to him.
For example, some warlords, when he leads the army, if everyone in the army is a sober person, then maybe everyone will resist and disobey the leadership, how can he fight? On the contrary, his army needs foolish loyalists, those who are not afraid of death, those who are servile, and only such people can charge forward on the battlefield, and this warlord can win the battle.
It can be seen from this that such a warlord must pretend to sleep, never wake up himself, and never let others wake up.
Lu Xun may have seen that the influence of "Scream" was limited, so in the end, he did not write such novels, but specialized in essays. Such essays are obviously the most direct and effective for transforming society.