"Camel Xiangzi" is a realist masterpiece created by Mr. Lao She, which paints a picture of the difficult life of the poor at the bottom of the city. The process of rickshaw puller Shoko's descent from hero to rogue rogue shows the destruction of a person from spirit to body through the back of the paper, and makes people feel the pain and heartache of the working people at the bottom.
When I first read "Camel Xiangzi" in middle school, I was deeply shocked by the tragic fate of Shoko, and I really couldn't understand why such a good person would turn out like that. Later, he learned some methods of analyzing and appreciating literature, and understood that the root of Shoko's tragedy lay in the times and environment in which he lived. As a low-level rickshaw puller in the old era, in the era when that person ate people, Shoko either learned to eat people or was eaten by people.
After re-reading "Camel Xiangzi" many years later, I found that Lao She always consciously or unconsciously emphasized Xiangzi's relationship with several women, and there are actually a lot of obscure and bold descriptions in the book. After understanding the details that were not paid attention to in these years, I realized that Shoko's depravity and destruction were not only environmental factors or era factors, but also had a lot to do with several women.
Shoko and Tiger Girl
In fact, "Camel Xiangzi" not only has more ink to describe the affairs between Xiangzi and the woman, but also directly talks about the serious impact of women on the rickshaw puller - the family is not a wife, but a goblin who sucks people's blood. Of course, in addition to the physical influence, Shoko's spirit was also severely eroded by the opening of the door of desire, causing him to eventually fall into the abyss.
To find out what happened between Shoko and several women, and how they affected Shoko, see below.
First, the tiger girl seduces Xiangzi, and Xiangzi struggles hard, but still falls into the trap and loses himself
When creating "Camel Xiangzi", Lao She once pondered an important question: how to write Xiangzi as a real person? Lao She believes that if you want Xiangzi to become a real person, you should let Xiangzi be like the people in life, in addition to eating, sleeping and pulling cars, you must also have goals, desires, families and children...
In other words, Shoko's identity is that of a coachman, but the identity of a coachman is not the most essential, and there must be life and the root of life behind the identity. It's like we all have our own careers and identities in real life, but that's not the essence of who we are as human beings. The essence of human beings should include both psychological and physiological parts.
Therefore, "Camel Xiangzi" also creates the character of Xiangzi from two parts: psychological level and physical level. The psychological level is the basis of life, that is, Shoko's real life and material desires. The physiological level is the basis of life, that is, Shoko's body and lust.
As a coachman who earns money by selling his strength, Shoko's body is the capital of the revolution. In the first few chapters of the novel, Lao She spends a lot of ink describing the robustness of Shoko's body, such as: his size and muscles have developed to the point of old age, and in his twenties, he is already very tall; he is indeed a bit like a tree, strong, silent, and angry.
Shoko's real life and vision of the future are based on physical fitness. However, the tiger girl has caused great harm to Shoko's body, which in turn corresponds to Shoko's physiological level.
In the sixth chapter of Shoko the Camel, Tiger Girl first asks Shoko to come to her house, and then forces Shoko to drink white dry wine, threatening Shoko with "You drink, or I will prick my ear and pour you on it." Shoko was angry, but she did not dare to offend Tiger Girl, and even felt her kindness to herself from Tiger Girl's actions. Therefore, Shoko, who has always been a non-alcoholic, took the wine cup and drank it all.
Then, Shoko looked at tiger girl with a little drunkenness and discovered the beauty of tiger girl: her face was so close to him, her clothes were so clean and smooth, and her lips were so red, all of which made him feel a new stimulus of redness. Therefore, Shoko did not resist the temptation of the tiger girl. Lao She described this with very obscure ink:
The lights went out in the house. It was dark in the sky. From time to time one or two stars pierce into the Milky Way, or paddle into the darkness, with red or white tails of light... At the end, it was close to the end, and suddenly the corner of the sky was white with great joy, as if piercing through the darkness of the ten thousand weights, penetrating and lingering in some milky white light. The afterglow dissipated, the darkness seemed to shake a few times, and then wrapped up, and the quiet and lazy stars returned to their original positions, smiling in the autumn wind. There are some autumn fireflies flying on the ground that seek lovers, and they also play star-like games.
The so-called "star-like game" actually means very clearly, but it is difficult to understand before reaching a certain age. And shoko's life trajectory will also change significantly because she did not resist the temptation. Tiger Girl put a pillow on her abdomen to pretend to be pregnant and asked Shoko to marry her.
For a man, marrying a wife and having children is a very normal and important thing. But for Shoko, marrying a wife is not part of his life plan. Shoko's goal is to have a foreign car of her own, without giving the owner of the car dealer money, how much to earn in a day. After achieving this step, after saving some money, perhaps Shoko will also marry a wife. But until the goal is achieved, anything unrelated is an obstacle.
However, Tiger Lady completely entangled Xiangzi and desperately wanted to "possess" Xiangzi. Shoko suffered greatly for this, and shoko's painful feelings are described in great detail in the novel. For example, he began to understand that he could not cut it in two pieces, and this kind of thing could never be washed away; he seemed to be a small worm in a spider's web, and it was too late to struggle.
Tiger Lady does not hesitate to break with her father, Liu Siye, and also wants to marry Xiangzi, because she wants to be a real woman, not a tool to make money in her father's hands. Shoko didn't want to marry Tiger Girl at all, but thought tiger girl was really pregnant with her own child, and couldn't refuse.
In the end, Shoko completely fell into the trap set by Tiger Girl, not so much becoming Tiger Girl's husband, but rather becoming an object she occupied, and gradually losing herself.
Second, Shoko's body was destroyed by the tiger girl, and her spirit was also greatly damaged
He who pulls the cart swallows coarse grain, and what comes out is blood; he will sell his greatest strength and get the lowest reward; he will stand at the lowest place in the world, waiting for all people to be struck by all the laws and all hardships. As a rickshaw driver, Shoko's only dependence is on that good body.
However, after Shoko married Tiger Girl, not only did she have to work hard to pull the car during the day, but she also had to spend a lot of energy at night, so her body soon became overwhelmed. Lao She does not write directly in the novel, but tells us how Shoko's body was destroyed through many side details.
In the sixteenth chapter of "Camel Xiangzi", the tall coachman uses his own bitter lesson to explain the harm of conjugal life to the coachman:
I tell you a truth, do our business, don't start a family, really! Once a family, black sky and white day are not idle, finish playing! Look at my waist, whole, not a little bit of lively softness! Or don't run tight, cough when you bite your teeth, and your heart is full of spicy artemisia! Needless to say, those who do this line of work will have to fight a single stick for a lifetime!
Shoko listened to the tall coachman's words, and nodded without speaking. In fact, Shoko has a deep understanding of this, because all this experienced by the tall coachman, Shoko is also experiencing. Every day he was tired and tired outside pulling the car, and Tiger Lady was eating snacks at home and waiting for him to come home!
Shoko feels like a cow raised by a tiger girl, providing him with good food and good food every day, and waiting until he is fattened and milked out. Shoko hated this life very much and worried about her body, after all, the body was everything. However, no matter how hard Shoko tries, he can't do it without touching Tiger Girl, and Tiger Girl is really pregnant with Shoko's flesh and bones.
Married life is a complete torture for Shoko, and Tiger Girl is a complete demon for Shoko. In this regard, Lao She wrote in the novel: Xiangzi originally wanted to collect the car and not pull it, but simply did not have the courage to go home; the family was not a wife, but a blood-sucking goblin!
The so-called "blood-sucking goblin" alludes to things that are very clear, and reflect the perverted needs of tiger girls in that regard. Therefore, Shoko has a very strong hatred for Tiger Girl. In the novel, it is written that he was eager to pinch her neck with both hands, pinch! pinch! pinch!
Of course, Shoko only thinks like this, and has no idea of putting it into action at all. As a result, Shoko's body deteriorated day by day. Shoko, who had never been sick, fell ill after a rain. This was a very big blow to Shoko, because it meant that his iron body was no longer there.
After losing the only reliance on "good body", Shoko's spirit suffered great damage. Shoko is a very simple person, and the only thing he believes in is his own body. All his dreams, all the supports of his life, are based on good health. In other words, the body is both Shoko's capital and his belief. It is precisely because Shoko's thinking is so simple that his destruction is even more heart-wrenching.
Tiger Girl died in childbirth, although Shoko regained her freedom. But at this time, Xiangzi is no longer the strong, sunny, confident, and simple Xiangzi before being seduced by the tiger girl. Not only was his body inferior to that of before, but his spirit was already overwhelmed.
Since then, Shoko has been infected with the vices of other coachmen and has completely embarked on the road to destruction. And on the road of destruction, XiaoFuzi and Mrs. Xia, two beautiful women, played an extremely important role.
Little Fukuko
Third, the beautiful Mrs. Xia infects Xiangzi, and the departure of Xiaofuzi makes Xiangzi completely desperate
After Tiger Girl died in childbirth, Shoko still pulled the car, but she was not as desperate as before. After pulling for a while, Shoko found a job to pull a bag moon, which was cleaner than the house door she had mixed before.
The new owner of Xiangzi is named Mr. Xia, who is more than fifty years old, short and thin, because he has married a new aunt and secretly settled a new home near the Lama Temple. Mrs. Xia was in her early twenties, originally a prostitute, very beautiful, wearing Aya silk satin and rubbing perfume powder.
For Shoko, Mrs. Xia was a woman who terrified him even more. Because Mrs. Xia is not only beautiful, but also very beautifully dressed, she has a huge attraction to Shoko. In the novel, it is written that he only thinks that she is a little scary, as terrible as a tiger girl. However, Tiger Lady was not as young as she was, not as beautiful as she was; so Shoko was more afraid of her, as if she carried in her all the strength and viciousness of all the women he had tasted.
The so-called "female strength and viciousness" is actually the matter between women and men. Lao She made a very detailed description of Xiangzi's complex psychology in the novel, and Xiangzi did not dare to look at her, but wanted to see her. In particular, the smell of perfume on her body always flows strongly into Shoko's nose, seemingly telling Shoko that she must look at her, just like fragrant flowers to tease bees and butterflies.
Changing to Shoko two years ago, she would definitely hide far away at such a moment. But today's Xiangzi is the Xiangzi after the "development" of tiger girls, and she can no longer restrain herself, and can only be led by desire. Shoko thought to herself, why don't you pick it up if you have a bargain in front of you? If she wanted to, she wouldn't refuse.
That simple Shoko is long gone, and at this time his heart is full of dirty thoughts, waiting for the opportunity. Mrs. Xia sent the old mother away from the trial work and asked Shoko to go to the market to buy chestnuts. After Shoko returns from buying chestnuts, Mrs. Xia tells Shoko to enter the house.
When Shoko entered the house, Mrs. Xia was wiping powder in the mirror, wearing pink sanitary gowns and light green underwear. Then Mrs. Xia turned and smiled at Shoko. Shoko saw the tiger girl from this smile, but not the old and ugly tiger girl, but a young and beautiful tiger girl. Next, Shoko fell completely.
Damn, Mrs. Xia was an unclean woman, and Shoko soon contracted that disease. Shoko didn't even feel ashamed of it, she didn't even take it seriously, just a little regret when she was in pain, but remembered that sweetness when she was comfortable.
Shoko lived like a walking dead for a while, but there was still the last hope in her heart, that is, Xiaofuzi. Kofukuko, a former neighbor of Shoko, was sold to an officer by her father at the age of 19, but was unfortunately abandoned by the officer. In order to support her two younger brothers and her alcoholic father, Xiaofuzi is forced to sell her body in the same place as Tiger Girl's room. Of course, Tiger Girl is charged for the room.
Although Shoko knows what Xiaofuzi makes a living for, she does not despise Xiaofuzi because of this, but regards her as a bitter and self-reliant person, and has a true feeling for Xiaofuzi. Xiaofuzi is also interested in Shoko, especially after the death of Tiger Girl, and she is eager to be with Shoko. But Shoko is afraid of being entangled in the family, after all, she has two younger brothers and an alcoholic father, so she chooses to leave.
However, when Shoko walked around outside and wanted to go back to find Xiaofuzi, she found that Xiaofuzi had died. It turned out that after Shoko left, Xiaofuzi went to work in the "White House" (Qinglou Place), but chose to hang herself because she was overwhelmed. The death of Xiaofuzi made Shoko completely desperate, and he thought:
There was nothing left, and even Xiao Fuzi was buried! He wants to be strong, XiaoFuzi is going to be strong, but... Buried in the chaotic death post, this is the end of the end of the effort... Man has lifted himself out of the beasts, but until now man has expelled his kind from the beasts.
Shoko had completely fallen, completely stepped into the ranks of beasts. Smoking, drinking, visiting the kiln, the more idle the lazier, the lazier and the more temperamental, desperately trying to take advantage of the small, walking dead like a living dead to get by.
Write at the end:
Shoko's destruction process is extremely shocking, not only because of the cruelty of the times, but also because Shoko is a living and real person. Shoko did not suddenly fall from a hero to a villain, but a little bit eroded by desire, perhaps this is the most shocking, the most real and moving. Time can still make us feel empathy today.
Of course, Lao She also seems to exaggerate the harm of "sex", not writing about its positive effects, only writing about negative effects. The female characters in "Camel Shoko" have become the opposite of Shoko and become the harmful "goblins". The only small blessing that could have a positive effect became the last straw that crushed Shoko. Ending like this also seems a bit hasty.
I wonder what everyone thinks about the novel "Camel Shoko"? Thank you for reading, welcome to exchange!