Marriage does not represent love, but without marriage, love will face various changes.
Marriage is not the graveyard of love, but the social security of love. Love without the blessing of marriage is like a body without antibodies, which will be infected and invaded at any time, and can never be pure and maintained.
The love between Shen Shijun and Gu Manzhen in Zhang Ailing's novel "Half Life" is like this.
Although Zhang Ailing claims that "How Much Hate" is the most satisfactory of her popular novels, the popularity of the half-life is many times stronger than "How Much Hate". Popular novels emphasize the complexity of the plot, the richness of the characters, and the purpose of pleasing the public, "Half Life" is full of love entanglements between Gu Manzhen and Shen Shijun, Zhang Yujin, zhu Hongcai, the love entanglement between Shi Cuizhi and Xu Shuhui, Shen Shijun, and Fang Yipeng, the family entanglement between Gu Manlu and Zhu Hongcai and Gu Manzhen, and so on.
The complexity of its plot and the intricacies of the relationship between the characters are a very special and unique one among Zhang Ailing's many novels. Although this novel is based on the American "Mr. Puhan", the novel reflects the flavor of the Republic of China and the special Chinese culture everywhere.
Not only is the plot of the novel complex, but the final ending is really intriguing.
If you don't look at the plot behind, from the beginning of the novel alone, Shen Shijun should finally come together with Gu Manzhen, and the whole novel seems to be recalling the sweetness and ups and downs of the past. But from the end, the two seem to have experienced vicissitudes and feel that everything cannot go back to the past. Whether the lives of the two of them will continue to intersect in the future, or will be far away from them from now on, is left to the reader's imagination.
Shen Shijun and Gu Manzhen came together because they worked in a unit and had a common friend Shu Hui, everything seemed so smooth, but the result was more and more misunderstandings and accidents due to the delay in getting married, and finally one married another woman, and one was forcibly possessed by other men and suffered.
In fact, these accidents can be completely avoided, only because of Gu Manzhen's naïve ideas and ignorant concepts, the two went farther and farther. Many people regard Gu Manzhen's tragedy as a victim of society and family, and do not know that the fundamental source of all this is actually herself.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" > childish idea one: wait for the younger siblings in the family to grow up before getting married, that is, more than ten years later</h1>
Gu Manzhen's family is a family on the upper floor. When her father was alive, the family of seven or eight people, three generations of grandchildren, lived on her father's salary, although not very good, but not particularly bad.
Later, when her father died, Gu Manzhen's sister Manlu had to go out as a dancer and buy a house in downtown Shanghai. Although the house was not very large, it was much stronger than many people at that time. There is a place to live, and there is a sister's income to maintain, and Man Zhen has also gone out to work, family life is actually OK. Although her sister's profession is not very popular, although Man Zhen's income is not very high.
Later, when Man Lu wanted to get married and leave the family, Man Zhen took up the burden and took charge of the family's expenses. Her current job is not very well paid, so she found another job after work, working double jobs. Her love affair with Shen Shijun began during the transitional period of her family.
Shen Shijun and Gu Manzhen ate together at the beginning, and then Shen Shijun went to Man Zhen's house every night to invite her to watch a movie, and the interaction between the two became more and more frequent, and Gu Manzhen's family here had already accepted him. In this way, the two fell in love for more than two years.
Not to mention that at that time, that is, in modern society, men and women who had already worked rarely fell in love for such a long time. A year or so has been enough to understand each other's temperament, each other's family, and the intentions of both parties to each other, and has reached the point of talking about marriage. Shen Shijun and Gu Manzhen have been dragging like this.
The reason for this situation is that Gu Manzhen told Shen Shijun that she would wait for her younger siblings to grow up and go to school and work before getting married. What a ridiculous idea.
At that time, her younger siblings were only about eight or nine years old, and when they grew up, they would not be more than ten years old. And what about when they grow up, later they are older, and Old Lady Shen is not still the same and no one is willing to raise them. What good was it for her brothers to grow up? Do you have to wait until after the old lady has died before getting married?
Although this is an afterthought, it is necessary to wait for more than ten years to get married, and individuals understand that this is unreasonable. Gu Manzhen is now in his twenties, and after more than ten years, he is almost forty.
Some people say that Gu Manzhen lacks social experience, and this kind of thinking does not need any social experience at all to figure it out is wrong. When she made this claim, the two had been dating for more than two years. Not only did Shen Shijun feel that it was difficult to accept, but even her mother, Mrs. Gu, could not accept it. Even so, Shen Shijun was a very good character, and he still did not choose to give up Gu Manzhen. If they had married early, the next series of things would not have happened.
First, the appearance of Zhang Yujin.
Zhang Yujin is her sister's original fiancé and a distant relative of Gu Manzhen. Later, Man Lu took the initiative to withdraw from the marriage contract with Zhang Yujin because she was a dancer. But Zhang Yujin has never been married.
Although he was engaged to his sister Man Lu, he came to Shanghai this time and temporarily lived in Man Zhen's house, but found that what he really liked was actually Man Zhen.
Because of the appearance of Zhang Yujin, there was a gap between Shen Shijun and Gu Manzhen. Her family showed hostility towards Shen Shijun, Zhang Yujin and Man Zhen made some ambiguous behaviors, and it was impossible for Shen Shijun not to be careful. From this time on, the relationship between the two began to have various misunderstandings.
Later, Shen Shijun slammed the door and left angrily, and he also had a great relationship with Zhang Yujin. Even Shen Shijun could not see Gu Manzhen, and thought that she was married to Zhang Yujin, so she completely died of heart.
Secondly, Shen Shijun's father was seriously ill, and he had to give up his job in Shanghai and return home to inherit his father's fur business. The two are far apart, many things can not be heard in time, and they cannot see each other several times a month. The maintenance of feelings began to become somewhat difficult.
The third is that Shen Shijun's uncle met Man Lu in the dance hall, and he recognized Man Zhen and Man Lu as a family. This made the Shen family make the most malicious guess about Gu Manzhen. They felt that Gu Manzhen would sooner or later follow his sister's path, so that girls from people's families could not be pure, and would only change various methods to deceive men of money. This made it really difficult for the Shen family to accept Gu Manzhen.
Fourth, in order to tie the heart of her husband Zhu Hongcai, Man Lu decided to pull her sister Man Zhen into the water and make her her her husband's new aunt. So there was a tragedy of Gu Manzhen being forced to bow and imprisoned by the overlord later.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="5" > childish idea two: when you get married, you break off your relationship with your mother's family and cannot help your family</h1>
In Gu Manzhen's mind, as long as they are married, they have severed ties with their mothers, brothers and sisters, and they cannot come up with money to help them. This is the same as the current girl's family, try to die for the bride price money, but also come up with what is not easy to support the daughter, these money as an excuse for pension expenses and the like. Many girls think the same way.
From ancient times to the present, after a woman gets married, it is not uncommon to go all out to help her mother's family. In ancient times, the emperor's foreign relatives were all maternal families, and after the emperor married a concubine, his father-in-law's family was the party who benefited the most. There is no official, rich businessman who is not so. Not only is it the benefit of power, work, etc., but it is even more common to directly take out money to help the mother's family.
For example, in Zhang Ailing's novel "The Golden Lock", Every time Cao Qiqiao's brother and sister-in-law came, they were brought back in large bags, and there were many things such as gold rings, gold ear scoops, satin, clothes, money and so on.
Although Shen Shijun is an ordinary engineer in Shanghai and his income is not high, his family is very wealthy. The family was in the fur business, his father had a mansion, and he even married his aunt. His father also repeatedly asked him to inherit the family business. For such a large family, a little money is more than the money for the two jobs that Gu Manzhen did.
Not only did she do this herself, but she also insisted on not wanting her sister's money, saying that her sister's money was not clean. When her sister was a dancer, they all still lived with her money, and now they are going to be an aunt, but the money has become unclean. In the Republic of China, officials or rich people marrying aunts and wives is the same as marrying concubines in ancient times, which is a normal social custom. There was also no monogamy at the time. I don't know why Gu Manzhen has such thoughts?
This thought and the first thought reflect each other, and become cause and effect.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > childish idea three: insist on staying in Shanghai, not going to Nanjing</h1>
Shen Shijun was originally from Nanjing. Later, his father became seriously ill and hurriedly asked Shen Shijun to return to Nanjing. Later, although his father survived, Shen Shijun also had to stay in Nanjing to inherit the family's business because of his father. He had mentioned to Gu Manzhen that she should come to Nanjing, but was rejected.
In fact, Gu Manzhen was originally from Lu'an, and Shanghai was not her hometown. Moreover, her work in Shanghai is only a company employee, and there is no such thing as ideals or ideals. Her younger siblings and mother did not have jobs, and they were only at home every day. Shanghai, for her, is a guest house in itself. In Shanghai, or in Nanjing, there was really no difference to her. The only difference is that Shanghai is more developed than Nanjing.
In Gu Manzhen's heart, there may still be this bit of vanity.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > childish idea four: Gu Manzhen appreciates Shen Shijun's pursuit of his ideals</h1>
Shen Shijun did not want to inherit the family's business, so he went out alone to study university, study engineering, and work in Shanghai. Gu Manzhen was very appreciative of his courage and ambition when she met him, which was one of the important reasons why she began to like him. In fact, at that time, China's mechanical engineering and other industries were not developed, Shen Shijun was no matter how hard he tried, and he wanted to achieve success not overnight.
At the beginning of the novel, it is also explained that he is doing this department in the factory today and that department tomorrow, and his experience has accumulated a lot, but his salary and achievements are not much. Even if the two have been in love for two years, Shen Shijun's situation has not changed at all. Not to mention whether he can achieve his ideals, even if he can, he does not know how many years later. Ideals belong to ideals, and reality returns to reality.
At that time, Shen Shijun had to go home to inherit the business because of his father's illness, and he himself was worried about being looked down upon by Gu Manzhen, and Gu Manzhen was indeed a little disappointed in him.
In fact, if you think from another position, Gu Manzhen cares so much about his family, why can't Shen Shijun care about the thoughts of his family, and can't go home to take care of the elderly? She couldn't do it herself in a completely idealized life, and asked others to do it, which was really embarrassing for others. It's also an obstacle between the two.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="8" > childish idea five: She thinks that although her sister Manlu is a dancer, her moral character is very noble</h1>
After the death of her father, her sister Gu Manlu resolutely took up the burden of the family and went to the dance hall as a dancer at a young age to support her younger siblings to go to school and earn an income from the family. From this point of view, Manlu is indeed very responsible. But Gu Manzhen forgot a little, near Zhu is red, close to ink is black. People's values have actually been changing with the changes in the living environment, and they are not set in stone.
When Man Lu went to be a dancer, she was indeed very pure and simple, but how could she have been kind and simple for a long time living in such a filthy environment?
Dancers say that it is better to be called dancers, and it is not good to listen to them to work in the Qinglou, and there is actually no difference between the work of the two. What kind of upright and kind man is there in a man who can come to such a place?
Gu Manzhen has always felt that it was this society that forced her sister to embark on this road.
In fact, how did society force her? After her sister got married, Gu Manzhen faced a situation similar to that faced by her sister at that time, and she did not choose to become a dancer. It was her family that persecuted them, and with her own choices, what did it have to do with society? In fact, her mother and younger siblings can completely return to their hometown to live, there is really no need to live in Shanghai. At a time when prices were soaring, the cost of living in Shanghai was too high.
Later, after Man Lu killed Gu Manzhen, the Gu family did not return to their hometown to live, nor did they see any pressure. And her mother is about forty years old, nestled at home every day, sitting on its success, doing nothing, and did not think of sharing some pressure for the family.
Man lu has been with some social scoundrels for a long time, and her values have long been distorted. She also has a lot of resentment towards her family. She felt that she had sacrificed for her family, and the family should unconditionally make any sacrifices for themselves. There was no longer any moral boundary in her mind. Therefore, she will exchange her sister's body for her husband's idea of not fooling around outside, sacrificing her sister's life in exchange for her husband's loyalty.
Gu Manzhen and Shen Shijun finally quarreled because of Shen Shijun's opinion of Man Lu. She insisted that her sister was noble and should blame society and the men who approached them. Society has an opinion on this industry, it is true that it has its own reason, and it is not an empty and groundless slander.
She always believed in her sister, and even believed in zhu Hongcai, the brother-in-law who met her sister in the dance hall. Zhu Hongcai was originally a person who was active on the edge of the law and made money by various frauds and speculations. In Gu Manzhen's eyes, he has also become a trustworthy person.
Because of his views on his sister's industry, Gu Manzhen and Shen Shijun had the biggest quarrel since they knew each other. Subsequently, Gu Manzhen briefly severed relations with shen Shijun because of his dissatisfaction with Shen Shijun. Subsequently, she was tricked by her sister Manlu into going to the Zhu Mansion, forced to have a relationship by her drunken brother-in-law, and then locked up for more than a year.
In this year, Shen Shijun misunderstood that she had married someone else, and was discouraged and married cuizhi.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="10" > childish idea six: do not keep a distance from other men, have a misunderstanding and complain that the man does not trust himself</h1>
In fact, there were a lot of ambiguities between Gu Manzhen and Zhang Yujin. Gu Manzhen definitely has some hazy feelings for Zhang Yujin, and Zhang Yujin definitely likes her. No wonder Shen Shijun would misunderstand, Gu Manzhen did not deliberately maintain a distance from Zhang Yujin.
Of course, Gu Manzhen still prefers Shen Shijun. But as a man, it is impossible to feel comfortable seeing your girlfriend stay ambiguous with other men. When Gu Manzhen learned of Shen Shijun's thoughts, he complained that he did not believe himself. Not only does it not explain, but it also deliberately shows coldness.
Later, Shen Shijun could not find her trace, and learned the news of Zhang Yujin's marriage, and anyone would have the idea of marrying behind their backs. Shen Shijun's discouragement and pain can be imagined. Gu Manzhen gave Shen Shijun room for misunderstanding, which undoubtedly harmed himself.
There must be something hateful about the poor. Many times we always evaluate people or things based on results as the evaluation criterion, which is obviously very one-sided.
In "Half Life", Gu Manzhen gives people the impression of a simple, sunny big girl. But every decision she made was undoubtedly not pushing herself into the abyss step by step.
Tragedies always need opportunities, and this opportunity was created by Gu Manzhen himself. It is useless to complain about society and others, in fact, the most important thing to reflect on should be herself.