"My friend Sancho, freedom is one of man's most precious possessions. Whoever can get a piece of bread given by God, without having to thank others for this bread, will be happy! "
--Don Gigadd
Speaking of Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev, it is easy to think of his famous "Hunter's Notes", perhaps with a similar "history", and the "struggle" caused by serfdom and feudalism always has the similarity of indomitable resistance, so it is natural to be welcomed.
Turgenev, who was born in 1818, was one of the few Russians of his time to receive a "perfect" European education.
Imperceptibly, not only the "brave" qualities of traditional Russian thought, but also the influence of the "Decembrists" uncle, "reform" and "freedom" ideas, after merging with each other, make his "blood" full of "alienation", or "emotions" that are incompatible with the times.
Turgenev, who is in a "special class", is born with an expression full of "artistic cells", if you want to force it in terms of subject matter, his works are as attractive as "beautiful" prose, which covers all human emotions and emotions, which are so frank and to the point.
Even if the times and "identity" limit him, "can only" be confined to a superior "high place", see everything, understand everything, so in his pen, "can only" see some educated (progressive) people, this way of writing always focusing on the subtle corners, always throughout his literary career.
As in this Rothing, the general general summary given to it is:
Born into a dilapidated aristocratic family, Luo Ting received a university education and traveled abroad, loved freedom, was able to speak well, and longed for the pursuit of ideal life, career and love.
But he is "a giant of language, a dwarf of action", although he pursues many attempts, but he has repeatedly failed and achieved nothing.
He wins the heart of the simple and kind girl Natalia, but succumbs to the will of Natalia's mother and gives up happiness. Later, he started various businesses, but all of them ended in failure. Since then, he has lived a life of poverty and wandering.
Even in 1860, the author Turgenev "sublimated" Rotin: "He was later killed in the Battle of Paris in 1848, and he died holding a red flag in his hand. "
But for most readers and critics, this is still a person who thinks very highly of himself but only talks on paper, and ends up in poverty. Perhaps irony, or perhaps a warning, in short, as a synonym for "giant of language, dwarf of action", it always seems a little revealing.
But if you really read "Luo Ting" in depth, you will find that even if the appearance of Luo Ting on the surface is like the above, in fact, he is indeed in action, but he has repeatedly lost and fought, and he is not tired, if he only looks at it as a short man in action, how can he do so many things?
Perhaps this has to start with Luo Ting's "life".
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > naïve "tongue war master" who waits to be sold</h1>
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the "paradoxical reality" of the ideal path of the "poor student"</h1>
From 1847 to 1852, Turgenev was arrested and exiled by the authorities for writing works bashing serfdom.
So four years later, he came back and began to look for another way to expose social reality, so he started from himself and sharply and deeply integrated the strengths and weaknesses of the Russian progressive aristocratic intellectuals of the 40s, like him, into a story of "Rotting", unfolding what he thought and thought.
Although Luo Ting in the story was born into a down-and-out aristocratic family, he was well educated and influenced by the important trends of thought in the philosophical thought of the time, and had a high aesthetic accomplishment;
He believed in science, cared about the great social problems of the whole world, pursued lofty goals in life and had the determination to fight for ideals; he was passionate, quick-witted, eloquent, and contagious and attractive.
So he was raised by the "nobles" as a "symbol of status" and hung on the curtain for people to "enjoy".
Stills from "Rotting"
It is reasonable to say that such an outstanding "talent", the ladies favor him for his mouth but there is no lack of speculative talent, the teenagers are also infected by his surging passion from the inside out, why is it regarded as a "well-spoken ornament"?
Without him, just like some people in reality, or you and me, the "fast freedom" of thinking is destined to make us like fantasies, and the birth of any idea is like an uncontrolled "wild horse", one after another, one after another, and it will not blow its power, just need to "let go".
And well-educated, as well as modern people who are wrapped up in the Internet, see, hear, and "learn" too much, and have a variety of "opportunity" blessings, such as speeches, etc., will want to express one by one, just like Luo Ting, even if they are down, Ren is "appreciated" because of his eloquence and is held.
However, the reality of the limitations of the times is that what was really needed in that era was a "practitioner", a leader who could truly lead people out of the predicament and towards the "truth".
Therefore, like Luo Ting, he has extraordinary talents and talents, but he will not correctly apply these, put them into struggle and practice, becoming a "giant of language, a dwarf of action", and more importantly, Luo Ting lacks the necessary conditions to reach the peak of "ideals" - perseverance.
Yes, in any era, there is no shortage of truly talented people, let alone characters like good luck from heaven, but there is always a lack of "ordinary" people who "go all the way to black", always towards the goal, and have perseverance (character, mentality).
It is said that the era is a reincarnation, so 164 years ago, the depiction of the "Luo Ting" style of eye is low, only on paper ideal martyrs, into the modern also well-educated, accept the contemporary "knowledge changes destiny" trend of thought, for which "think" to work hard, the eyes are low, the eyes are low.
In the 19th century farm, Luo Ting was full of spirit, thinking that with his ingenuity and great blueprint for design in his mind, he could make the farm prosperous and become a beautiful, rich "manor".
But he did not realize that he had not even read a few "agricultural books", let alone had rich practical experience, so his ideals were shattered, he was slapped hard by reality, and finally he was swept out of the house.
Next, Luo Ting, who once again "stood up" in the blow, began to have "great love" and tried to do some "big things" for the country and the people, such as dredging the river channel, so as to benefit the "people" on one side.
Similarly, the brain turns, combined with the "knowledge in the book", full of ambition began to be with friends with the same disease, began to run to the "dream road" of success and fame, but the reality still did not show any mercy, cold not only made them think of a ball, kicked around by the relevant departments, but also tossed with nothing.
Therefore, the real situation is that Luo Ting's so-called "attempts", or the "ideal path" of "reform", are, in the final analysis, nothing more than whimsical "imaginary practices".
Lack of strong practical support, but also rarely have real and reliable theoretical support, failure is doomed, natural, but also useless, so this kind of "talking about the sky, doing nothing" Luo Ting, naturally became a typical "superfluous person", a bright "truth" martyr.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > succumbing to reality's "love", bookish "career"</h1>
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > why do you always think of saying it, but you can't do it? </h1>
"I am primarily a realist; I am most interested in the vivid and lively reality of man's face. An accurate and powerful representation of the truth of life is the author's highest happiness, even if this truth does not correspond to his personal affection. "
- Turgenev
Many times, in Turgenev's works, love is depicted in great color, although it is always vivid and meaningful, but it always lacks a kind of beauty and vitality, even if it seems so natural and pure at the beginning.
But the final ending and the process, etc., all of them are towards the end of tragedy, perhaps because of the shackles of that era, so that men and women can only succumb to the cruelty of reality, or perhaps their own life of unmarried and tortuous experience, the women who seem to be favored in the pen are finally defeated by reality, and the end is desolate.
Therefore, the noble lady in the story of "Luo Ting", who was impressed by Luo Ting's eloquence and infectious performance, was well aware of the obstacles of the family, so she decided to leave with Luo Ting.
Unexpectedly, hidden in the character, weak, unwilling to take responsibility, paying a price, false benevolence and false righteousness, Luo Ting, with the reason of "hurting the heart of the family" and sounding like a good, rejected the noble lady.
The "first threshold" designed by the author Turgenev seems to be talking about love, but in fact, it is ironic like Rotting, this kind of "poor bookworm" who only relies on books and the knowledge of "others", as Leznev commented:
"Rothin's thoughts did not grow out of his own brain, he only plagiarized the thoughts of others, which were originally the crystallization of thoughts on life, but in Rothing's place they were always just flashy empty talk or dogma."
In fact, the most interesting thing is that he was hit by reality to the point of being exhausted, and finally seemed to wake up, began to compromise, and prepared to "kneel" to accept the fate of Luo Ting, choose to choose, seemingly lowered the "ideal" of serving the country and the people, and turned to be a teaching gentleman, thinking, with his own talent, teaching students is more than enough, or a piece of merit.
Unexpectedly, it is this superficial self-righteousness, habitual theory to analyze the problem and then "knead" it, so that he will only talk in the classroom as before, but without touching the "practical knowledge" that students need most.
Thus, another failure became inevitable.
In fact, in Luo Ting's body, what is refracted is not only a kind of "poor student" who can only talk on paper like a book business, but also a dead brain, digging deeper, you will find that the flaws in his personality, such as the lack of perseverance, are his biggest stumbling blocks.
Of course, the stubbornness embodied in intellectuals, more or less, is also shackled to his growth, and he will not play tricks and calculate carefully, which is unrealistic that he is difficult to "avoid".
Just like you and me in modern times, many times, in addition to the limitations of the times and the overall situation, it is still always possible to think, say, but always difficult to insist on not being able to do, the grand blueprint painted in the heart.
If the weakness of character, the lack of knowledge, and the low level of vision are overcome, then Can Roting successfully go down the ideal path?
No, it still doesn't work, it's not about whitewashing "ordinary people" like you and me, but the reality is that the "majority" who are born with little power and wealth will find it difficult to succeed even if they overcome everything, and eventually kneel under reality, or give in, or be defeated.
In fact, from the other side, the "enthusiasm" that always burns in Luo Ting's body still has a positive side, after all, for most people, when facing the choice of reality and ideals, once or twice can bear the cost of failure, and if it continues to fail, most of them choose to admit it.
Yes, it's not easy to accept your ordinariness, but most of the time, it's so simple that it only takes a small failure, like losing a "great" job.
Why do we think, say, and can't?
Turgenev tells us in "Rotin" that he does not dare to bear the cost of failure.
Yes, maybe Luo Tingren is a "superfluous person" with a high eye.
But at least his martyr spirit of never yielding, never compromising, never being smoothed out by life, and being willing to pay a terrible price for it is worthy of our respect.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > written at the end:</h1>
Perhaps Turgenev's original intention and the evaluations of later generations regard the meaning of "Rotin" as "superfluous people", as "giants of language, dwarfs of action", but it is still commendable to reflect the spirit of indomitable attempts.
Now we live too "carefully", dare not try, think, say, but always dare not do, afraid of failure, afraid of nothing.
But, such a choice, is it really good...
I hope that this "Luo Ting" can also bring you a different reading feeling.