On the Causes of the Tragedy in Border Town

? Content abstract: In Xiangxi Tea Tong in Border Town, everyone is warm and simple, and everyone has the legacy of the old gentleman. "Everything is extremely orderly and the people are happy." There are all kinds of people living in Border Town. They all live truly and vividly, forming an almost complete ideal society. All people are kind and sincere to others, without the hypocrisy, filth, cunning and selfishness of urban civilization. However, the story here is a tragedy unfolded by love. What caused the tragedy of Border Town?

Keywords: border town, tragedy

First, the creative background of Border Town

(1) Introduction to the author

1. Life

Shen Congwen (1902- 1988), male, formerly known as Shen Yuehuan, whose pen names are Xiu,, Shangguanbi, Xuanruo, etc. His ancestral home is Maolin, a native of Fenghuang, Hunan, a famous writer and researcher of historical relics in China.

2. Language style

Shen Congwen's writing style tends to romanticism, which requires the poetic effect of novels, the integration of realism, dreams and symbols, and the simple language style.

The sentence pattern is simple and steep, with prominent trunk, simple and heavy, concise and vivid, with strong local color, which highlights the unique charm and spirit of rural humanity. Shen Congwen's rural novels are typical rural cultural novels, which not only contrast with the "modern civilization" of the city as a whole, but also always pay attention to the lifestyle, life footprint and historical destiny of rural people stipulated by the collision of different cultures in the modern transformation process of Xiangxi world. The whole work is full of hidden worries and philosophical thinking about life, just like his real and tenacious life, which gives people lessons and enlightenment.

(B) the background of the times

Border town is written in 193 1. 193 1 year, although the society is turbulent, it is still slightly peaceful on the whole. At this time, China's conscientious literati were thinking about the essence of human nature, and Shen Congwen was naturally at the forefront. Therefore, he hopes to describe a small town in Xiangxi similar to the Peach Blossom Garden through his own impression of Xiangxi, and point out a bright road for the confused humanity in urban civilization. There is still pure and natural love in the world, and life needs to convert to the nature of nature.

(C) Creative motivation

? When talking about the creative motivation of Border Town, Shen Congwen once said: "I am a person who has no faith in everything and only believes in life." In many articles, he showed his affirmation of vitality and his criticism of meaningless life process. He constantly explored his beliefs and beloved life, and found that only Xiangxi people's life is bold and lively, and there is absolutely no slowness. Life here does not know death, death is life, life is death, and life is life and death. This is the ultimate direction of the life ideal pursued by the author in Border Town, which is expressed by describing the vivid images of Xiangxi people.

? Shen Congwen once explained the creative motivation of Border Town as follows: "What I want to show is a life form, a beautiful, healthy and human life form. My idea is not to lead readers to travel to Taoyuan, but to take advantage of the fact that when several stupid men and ordinary people in a small city in the Youshui River Basin are implicated in a place by an ordinary person, everyone deserves a share of sadness and joy, which is a proper explanation of the word "great love on earth." Indeed, the people in the story, whether the protagonist, supporting actor or peddler, all have the integrity, simplicity, kindness and beauty of human nature praised and pursued by Shen Congwen. The old boatman is honest and generous, Cui Cui is naive and lively, smooth and generous, and the two brothers are generous and open-minded and kind to their loved ones. Shen Congwen's description of the customs of the border town also uses a warm style. But I'm afraid everyone who has finished reading Border Town will sigh: Who is responsible for this tragedy?

? Shen Congwen was born and raised in Xiangxi. He is full of strong and passionate love for this land, and he tries his best to show the world. However, there is no real "Xanadu" in the world. Even a simple and agile area like Xiangxi still contains many unsatisfactory stories: the death of an old captain, Cui Cui and unsuccessful love. Cui Cui's mother is like this, and so is Cui Cui. In the small town of Xiangxi, in the tea cave by the water, in this quiet and beautiful place, this faint love tragedy is repeated from generation to generation.

The most striking and touching convenience of Border Town is that its beauty is so leisurely and desirable. In the end, the irreversible situation went to tragedy.

Second, the tragedy in Border Town

1) Cui Cui's mother and father.

Cui Cui's parents are familiar with each other, love each other, and "secretly gave birth to a child". I can't violate the responsibility of a soldier and leave my lonely father to "run downstream together." The father took the poison first, and the mother was ashamed and pitied. After giving birth to Cui Cui, she deliberately went to the stream to drink a lot of cold water, and then died. Later, the story of Cui Cui's parents repeatedly appeared in the old boatman's mind, and gradually strengthened until it became a premonition of fate. "Seeing that Cui Cui is more and more like her mother, I can't help but think of old things"; "I have a dull pain in my heart, but I just smile"; He vaguely felt that Cui Cui loved her parents, "a little sad, because he suddenly felt that Cui Cui was all like that mother, and vaguely felt that the mother and daughter had the same fate." Repeated memories and constant reinforcement make the tragedy more and more intense, revealing ominous and sadness.

Gradually, Cui Cui felt something in her heart. Grandpa talked about "mother's cleverness" and "tough character", and she was "fascinated". "I asked a lot of stories about the poor mother" and "It seems that something is weighing on my mind", but I can't get rid of it.

(2) the old boatman and Cui Cui and Cui Cui's mother.

The old boatman was loyal and stubborn all his life, never greedy for petty gain. He is a simple representative of the working people in this land. He served the people all his life, and he also loved his daughter and granddaughter. But the death of his daughter and Cui Cui's love have been bothering the old man. He tried his best to give his daughter and granddaughter the best, hoping that they would be happy, but in the end he didn't get a satisfactory ending and died alone on a stormy night.

(3) Shun Shun family

? Smooth and generous, willing to make friends, generous and can save lives. He wanted his sons to get the love they wanted, but he blamed the old boatman for Tianbao's death. Then I think Jeannot got the dowry from the mill, but Jeannot left home alone because of guilt.

? Tianbao and Nuo sent away two brothers and fell in love with the same person by mistake. God is generous in nature, knowing that he has been defeated, and he is generous enough to help his brother. He went to the beach and was accidentally killed. It can be said that he died for love and for love.

? Northong is kind-hearted and despises powerful people. He fell in love with Cui Cui at first sight and was not seduced by the mill that Wang Tuan had been married to. But he also values family ties. Finally, give up everything and fly away.

? The two brothers didn't turn against each other, on the contrary, they played a "game" aboveboard. However, the farewell won, but it ended in a sad ending of death and flight.

(4) Cui Cui and Nuosong, natural forest protection.

? At Xiaoxi Ferry, the old boatman and his granddaughter Cui Cui live alone. The boatman's sons, Tianbao and Nuosong, are brave and capable, and they are also very kind to their relatives. Both brothers fell in love with Cui Cui. Cui Cui doesn't like the protection of natural forests, but loves to develop. Shun Shun asked people to ask for relatives and friends for Tianbao, but the old boatman was afraid of being wronged by Cui Cui. Tianbao blamed the old boatman for "entanglement", and because he knew how to send Ai Cui Cui, he went ashore with the boat and drowned. When the old boatman understood that Cui Cui loved to send Nuo, and then went to Shun Shun and Nuo to send it, he was left out in the cold because of natural protection, which caused misunderstanding. Nuosong, because his brother died, because he couldn't get Cui Cui's attention and his father asked him to marry Wang Tuan's daughter, also sailed angrily. On a thunderstorm night, the old boatman died, leaving Cui Cui alone to watch the ferry and wait for the young people singing under the moon. But in winter, "the man" has not returned to the cave. ...

(5) The tragic implication of Chadong Mountain City in nature and personnel.

The tea cave "builds a city by mountains and water" and the river street "houses are equipped with diaojiao buildings". When the spring water rises, people on the river street "scold and shout, taking bags, bedding and rice jars from the ladder to the city" to avoid water; "If the water is particularly fierce in a certain year, one place and two places will be washed away by the flood, and everyone will stay in the city. People who have suffered losses also stare blankly, as if they have nothing to say about the loss, which is similar to seeing other irreparable misfortunes coming under natural arrangements. " In the face of misfortune, we can only "be in a daze"-experience, acquiescence and acceptance, and this is just one of "other irreparable misfortunes".

Tea cave prostitutes mostly rely on "businessmen for a living, and kindness is mostly in sailors." The sailors blew the whistle of "making odd marks" and "stopping singing" on the diaojiao building. Both sailors laughed. Behind "stop" and "laugh" is the sorrow of the conflict between soul and flesh, which is the sorrow of human nature. Because "the real folk bottom, human survival is the first."

"Death" seems very common, and the sadness of "death" covers the whole article. The death of Cui Cui's parents; The father of the singer prostitute was "killed"; Tianbao was drowned; The old boatman died of anxiety; In the flood, some women or children rushed down from the upstream, and some people were drowned. All this seems to have been "ignored" by people "present", which is a great sorrow!

Third, "Border Town" the cause of the tragedy

(1) Personality

Cui Cui 1

? "Cui Cui grew up in a windy day, with dark skin and clear eyes like crystal. Nature has nurtured her and educated her. She is innocent and lively, just like a small animal that can be seen everywhere. People are so good, like the yellow deer on the mountain, never consider cruelty, never worry, never get angry. Usually when a stranger pays attention to her on the ferry, she looks at the stranger with her eyes open and makes it look like she can escape into the mountains at any time, but after understanding the inorganic heart of people, she plays leisurely at the water's edge. "

? Cui Cui is lively and naive. Growing up in nature, I developed a gentle and shy temperament. This is her beauty and the cause of her tragedy. She is too shy to show anything. Grandpa instinctively resisted when he mentioned love, which led to the tragedy of seeing her and Tianbao off.

? In addition, Cui Cui grew up with the old boatman, carefree, the old boatman is in charge of everything, and she has no opinion about herself. Once you get rid of the old boatman, you will be at a loss and at a loss. She is very dependent on the old boatman, so she dare not make her own decisions on such an important matter as love. It was not until the old boatman died that she made her own decision, but it was too late.

Cui Cui never took the initiative to show his love, but the old boatman always pulled the strings. At the beginning, Tianbao ignored her pursuit because she didn't love it. There is a lovely person and a longing love in her heart. However, when faced with people with similar interests, they still avoid it, which is the reason of Cui Cui's character. Therefore, Cui Cui never showed subjectivity in the face of the person she loved, which fundamentally led to this love tragedy.

2. Old boatman

? The old boatman dedicated his life, loyal and stubborn all his life, and never took advantage of petty advantages. He is a simple representative of the working people in this land. He served the people all his life, and he also loved his daughter and granddaughter. But the death of his daughter and Cui Cui's love have been bothering the old man. He tried his best to give his daughter and granddaughter the best, so he hesitated to propose marriage. In fact, he just wanted to give Cui Cui the right to choose, but it also indirectly led to tragedy.

3. Tianbao Nuopai

? Some people may say that the root of the tragedy is that Tianbao and Nuosong brothers don't understand humility. However, if Nuo obeys filial piety again, accepts the wedding arranged by his father and gives his sweetheart to his brother, then the boat will always be smooth and the natural forest protection and the old boatman will be happy, but farewell to Nuo, including the daughter of the regiment general, will inevitably be unhappy. Although this is a happy ending, it still doesn't conform to the custom of men in western Hunan. It is also demanding to ask men in Xiangxi with Confucian ethics. Tianbao and Nuoge pursue Cui Cui with battle love songs, which conforms to the characters and is also the most distinctive behavior in Xiangxi.

(2) Customs and habits

In Shen Congwen's works, Xiangxi world is a closed world, and foreign culture is not easy to spread. People are generally xenophobic and very resistant to new things outside, so their strong feudal thoughts are deeply rooted and they think that everything is destiny. As Mr. Wang Baosheng said, "It's a bit like what the ship always said in the book,' Everything is life'. "The old boatman's view of Cui Cui's parents' love tragedy fully confirmed this point. In the old boatman's view, Cui Cui's mother abandoned her youngest son at home, and she should be responsible for the double suicide with the soldiers. He thinks there is a fate. For example, the old boatman went to the city to inquire about the news, and when he heard that the old man was flooded, he lamented God's will. All these are enough to show the old boatman's superstition of fate.

Due to the deep-rooted superstition in the hearts of the people in the border town, Shunshun and his son became indirect producers of tragedy. In the face of Tianbao's death, Shunshun's character became abnormal. He used to be generous, but now facing Tianbao's death, he thinks that Cui Cui and the old boatman indirectly killed the old man, which is a docile superstition. Let's talk about Nuosong again. Although he chose love in the face of money and love, he believed that Lao Chuan had an unshirkable responsibility for the death of Lao Lao. The reason why Nuosong has such an incredible guess is that superstitious destiny has covered his heart.

(C) The tragic significance of Border Town

/kloc-in the 1930s, in the tea cave, "the simple beauty of human nature in the rural society is almost disappearing", and what Shen Congwen saw was "the mercenary outlook on life successfully cultivated in the real society in the past two decades". Compared with the sadness of real society and life, the fresh and poetic description in Border Town is actually a hope of "resisting the decadent and terrible environment in front of us".

Shen Congwen calmly put the tragic implication in the beautiful and fresh natural scenery and the simple and kind human environment. "The fundamental significance is that when people live in harmony with nature, they can see a lofty prospect, so as to gain a sense of the meaning of life, instead of sticking to the shackles of vulgar reality: seriously, if this worry engulfs us, we can't see anything except the immediate disaster. So that we forget those better and nobler things, and the small interests in front of disasters and disasters will occupy us, make us degenerate, and make us fall into vulgar realism. "

The inscription on the border town wrote, "My readers should be rational", "They should be concerned about the social changes in China, and they should know the greatness of this nation in the past and its degeneration now", "Maybe I can give them courage and confidence!" Therefore, "Border Town" gives people not the sadness that is gone forever, but the anger, pursuit and hope in sadness-"That person may never come back, maybe' come back tomorrow! "

(D) the author's spiritual sustenance

When talking about the creation of Border Town, Shen Congwen said: "Writing some repressed dreams on paper will let my past painful struggles and the oppressed peasants' desire for love be vented and compensated in this unfortunate story." He constructed an idealized and perfect Xiangxi world in his novels, and endowed Cui Cui with the embodiment of "beauty". He described Cui Cui's love as the noblest and most poetic love beyond all worldly interests. Whether it is Xiangxi or Cui Cui, or the old boatman and Nuo Song, the description of them is Shen Congwen's spiritual sustenance in the face of reality. Shen Congwen showed his attitude towards money and fame in the perfect world of Xiangxi, and he wanted to pin his feelings in this way. This is also deeply affirmed by Yu Ling. He also said: "In Border Town, Shen Congwen not only wrote a love story, but also had a greater life sustenance." Through the interpretation of Border Town, we not only understand the promised love, but also understand Shen Congwen's endless sadness and helplessness behind those calm and peaceful realities. Therefore, Love in Border Town is not only a sad song, but also a spiritual sustenance of Shen Congwen.

(5) Summary

? There are two kinds of tragedies, one is man-made and the other is providence.

Mr. Lu Xun once said: "Tragedy is to destroy beautiful things for people to see." When commenting on Border Town, Mr. Li Jianwu said: "Although the authors' characters are all good, they themselves contain tragic elements. Only kindness can make it easier to feel the power of sadness. This kind of sadness comes not only from the progression of the plot, but also from the temperament of the characters. The calmer nature is, the sadder natural people are: greater fate affects their survival. This is almost a permanent principle of nature: sadness. "

? We can't blame anyone for the tragedy of Border Town. The author himself wants to write about the helplessness of this fate.

? In the rural society of China without foreign interference, there is a tragedy like Qian Qian. These tragedies are not so much pain and shock as calm and melancholy. There are not too many twists and turns, and there are no strange colors. They are the reflection of earthly life and mortal fate.

? Border Town reflects a historical microcosm of the social reality in old China, just like an old dusty photo mottled and discolored by years. The novel condensed the disastrous social panorama, covering the social economy, politics, culture and people's moral conditions at that time, and revealed the sufferings of the social riff-raff community and the confusion about fate and love-those humble and bitter love were crushed in the bud by doomed death, and finally only endless disappointment was left.

? As Mr. Shen Congwen said, "I will simply describe the worries of some small people in the process of change when this nation is heading for the unknowable fate brought by history, and the thoughts and desires of living and how to live because of insufficient nutrition."

? The tragic image of Border Town has a long-standing reputation in the world literary world. It can be said that Border Town is a brief history of love and death in the eastern countries.