In 1994, Zhang Yimou’s " is alive " won the Jury Award, the Best Actor Award and other awards at the 47th Cannes International Film Festival. Everyone said this was the best film ever shot by Zhang Yimou, but it was It was not released on the mainland.
Some people say that it is because the subject matter of "Alive" is too heavy and expresses the emotions and current situation of the world too strong. Compared with the movie,
, the original is more tragic.
Yu Hua pointed out in the English preface of "Alive": I heard an American folk song " old black slave ". In the song, the old black slave has experienced the suffering of his life, and his family has gone before him, but he still Treat the world friendly, without a word of complaint. This song deeply moved me, and I decided to write a novel like this, which is "Alive".
Fugui's experience is exactly the same as that of the old black slave. He has witnessed the changes and tragic life in China in the twentieth century. He has experienced the death of his loved ones one after another, but he still has the courage to live.
all say that Fugui has the will to "live", but I think his greatest confidence in life comes from his family, and all the strength of his life is given by his family.
01
his father taught him to take responsibility
Fukuki always said that what he did was in the same line as his father. When his father was young, he also loved to look for flowers and lose his family. .
He was obsessed with gambling and lost all his possessions.
thought that his father would fight him desperately, but he didn't expect his father to mortgage 100 mu of land overnight, so that he had enough gambling debts.
"Gambling debts are also debts. Since ancient times, there has never been a reason for non-payment." This is the responsibility his father taught him.
's father replaced the silver dollar with a copper plate, letting Fugui carry the burden to pay off the debt.
After taking Fugui's shoulders as a burden, Fugui understood: This is because his father let him know how difficult it is to make money, and it also makes him feel the heavy responsibility.
returned the money and went home, and his father said, "Our Xu family’s ancestors just raised a chick. After the chicken was raised, it became a goose, and the goose became a goat. It became a cow. In my hands, the Xu family’s cow became a sheep, and the sheep became a goose. When you reach you, the goose becomes a chicken, and now there are no chickens.”
These words speak plainly about the primitive accumulation of capital, as well as the decline of the family and the irresponsibility of the father and son to the family.
The word "responsibility" is more important than Tarzan, and it is not so easy to have. This change of
changed Fugui's vices and made him understand his "irresponsibility" in previous decades.
is his father’s exhaustion of his fortune, and his "responsibility" has been carved into Fugui's bones.
Writer Liang Fengyi once said, “When fear, father’s love is a stepping stone; when it is dark, father’s love is a illuminating lamp; when exhausted, father’s love is a bay of water of life; when working hard, father’s love is spiritual When successful, father’s love is also an encouragement and a wake-up call.”
Father is like this for Fugui.
After the death of his father, Fugui not only never gambled again, but also shouldered the burden of the family. He never complained about dirty work, only to turn chickens into geese, geese into sheep, and sheep into cows.
This might be the power his father gave him.
02
mother gave him unlimited tolerance
father's death stung Fugui's heart, his eyes were full of tears and sighs all day long.
The mother's heart is not well, after all, the husband who accompanied her for half her life died. However, his mother still used his spirit to comfort Fugui and tide over the difficulties with him.
Actually, it was not just Fugui who fell from the cloud of beautiful clothes and food, but also his mother. She had enjoyed all the glory and blessings in her first half of her life, and she had never suffered.
However, she did not blame, but tolerated his fault; she never complained, and went to work with Fugui without money, her hair was gray, but she learned to do manual work that she had never done before.
is precisely the mother's tolerance and non-complaining, which made Fugui suspend self-blame and live again.
's mother is afraid that Fugui will suddenly lose her fine clothes and food, and she is not like being tossed by being "poor". One of the most frequently said words of is "As long as people live happily, they are not afraid of being poor." It is this sentence that affects. Fugui's life. After
, Fugui has been in "poverty", but every time he can have fun because of his mother's words.
Hugo once said, "Women are fragile, but mothers are strong."
Fugui's mother is like this. She used her weak arms to prop up a home and gave Fugui the courage to live. .
Besides, Fugui's mother can be regarded as a woman with great wisdom. After
lost the family property, the old man wanted to take his wife back, which undoubtedly gave Fugui a heavy blow.
His wife was scattered, and her mother was sad, but she still comforted Fugui: "Jiazhen is your woman, not someone else's, and no one can take it." The mother's words of
are very philosophical. In other words, you can't force it if it's not yours, don't complain.
A good mother is worth a hundred teachers. 's mother's words have invisibly affected Fugui's worldview and values.
faced a miserable life and "unfair" destiny afterwards, Fugui never complained, and truly "do not force", but only live his own life.
03
His wife's unforgettable love for him
Fugui's wife Jiazhen Ben is the daughter of the boss of Mihang in the city, and he is in a wealthy family. When Fugui lost all his family property, the old man wanted to take Jiazhen back.
At that time, Jiazhen’s baby had been seven or eight months old. For the sake of the child, Jiazhen decided to go back with her father. Daughter Fengxia wanted to go with her mother, but Jiazhen pushed her back.
Seeing this scene, Fugui thought that Jiazhen was going to abandon them, and that he was going to leave his wife.
However, Jiazhen is affectionate.
Jiazhen has her own consideration: the child in her belly has not been born yet, if she follows Fugui now, he will not have rice in the pot, the child must be in danger, so he should go back with his father first.
returned Feng Xia, one is to let Feng Xia accompany Fugui, to leave him a thought, so as not to let him fall down because of the loss of his wife, and the other is to come back with the excuse that she can't let Feng Xia go.
Sure enough, Jiazhen came back when the child was six months old.
After Jiazhen came back, this homeFortune has also changed. The former Fugui from
was a real mess. The first time I saw Jiazhen, I liked it so much that I rioted at home to beg Jiazhen to marry. After I got home, I felt that I didn't like it that much, so I went outside to find a woman.
Since Jiazhen came back, he no longer had his previous thoughts. He started to love Jiazhen heartily, treated Jiazhen sincerely, and understood the true meaning of "love".
From then on, although the life of is poor, because of love, a family is "happiness".
In the turbulent situation, people are often involuntary. Although the Fukui family worked hard to live, the suffering did not bypass them. The death of
son and daughter one after another is very sad. But, fortunately, there are still home treasures.
Later, Jiazhen's body is getting worse and worse.
"You have to live well" is Jiazhen's last words to Fugui, and she is worried about Fugui even in her death.
So, for Jiazhen, Fugui really survived.
Everyone says that "husband and wife are birds of the same forest, flying separately in the face of disaster" and "same happiness and suffering together", but Jiazhen has truly achieved "share happiness and sorrow", and will never give up the good fortune and honor.
Love can heal everything. It is Jiazhen's persistence in Fugui that made Fugui learn to love.
also because of Jiazhen's last words, Fugui chose to stay alive and live well.
American "Time" review "Alive": All the disasters that have occurred in China in the past sixty years have happened to Fugui and his family one by one. The ensuing blows may make readers unable to sympathize, but Yu Hua's sincere pen and ink has shaped Fugui into an existential hero. When this heavy novel is over, the will to live is the only thing in Fugui that is not deprived of it.
But for Fugui, his will to live is given by the family, and his father, mother, and wife are all influencing him and giving him strength in their own way.
He does not need sympathy, because he has a family, and it is the family that allows him to have the courage to live in a difficult situation.
As Sanmao said: "The family is a source of joy for everyone! No matter how hard it is, it is warm. Even a slave has a home, and I don’t think he is too pitiful."
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