Reflective Essay: Diary of a Madman by Lu Xun

📌Category: Books
📌Words: 591
📌Pages: 3
📌Published: 20 February 2022

Lu Xun's writings cover a range of Chinese issues in the early 20th century. In his direct writings, "Diary of the Madman" begins to introduce the concept of divinity. The diary Lu Xun is referring to belongs to the brother of the childhood friend of the main character in the story. The story as well as the diary is full of shocking revelations that the society in which he lives participates in cannibalism.

The author is concerned that cannibalism discourses contradict ancient Confucian texts and teachings. The madman realizes that his family is involved in these acts as well as his own.“As for my elder brother, I have good reason to suspect him. When he was teaching me, he said with his lips, "people exchange their sons to eat." And once, in discussing the bad man, he said that not only did he deserve to be killed, he should "have his flesh-eating, and his hide slept on." (12). The author of a diary is convinced that it will not only be eaten, but the simple fact that it is possible to participate in the act of eating others. Cannibalism, in this case, is looked at as a sacrifice because it is tradition, but when you know the person, how can one perform such an act? I would not participate in the tradition. I could not imagine eating someone I knew or loved. Cannibalism can be described as the eating of human flesh. Lu Xun uses cannibalism as a metaphor for not only gaining reference to traditional confucian practices but also the community's willingness to “sacrifice” their true identity and identity to preserve these traditions.

In “Diary of a Madman”, everyone thought the narrator was crazy but the narrator thought the people were crazy. At first glance, it might seem obvious that the narrator was crazy to think that everyone was going to eat him. Madness is often associated with negative connotations. Lu Xun cleverly perpetuates madness by associating cannibalism with oppression. Although it is crazy, it realizes that everyone who is a cannibal knows nothing about oppressive society. Superstition represents the use of the individual in society. Everyone was trying to eat the narrator because the narrator kept his personality because of his courage to renounce the godliness of his world. A madman is mad because of his illness, but figuratively, he can be called healthy. by knowing the truth about oppressive society. Everyone else seems crazy for the narrator because, literally, they are cannibals, and figuratively speaking, because they do not know the same truth as the narrator. The definition of insanity becomes confusing within this literary work. Back then, mental illness was not known or talked about, so everyone thought he was mad and crazy, but that is not all true. Not knowing about mental illnesses, there was no way to help, and with no help, he stayed mentally ill. The narrator thought the people were crazy because they were cannibals. They were eating their family and others.

Lu Xun's “Diary of a Madman'' was very confusing. I found it hard to read and understand. It was also not very appealing to read about cannibalism. Even though it was confusing and unappealing, it was interesting and educational about Chinese issues. The story reveals many revelations about society. It shows how people used to look at mental illnesses back then as well as how they treated people with mental illnesses. The story also captures Chinese issues and traditions of how they were cannibals towards family and friends. With the topic of cannibalism throughout the story, I did not like this reading. I found it unappealing and boring. It was a difficult story to understand due to the fact that it was about a topic I do not have an interest in, but I was able to learn more about the topic.

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