My Old Home
- Lu Xun
Lu Xun (1881-1936) is the pen
name of the writer born as Zhou Shuren. He was born to a family with a strong
Confucian background. His grandfather served as a high official in Beijing, and
his father was also a scholar. Lu Xun has been considered China’s greatest writer
in the 20th century. He was a short story writer, essayist, and translator who
is commonly considered the ‘father of modern Chinese literature.’ Known for his
satirical observations of early 20th-century Chinese society, he is celebrated
as a pioneer of modern vernacular Chinese literature and was one of the most
important thinkers of his time. His popular novels and short story collections
include A Madman’s Diary (1918), Kong Yiji (1918), Medicine (1919), Tomorrow
(1920), An Incident (1920), The Story of Hair (1920), A Storm in a Teacup
(1920), and Hometown (1921). The story ‘My Old Home’ is taken from the short
story collection Hometown. “My Old Home” is a story about Xun’s memories, from
youth to middle age that depicts the conflict between memories and realities.
The story describes how Xun feels while being away from home for many years.
Upon arriving at his long-past home, his memories are forced to come to
confront the realities. His prior conceptions and understandings of the world
come into conflict with his realities.
• Characters:
1. Lu Xun: He is the young Master and the narrator.
He is considered a miser in the sense he does not want to give away the
furniture to the poor but rather wants to sell them.
2. Runtu: He is the former temporary servant of Lu
Xun. He is shy in nature but “high in spirit”
3. Hong’er: Lu Xun’s eight-year-old timid and shy
Nephew who soon be friends with Shu Sheng, the son of Runtu
4. Shu Sheng: He is the son of Runtu who is also
very shy and converses only during social ceremonies.
5.
Lu Xun’s mother: She is the one who greets him
at his arrival in the Old House.
6.
Elder brother Shun: The one who wants to keep
some kitchen furniture.
7.
Poor folks: They work in the field but there is
no change in their lifestyles.
8. Mrs Yang: She is a neighbour who accuses the
narrator of being miserly and people call her the “Beancurd Beauty” because she
sits in a bean curd (milk products) shop opposite Lu Xun’s home.
• Summary:
The story “My Old Home” takes
place in China, in the narrator’s hometown of a little village. He returns to
his childhood home. Although his hometown has not improved, it is not as sad as
it once was. The major reason he is returning to his previous house is to send
his home a final farewell and to shift his family to another location where he
works. He has many flashbacks to his childhood while he is there. He reflects
on a great bond he had with Runtu that did not endure long. He has fond
memories of Runtu. Runtu was just over ten years old when the narrator first
met him. That year, it was his family’s time to oversee a large ancestral
sacrifice. The sacrificial vessels had to be guarded. Runtu was given the task
of looking after the sacrificial vessels after the narrator’s father granted
permission. He was thrilled because he had known Runtu for a long time and knew
he was around his own age.
The narrator meets Mrs Yang, who used to spend practically the entire day in the beancurd shop. Everyone used to refer to her as Beancurd Beauty. Runtu then arrives to see the narrator. He has grown to twice his former size. He acts as if the narrator is his master and ranks higher than him. The narrator and his mother come across Runtu, who is suffering from poverty. Following his departure, his mother suggests that they should provide him whatever they are not going to take away, allowing him to choose for himself. He selects two long tables, four chairs, an incense burner and candlesticks, and one balance that afternoon. He also requests that all of the ashes from the stove be removed. The narrator, along with his nephew and mother, departs from his old home at the end of the storey. He learns that all of L memories, as well as his former home, are being abandoned.
Understanding the text
Answer the following questions.
a. How does the narrator describe his feeling at the arrival of his old home?
Answer: The narrator has many
exciting and happy feelings regarding his old home before his arrival but his
exciting feelings convert into depressing ones as he sees surroundings and
environment which have no progress as he arrives.
b. What were the three kinds of servants in China then? What does it indicate about contemporary Chinese society?
Answer: The then three kinds of
servants in China were:
- Yearlongs: Those who work the whole year long for one family.
- Short-timers: Those who work in the daytime.
- Busy-monthers: Those who plough their own land but work for a specific family just during the holidays or rent time.
It indicates that contemporary
Chinese society had a slavery system and hierarchy.
c. What makes the narrator nostalgic? What did he do with Runtu in the teenage?
Answer: As the narrator’s mother
asks him to meet Runtu, he becomes nostalgic. He played with Runtu on the sandy
ground among watermelons and stabbed the Zha in the teenage.
d. How did Runtu hunt a Zha in his young age?
Answer: Runtu hunted a Zha by
stabbing at it in his young age.
e. How does the narrator make a humorous picture of Mrs. Yang?
Answer: The narrator makes a
humorous picture of Mrs Yang by associating her as a bean curd lady who accuses
him of being miserly for he does not want to give away his furniture to her.
f. According to the narrator, what were different factors that made Runtu a poor man throughout his life?
Answer: According to the
narrator, the different factors that made Runtu a poor man throughout his life
were the heavy taxes, social responsibilities, famines, bandits, officials,
landed gentry and class differences that he went through.
g. How does the narrator help Runtu before leaving the old home?
Answer: The narrator helps Runtu
by providing him with two long tables, an incense burner, some candlesticks,
and a set of scales before leaving the old home.
h. How does the author differentiate two kinds of idols?
Answer: The author
differentiates two kinds of idols saying that a “superstitious idol” is
worshipping for a while for something immediate but “hope” as not an idol that
he wants somewhere far off in the murky distance.
Reference to the Context
a. While reading the friendship between the narrator and Runtu, Hindu readers remember the friendship between Krishna and Sudama. Which particular description reminds you of the mythological example?
Answer: While reading the
friendship between the narrator and Runtu, Hindu readers remember the
friendship between Krishna and Sudama. Following descriptions of the story “My
Old Home” remind us of the mythological connections:
Sudama was Lord Krishna’s
classmate and a very intimate friend. Lord Krishna was a King. Sudama was an
impoverished poor Brahmin. The same case is found in the friendship and
relationship between Lu Xun and Runtu the former is from the rich and upper
class as master and the latter one is very poor. Sudama felt very shy when he
visited Krishna same as Runtu felt ashamed and nervous as he meet his friend
and master Lu Xun. Sudama was helped by Krishna at the end and in the same way,
Runtu was helped by Lu Xun by providing several kitchen things at the end. Both
of the stories teach us the message that we should never expect anything free
in life and a friend in need is a friend indeed.
b. How does the story support the proposition that the relationships of childhood are innocent, impartial and disinterested?
Answer: The story “My Old Home”
supports the proposition that relationships of childhood are innocent,
impartial and disinterested. As we go through the story, we come to know that
the narrator, Lu Xun and Runtu had a childhood friendship when there were no
class differences rather an innocent relationship found between them.
The notion of innocence refers to
children’s simplicity, their lack of knowledge, and their purity not yet
spoiled by mundane (boring) affairs. Such innocence is taken as the promise of
a renewal of the world by the children. The same innocence can be realised as
they were children and they used to pass the time together by stabbing Zha,
badger and porcupines. They run here and there in the field of watermelon. They
had a master and part-time worker relationships. They had no any selfishness
behaviour. Their friendship and relation were pure, impartial and
disinterested. The same relations the narrator hopes to see in his nephew and
Runtu’s son.
c. After reading the story, what inferences can you make about contemporary Chinese economic and social system?
Answer: After reading the story
“My Old Home”, we can make the following inferences about the contemporary
Chinese economic and social system:
-
The story portrays the complex relationships in
the peasant community in China’s society at the time.
- It mentions the real physical sufferings of the peasants resulting from economic exploitation and exposes the root causes of their miserable lives.
- It exposes how miserable the peasants’ mentality was after they have been long poisoned by feudal ideas.
- For instance, Runtu is an unforgettable and pathetic person who suffered much from hard work and sub-marginal living.
- It makes people clear about the class system, slavery system and hierarchy in China presenting three kinds of servants in China such as Yearlongs: those who work the whole year long for one family, Short-timers: those who work by the day time and Busy-monthers: those who plough their own land but work for a specific family just during the holidays or rents time.
Above all, society dictates, disallowing them to be friend. People from different classes cannot interact and develop mutual relations. They have to fulfil their roles at certain positions.
d. What does the story indicate about the geographical features of the narrator’s hometown?
Answer: Geographically, the
story “My Old Home” has been set in 1911 during the overthrow of the Qing
Dynasty in the hometown of the narrator. It was in the depth of winter when the
story opens and the clouded sky over with the cold wind. The narrator peeps
through the window in a distant horizon, towns and villages under a vast and
greying sky. The area the narrator remembered was far more lovely. His hometown
was probably nothing more than what lay before him. Then, the narrator talks
about his visit to his farm which was under a blue-black sky, beneath it a
stretch of sandy ground planted with emerald green watermelons stretching as
far as the eye could see, and standing in the midst of all those melons and
then about New YearCelebrations. He also talks about collecting shells near the
beach, visiting the seashore just before spring tides and nighttime guarding
the farm along with his father and catching birds and stabbing animals like
badgers, porcupines etc.
