Illness As Metaphor And Saves People

The topic of illness as metaphor and it's cure is pretty important as regards China's modern fiction. However, in the field of literature study, there is always a deficiency in the understanding of illness. Especially for the fiction composition in the changeable and unstable 1940s, people tend to concentrate on the epic, triumphal literature phenomena with strong political flavor, stressing on the function of the literature works in the liberated area, or the anti-war mood of the works in the Kuomintang ruled area. Yet, they neglected the writer's representation and description of illness in the daily life, both physically and mentally. This essay will represent the analysis and explanation of the metaphor of illness and it's treatment in 1940s, with the interpretation of Ba Jin's Garden of Repose , Wintry Night and The Forth Ward.The 1940s is the height of Ba Jin's composition career, when there was an obvious change of his writing style. The change is called "the shift from young Ba Jin to mid-age Ba Jin". He began to pay more attention to the ordinary people oppressed and their hardships and helplessness, completely presenting the morbid and enough subjected soul by describing the trivial matters on the part of the nonentities. The illness and the description of it in his works became more real and profound, which add much vitality to the works.Therefore, in my opinion, there is certainly similarities between Ba Jin and Lu Xun's works. The hardships and illness as well as the perplexity in the age of 40s was confronted more intensely with the deep love of life in the depth of Ba Jin's heart, pushing him to stand out and call up the people with his little strength to treat and cure the illness of the society. In his fiction, "illness" is not only physically indicated, for instance, as pulmonary tuberculosis. However. In more cases, it is mentally indicated: the morbid psychology, distorted personality and family perspective engulfed innocent lives. And people lost the right to love and be loved. "Illness" became a metaphor of the state of mind of the whole nation, treatment also refers to the curing of the national spirit. "To save people, save things, and save myself is definitely the purpose of Ba Jin's writing, and to advocate literature education and the concept of family is the prescription he found for the illness. No doubt, Ba Jin perceived both the illness of the human being and the literature meaning of illness, and by which he combined the twotogether. In his works, we can see the painful life and soul of the people at the bottom of the society in that age, and we can also see his spiritual power as a writer through the sorrow and sympathy he has presented in his writing.