Kong Yiji's laughter

Kong Yiji was a tragic figure who was destroyed to death by feudal thought and feudal education system. There are many pitiful, contemptible and ridiculous things in his twisted character. Kong Yiji's own "ridiculous" performance in two aspects:

He looks ridiculous.

He is the only person in Xianheng Hotel who "drinks standing and wears a gown". He is tall; Blue and white face, wrinkles are often mixed with some scars; A shaggy gray beard. Although wearing a gown, it is dirty and torn. It seems that it hasn't been mended or washed for more than ten years. "Mr. Lu Xun vividly outlined the image of a poor and corrupt scholar with extremely frugal pen and ink. On the one hand, people feel sorry and ridiculous when they see this image; On the other hand, he profoundly revealed his special position through this unkempt and poor image. Kong Yiji's feudal thought of "wearing a gown" and his economic status of "drinking standing up" formed their own irreconcilable contradictions. At the same time, Mr. Lu Xun also revealed the insurmountable obstacles and gaps between him and the working people at the lower level through his "Wearing a Long Shirt". Despite Kong Yiji's economic difficulties, he was always reluctant to take off his "dirty and torn" gown, which symbolized feudal intellectuals, and never let go of the frills poisoned by feudal thoughts. This not only shows the poison of the feudal consciousness of "everything is inferior, only reading is high", but also reveals the root of his tragic ending.

Kong Yiji's pedantic character is ridiculous.

"When he talks to people, he always talks big, which makes people half understand." This is a feature of his pedantic character. He wants to show that he has read a lot through this unique language. Cleverly, this unique language also reflects the depth of his poisoning by feudal education. When others say that he "steals from others", he opens his eyes and argues that this is "polluting people's innocence out of thin air", even blushes and argues that "stealing books is not stealing", and even makes everyone laugh by saying that "a gentleman is poor in money", which makes "the inside and outside of the store full of happy air." He was bent on climbing through the imperial examination, but after studying hard for half his life, "he couldn't even pass the examination for half a scholar", so people couldn't help asking him, "Can you really read?" Also a pair of very self-respecting "arrogant", until Ding later broke his leg, begging the shopkeeper not to make fun of him, and kept saying that it was "down ..." All these things. In a word, as soon as Kong Yiji came to power, the author described and introduced his identity, portrait, costume, language and nickname, which showed the contradiction and absurdity between his realistic situation and ideology.

Second, the numbness and ignorance of the jacket-drinking gang laughed at him mercilessly.

In the novel, people (the short coat gang) laughed at him three times: First, "When Kong Yiji arrived at the hotel, all the drinkers looked at him and smiled." This is a new scar on his face after everyone laughed at him for stealing; The second is to laugh at his sad fate of studying sage books all his life, but he can't even catch half a scholar; The third is to laugh at his pitiful and pathetic defense of his theft after Ding broke his leg.

People laugh at Kong Yiji for a reason. On the one hand, in the historical environment of that particular semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, they don't understand and can't understand that Kong Yiji himself is also a tragic figure who was insulted and persecuted, a deformed man bred in a particular era, and a deformed child in that society; On the other hand, due to their own reasons, they are at the bottom of society, oppressed and exploited by the feudal ruling class, and poisoned by feudal cultural thoughts. They didn't realize their situation and fate, but laughed at Kong Yiji's decadent atmosphere. This not only shows how numb and ignorant they are, but also reminds the revolutionaries after the Revolution of 1911 that to save the fate of China, we must first save the souls of these ignorant citizens. As we all know, Kong Yiji's pedantic character is ridiculous, but his own numbness and ignorance are equally ridiculous.

Third, the hotel boy "I" smiled impatiently at Kong Yiji.

In the novel, "I", as a waiter in Xianheng Hotel, works in a boring and monotonous hotel that "teaches people to be lively". In that suffocating environment where there is neither joy nor laughter, "only Kong Yiji can laugh at the hotel." From the boy's smile, we can not only see the loneliness and depression of the shop assistants living in that suffocating dark society, but also see Kong Yiji's living conditions and fate in such a social environment.

However, when Kong Yiji enthusiastically taught me to read, I looked down on him despite his low social status, and even "turned away from understanding" him with indifference and contempt, but found his words and deeds "ridiculous". The behavior and attitude of "I" reflect the corrosive power of feudal social hierarchy on people's thoughts and souls. No wonder Kong Yiji was reluctant to take off the "dirty and torn" gown that represented his identity from beginning to end.

Fourth, the hotel shopkeeper made fun of Kong Yiji's coldness, bullying and playfulness.

First of all, the hotel shopkeeper's deliberate question about Kong Yiji is "funny"; It is to attract customers and make the hotel business prosperous. Secondly, when Kong Yiji was sent to the hotel by Ding to discount a leg, the shopkeeper made fun of him, showing a gloomy psychology of gloating and an indifferent expression. At this time, the shopkeeper of Xianheng Hotel no longer cared about Kong Yiji's leg, but remembered the "nineteen money" that Kong Yiji owed him on credit. The shopkeeper's ridicule of Kong Yiji not only exposed his mercenary and exploitative nature, but also exposed his unsympathetic nature. The author said: "Kong Yiji makes people happy, but without him, others will live like this." This sentence seems dull on the surface, but when you think about it, the thoughts and feelings contained in it are very heavy. Kong Yiji alive has no other use, other meaning, just as the material for others to make fun of and be happy; Without him, life would go on as usual, and no one would remember him, because Kong Yiji was a complete waste in the society at that time: the ruling class hated him and trampled on him; The working people don't need him either, because there is an artificial gap between Kong Yiji and them.