A Theme of Love in The Rickshaw Boy by Lao She

The Rickshaw boy was a novel and it was written by Lao She. The main character was Xiangzi, who was an orphan farmer and worked in Beijing as a rickshaw puller. Xiangzi was optimistic and with the hope of his life. Xiangzi, who came to the city from the countryside, was eager to buy a rickshaw of his own with his hard work. The novel was about his hard work and his love with Huiniu and Fuzi. Huniu who was the daughter of Xiangzi’s employer. Huniu loved Xiangzi and wanted to marry with him. However, Xiangzi had only one dream, which was to buy a rickshaw. Xiangzi didn’t interested in love until Huniu was deceived his love. Xiangzi never smoke and drink, he was seduced by Huniu after drunk, then he tried to escaped, because he didn’t want to disrupt buy rickshaw by interfering with the love, but tracked again and again by Huniu. Finally, they were married, Xiangzi bought a rickshaw and money from Huniu and accepted she was pregnant.

Another love interest of Xiangzi and Fuzi, their love was growing very slowly. Although Fuzi struggled to her brother to raise their life, Xiangzi was fascinated and fall in love with Fuzi. Therefore, I will compare and contrast that love of interest in Huniu and Fuzi. The love of interest that Huniu and Fuzi have some similarities. They both were exploitation by their father. Huniu looked like a man, and she acted like a man; because she spent a whole day with a group of men. Other than that, Huniu was a good helper that helped his father took care of the business. In addition to that, Huniu had never won the love of her father. To her father, she was just a machine that helped him earn wealth; thus, Huniu did not know how to love. Huniu’s father named Master Liu, and Liu didn’t care about his daughter. The only thing Liu cared about was his face and money. When master Liu knew Huniu want to marry Xiangzi, he was angry, and think his face and money were lost. Huniu was struggling in marry Xiangzi or keep his father's face. Eventually, Huniu chose to marry Xiangzi, because she loved Xiangzi. Fuzi had an alcoholic father, named Er Qiang Zi. Er Qiang Zi sold his own daughter Fuzi to an soldier when she was 19-year-old.

Later on, Fuzi was forced into prostitution ( in order to raise her two younger brothers and help her father). Huniu and Fuzi both fell in love Xiangzi, and both had tragedy ending. They admired Xiangzi’s hard working and believed that Xiangzi would become rich in the future (they both tend to believe that they can rely on Xiangzi). Huniu loved Xiangzi, not only because Xiangzi have a stronger body, but also he had good personalities and had has the potential to gain wealth through his hard working. However, her love was not sincere; she lied to Xiangzi that she was pregnant in order to marry him. Throughout, Huniu's love is one-way, and Xiangzi never wanted to respond back. In her humble love, she always played a manipulator and self-directed in all the plots, Xiangzi is the marionette in her hands. After the married, Huniu took controlled in everything- money, even food. After married Xiangzi, Huniu did not work at all and only stay at home. This is a poor woman who desired for love but did not know how to love. Fuzi’s father was a rickshaw puller as Xiangzi, but Fuzi’s father was unuseful- he could not afford the whole family. Fuzi’s family was poor; thus, she needed money to help the whole family to live. Xiangzi can make money through rickshaw, if Fuzi marries Xiangzi, Fuzi will have better lives than before. The question I hold for a long time: Did Xiangzi really want to marry Fuzi? Maybe Xiangzi loved Fuzi, but Xiangzi might not dare to live with her due to Xiao Fuzi’s livelihood is too heavy.

Love and not to love, poor people have to decide based on the money. Their social interactions are reflected in their struggle to use money to benefit them and oppress Xiangzi. They determined to Xiangzi use his money to support their need. They look like unemployee and make any opportunity to become rich. Huniu and Fuzi both have tragedy ending. Huniu is selfish, arrogant and entangled in Xiangzi, which brought injury and destruction to Xiangzi. She was a maker of tragedy and also was a victim. People can know her frustration and depression that she is not afraid of everything. Huniu had the habits of businessman and selfishness deeply influenced by her family. But she was also a victim. She wanted a normal life that same as other people, she wanted to married, but she needed to help his father to management business, make her twisted and even metamorphosis. When she wants to marry Xiangzi, her father is angry, this show status of her in the family. After the marriage with Xiangzi, Huniu was escaped of the house by her father and died of dystocia. Fuzi’s life is disaster and humiliation, in order to support her father and two younger brothers, she had to sell her body to make money and finally die. She wanted to escaped, but she couldn’t leave her family because she had two younger brothers. In my opinion, two women have different experiences, but the outcome was tragic and cause people to think about their tragedy. They both didn’t have education, I think woman have low status in this society, they only could reply her father or her husband.

In this novel, the Huniu and Fuzi had different background and personality, which made Xiangzi love toward Fuzi and Huniu were different. Huniu and Fuzi from different social status. Huniu from the middle class, she can support her live through helping his father to charge of the business. Huniu’s father was the original boss of Xiangzi, so, Xiangzi was low income than Huniu. Despite this, Huniu didn’t care about her social background and determined let Xiangzi marry her. Another reason for Huniu loves Xiangzi because of Xiangzi always listen carefully what her say and didn’t talk back. She used her own money to buy a rickshaw to Xiangzi. Fuzi from a poor family and need to earn money to take care of her brother and father. She was initially sold to marry and sold the body to earn money, but Fuzi didn’t think that her low class was an obstacle to her love with Xiangzi. She also wanted to marry Xiangzi.

They had a different personality. In the book, Lao She described that “Huniu was the same as the man in everything, but nobody dared marry her: even when it comes to cursing a person, she was just as fluent and sometimes had more ways of expressing herself”. As you can see, she always fluent to curse men in the factory. I think it looks like a tiger that no one wants to marry her. When Xiangzi came back, she told Xiangzi that eat rice and don’t have poison, she also pulled Xiangzi over to the table. This showed that she is stronger and powerful than Xiangzi. When master Lou has a birthday party, she was cursed and yet to master Liu. In order to achieve her goal, she seduced and tricked Xiangzi. Finally, the married with Xiangzi. On the opposite side, Fuzi is a pretty, gentle and kind woman. When her father sold her marriage, she didn’t complain to her father and still forced into prostitution to raise money to feed her two younger brothers and father. When Huniu asked Fuzi about “many things that it was hard to speak”, Fuzi was refused and then Huniu asked again and again, she didn’t refuse and told those things. When Huniu was dystocia, she bought medicine and found a doctor, this shows that her gentle and easygoing personality.

I think that Fuzi has can’t go away to the family even though she has endured spiritual and physical, only she can raise her family. The author described differently between physical and psychological appearances for Huniu and Fuzi. Huniu knew nothing and ignoring her neighbor, the neighbor pointed out that she was ugly and rude, nobody wants to marry her. However, she was smart that know lies to Xiangzi that she was pregnant and finally she married with Xiangzi. She was jealous Fuzi because Fuzi has enjoyed life when she married a soldier and knew some things that Huniu didn’t know, but she never thinks about Fuzi was struggling for her life. Huniu was In the opposite, Fuzi was very “think and slight”, she became “little taller and face was soft and round” when she married to a soldier, she would show whole teeth very white when she was simile and cry. She forced to support her two brothers, but Huniu didn’t know her difficult and made her fall into the abyss. Huniu taught Fuzi that how to makeup and borrowed room to Fuzi, she still get pay from Fuzi. In my opinion, Xiangzi loved Fuzi more than Huniu, because “her person held all of that comfort and consolation that a woman should bring her man”. Lao She described that “even if her entire body is covered by sores and body would rot, she still is very beautiful, she is diligent and frugal (Lao, 309)”. This means that Xiangzi loves the Fuzi even she was ugly, he still thinks she was beautiful. He was the quiet person, however, he likes to talk with Fuzi, Fuzi always carefully to listen. Huniu always controls Xiangzi and made he felt uncomfortable, and she was older than Xiangzi. Huniu also wasn’t virgin, Xiangzi was care of this thing. The different standard of Fuzi because she was married.

Xiangzi had different thinking when Huniu and Fuizi died. Huniu died when she was giving birth, in order to pay for the founder, Xiangzi sold his rickshaw and the life became more and more difficult, even though he began to drink and gambles, Xiangzi has not been desperate and have free, because the death of Huniu is also a relief to Xiangzi. Xiangzi thought about marry to Fuzi, however, he needed to raise Fuzi’s family, he was incompetent to feed her family. He told Fuzi that he would come back. Fuzi was being forced into prostitution, and then she hanged herself. When Xiangzi knew that Fuzi had hanged herself because she could not stand the humiliation, his spirit completely collapsed. He started to heavy drink, gambles and to do bad things for fun. He didn’t find a job.

In my opinion, Fuzi was a hope that Xiangzi can work hard after Huniu died and create a better life. When he knew Fuzi died, he lost the soul and didn’t go to work, he lost the interest in life. Fuzi’s death was beautiful and disillusioned, giving people a strong aesthetic enjoyment. Fuzi was shining to compare of Huniu, it was perfected by her pretty and ugly because her prostitute life is filthy, but the soul is very clear. Huniu and Fuzi had similar and different, they are exploitation by social. However, Huniu was luckier than Fuzi. she had the stable family to support her lives. Even though Fuzi’s father sold her marriage to a soldier, she still needed to raise two brothers and father. The two women were pushing the plot of the story, Xiangzi love the two women in different character, it makes the story more interesting.