Reference #2
“Every literary work is the result of being molded from life”, it is not wrong to say that. If a literary work is only a product of fiction and imagination without bringing the breath of life, it will not inspire readers, literature is always a story of life with a noble mission. of a writer when creating art. Nam Cao has affirmed his role and position in modern Vietnamese literature through his works, and at the same time found his own path different from other writers of the same period. Reading the work “Chi Pheo” by Nam Cao, we will see that clearly. And the work has also left a profound realism value, condemning the forces that can only live on the labor of others.
“Every literary work is the result of being molded from life”, it is not wrong to say that. If a literary work is only a product of fiction and imagination without bringing the breath of life, it will not inspire readers, literature is always a story of life with a noble mission. of a writer when creating art. Nam Cao has affirmed his role and position in modern Vietnamese literature through his works, and at the same time found his own path different from other writers of the same period. Reading the work “Chi Pheo” by Nam Cao, we will see that clearly. And the work has also left a profound realism value, condemning the forces that can only live on the labor of others.
The real value of a literary work is the entire reality reflected by the writer in the literary work. Depending on the intention of the composition, that reality may be identical with the reality of life or there is a refraction in it. different levels. Writing together on the topic of peasants in feudal colonial society, writers such as Ngo Tat To, Nguyen Cong Hoan or Nam Cao all deeply and honestly reflected the plight of Vietnamese farmers on the road. impoverished. The society of Van Nam Cao in Chi Pheo is a miniature in the countryside – a cramped, stuffy space where feudalists can push people into a dead end to have to sell their dignity and personality. both human and human. Unlike Ngo Tat To or Nguyen Cong Hoan, who only focused on the extreme material suffering of farmers, with Chi Pheo – the farmer suffered even more with mental suffering.
With his sharp pen, Nam Cao reflected on the basic issues of Vietnamese rural society before the August Revolution. Outlining the internal relations of the ruling class, dividing the factions of the powerful landowners. They consist of many different wings, often opposing each other. They are a “real fighting fish”, the bait is delicious that every raft wants to compete with. Therefore, they often wait for the opportunity to press their heads and necks on top of each other to compete for food. But on the other hand, they travel together to exploit the poor farmers, pushing the farmers to the end as long as they get what they want. This is a regular phenomenon in the countryside, profoundly affecting social life – flies and mosquitoes must die unjustly when buffaloes and cows butt each other.
Constructing a social picture in the countryside, Nam Cao first focused on highlighting the class conflict between powerful landowners and oppressed peasants – reflecting rural reality on the level of class conflict. It creates great cognitive value and critical power. In that rotten society, there were many conflicts and pressures on each other. The conflict between the landowners’ wings, the fierce class conflict between the powerful landlords and the oppressed and exploited peasants. Typical is the conflict between Chi Pheo and Ba Kien. Ba Kien is a cruel and cunning landowner who knows how to use the mottos of people management drawn from generations to deal with the poor people, the impoverished people at the bottom of society. He pushed the people who were simple and honest into the depths of sin, even corrupting both humanity and humanity. Turning them into demons, despised by human society, pushed to the fringes of society, and blocked all their ways back to being human. Often this conflict, which has never been reconciled, must be resolved by drastic and violent measures. The author hates that rotten society has pushed people into an unrecoverable abyss, which can only be freed by death.
The reality of the dark and miserable life of farmers and honest workers is focused on the fate of the character Chi Pheo. Perhaps the writer is also very sad, very painful when generalizing the grim fate of the farmer. But for him, literature is the place to tell the truth, not to polish the truth. Chi’s life is a series of miserable days, since he was born, he was an orphan. When he grew up, he was very gentle, working hard to earn a living. But the unjust society and the wicked class did not allow Chi to live peacefully in his life as a farmer. Chi was sent to prison. Resentment at being unjustly imprisoned caused Chi to change his personality and appearance. Chi was released from prison with the appearance of a “hardcore” guy and was perceived by Nam Cao with the three words “looks disgusting”. Chi is tattooed, his face is bald, his head is shaved, his teeth are white… Those words are more than enough to show that Chi is now in the form of a demon. Chi was still in constant drunkenness. Wherever he went, he cursed there, but no one bothered to respond to his curse, it seemed that he was removed from human society.
The image of Chi at this time is the image of the impoverished farmers living in that society. They fall into difficult situations, reach the end and lose their own personality. Thereby, Nam Cao wanted to expose the crimes of the feudal colonialists who pushed the peasants into this situation. If he hadn’t been sent to prison, perhaps Chi would still be a very honest, gentle and hardworking person. Chi still lives as a hired worker to support himself. And if society did not have prejudice against those returning from prison, perhaps Chi would not have to indulge in drunken rage, nor would he have to scream out bitter curses to expect someone to respond to his words, to Chi knows that Chi is still considered a real person. But the nature of society at that time was too cruel, too inhuman.
While the whole village of Vu Dai considered Chi as a demon, pushing him to the margins of society, a woman who was so ugly that she hated the devil had a heart of gold, seeing that Chi was gentle, Thi No was the bridge that brought her to life. The solitude in the depths of alienation awakens the workers’ nature. With simple care, the simple but sincere love of the poor woman aroused Chi Pheo’s soul. Chi heard the sounds of everyday life that he had been buried in drunkenness for so long, so he did not know. It resonated deeply in Chi’s heart, becoming an urgent call to life, reminding him of his small dream in the past and his longing to return to be an honest person. When Thi No brought a bowl of onion porridge to him, he was surprised because this was the first time he had been given it by a woman. He recognized the scent of onion porridge – the taste of sincere love, simple but real happiness. It was Thi No who brought Chi’s essence back to life. But it was Thi No who pushed Chi into the dead end again when she refused Chi’s love. And finally Chi went to Ba Kien’s house to kill Ba Kien and also free himself. Thereby, we see, Chi Pheo has generalized the regular reality in the old society: there is oppression, there is struggle, self-struggle and then lead to tragic end.
With the art of building typical characters and realistic, emotional lyrics, writer Nam Cao has redrawn the real life of poor farmers in the old society. At the same time, he also outlined the crimes of the ruthless feudal colonialists who pushed the peasants into a miserable life. They not only exploited the money and labor of the poor, but also trampled on their souls and noble personalities, turning them into demons in the middle of life.

Reference #3
The work Chi Pheo closes on the last page with a terrifying scene of two corpses of two people – creatures. Both are human but not human: Ba Kien and Chi Pheo. Blood and gore splattered all over the two corpses makes us startle and ask Nam Cao: Where is reality?
The whole story of Chi Pheo is a tension. Nam Cao has led the reader into different levels of nervous tension by Chi’s slanderous sentences, by his drunkenness like water, by his horrible face-slicing times. Thinking it was already memorable, Nam Cao suddenly raised his hand, flicked the pen one last time to end his song, the whole page seemed to vibrate when Chi swung a knife to slash at Ba Kien and ended his life. my life.
When Ngo Tat To’s Lights Off, The Last Step of Nguyen Cong Hoan… was born, few can imagine a life that is more impoverished, more deadlocked, more miserable than that. It seemed that the life of Ms. Dau and Mr. Pha was the culmination of suffering in life. But even more than those poor people, there is still Chi Pheo who stepped out of Nam Cao’s book, the full embodiment of “what is the most miserable and humiliating thing of the people living in the same colonial country. : being trampled, scratched, destroyed in both humanity and humanity.. Rooster, Mr. Pha, despite their hardships, is still recognized as a human. And Chi, a gentle and simple person, has been in and out of prison. guilty of selling his humanity and human form to become the devil of Vu Dai village.. Having escaped from the small prison door, Chi Pheo went back to the big prison door and this time forever, Chi was locked in the animal life. “given” mode. All that misfortune is worth letting the character rebel, but Nam Cao’s pen is sober and sharp, qualified to go with the character to the end of the story. higher than when Chi Pheo with the intention to go to the house of No, used to be on the right track and came to Ba Kien’s house; accidentally, consciously, Nam Cao let his character go the wrong way, but in the right direction, in the right direction. the goal that Nam Cao outlined for his character. Ba Kien’s death was full of surprises, no one thought that an old fox like Ba Kien could die so quickly. With Chi Pheo, nothing is impossible because his recklessness has long been tempered in the old society. Nam Cao always looks for dignity and true love in those who work in poverty, are trampled and despised. This is also the issue of “eyes” that Nam Cao is always aiming for, a basic feature of Nam Cao’s realism and humanity.
“In Nam Cao’s compositions about farmers, readers often encounter ugly, rude characters and their humiliating stories. That is why some people are skeptical of the realistic and humanitarian value of Nam Cao’s pen. Who knows, it is with those “problematic” characters that the writer’s realistic and humanitarian views are shown most clearly (Nguyen Hoanh Khuong). Nam Cao proved to be a sharp writer with a delicate and sensitive view on the level of class conflict. With Ba Kien, Nam Cao proved that he deeply understood the nature of the feudal class of landowners. With Chi Pheo, Nam Cao also proves a soul that knows how to dig deep, explore and unearth unexplored sources to find the most typical example of a class of people who are more than the same people, we are used to calling it the human image. “vulgarized” object. Through the construction of conflicts and contradictions of the story. Nam Cao has demonstrated a very clear and intense realistic landscape. He clearly saw that the conflict and class conflict among farmers – landlords, especially farmers, had reached a deep level and nothing could be alleviated. Nam Cao’s relationship with Ba Kien – Chi Pheo became very fierce, the unfinished love affair with Thi No was also a way to add fuel to the fire, turning the drunkenness, sadness, and heartbreak in Chi Pheo into a heart. Hateful, angry, decided to go to Thi No’s house to take revenge. The rule was not like that, the law dragged Chi away but to Ba Kien’s house, not anyone else. The one who deserves to kill Ba Kien. With the violent surprise ending of the short story, Nam Cao has shown us the inevitable outcome that is inevitable. The ruling class can be clever, cunning, trickery, can suppress, obscure even the consciousness of the people, but still smolder in the people the fire of hatred, hatred of the exploiters In Chi, even though his mind was numb and everything was “erased” in Chi’s memory, even in his drunkenness, he still seemed to dreamily realize something. Doan Chi Chi went to Thi No’s house to take revenge on the surface, only Ba Kien in the subconscious, the most profound in the past is Ba Kien, Thi No is just the present. All frustrations and frustrations accumulated for a long time, the more they are suppressed, the day they will explode. The overwhelming tolerance awakened the madness in Chi, he decided to take revenge on life, to “collect debt”. Nam Cao’s pen must be very firm on the stance of realism and humanitarianism to have such clear and sober writings. He believed that Chi Pheo’s blood had not yet been exhausted from the blood of a working farmer, so he let Chi carry a knife to Ba Kien’s house, not asking for alcohol or money, but to reclaim his face and soul that had been stolen. destroy, deprive. Only great humanity can be seen in a monstrous person like Chi Pheo with an eagerness to live. Only Nam Cao can understand Chi’s desire to be human again, that’s when he describes “the voice of everyday life” through Chi’s perception. For five days in a row, Chi was dry and didn’t even drink a sip of wine. It was thanks to Thi No who brought love to Chi, even though it was a crazy, unconscious feeling. The detail of a bowl of hot onion porridge has warmed Chi’s person, pulling him back to life. Unfortunately, the contemporary feudal society did not leave Chi alone to enjoy that small happiness, Thi No’s aunt was also a tool of prejudiced society, preventing Thi No from returning. with Chi. When the humanitarian hand was withdrawn, Chi Pheo returned to his daily self: drunk, fierce. But it was the little time spent with Thi No that influenced Chi’s thoughts. At this time, he was more conscious of living for himself, demanding for himself a reason to live, a justice that had been taken away. Killing Ba Kien only achieved half of the job, Chi Pheo completed the remaining “work” by killing himself. If still alive, Chi Pheo still continues his demonic life, still has to contend with Ba Kien’s son. I still remember Nam Cao gave one of his characters to eat dog bait to commit suicide, it was old Hac. Now we see Chi Pheo taking his own life. Is it possible that, with Nam Cao’s own thoughts, people who are too miserable, too needy, only death can liberate them all?
Chi Pheo only wished to return to be an ordinary worker with Thi No’s love, but could not. Nam Cao’s character building is unique. Chi Pheo is both a lunatic, a dangerous tool in the hands of the rulers, and an awakened slave, becoming the most intelligent person in Vu Dai village when asking meaningful questions. profound generalization beyond the ordinary, beyond Ba Kien’s wisdom: “Who gave me honesty? How can I get rid of these calluses on my face?” This very human, human anguish came out of the mouth of a soft drinker. Ba Kien was also surprised and caught off guard, so Chi easily killed him. The development is very reasonable, every small detail is very respectful of “realism”. Chi Pheo immediately took his own life because in that crazy moment, he was more alert than ever and aware of everything he did. Not killing himself, Chi Pheo will also have to die because Ba Kien’s son is still there, because many other subjects are always trying to erase him. Killing Ba Kien, Chi Pheo seemed to have regained his reputation, as if he was satisfied with himself, and felt that he did not need to live to collect debt from anyone anymore. If he didn’t die, no one would give him money to drink, no more Ba Kien let him slash his face, so he died. There are deadlocked deaths, but Chi Pheo’s death is the opening step for life, for the release of the cage, to free himself. Writing those pages, Nam Cao was still not fully aware of the great power of the working masses, the destructive power of slaves’ lives, but he dimly perceived a potential vitality. in the oppressed working people. Behind the comical conversation there was something like a desperate struggle trying to get out of it. Chi’s tragedy is not material poverty, social status, but a person that is not tolerated by human society. Living in the indifference and fear and alienation of everyone makes Chi even more and more reckless until he realizes that, he can only look for death.
In fact, for a long time in his life, he didn’t know he was alive, he didn’t know that death meant he wasn’t alive. At the end of the story, he found death, and at the same time he realized his animal life. As for Ba Kien, there will be Chi Pheo. Out of Ba Kien, Chi Pheo also did not exist. Here we also see a profound profoundness of Nam Cao when the two characters exist in parallel and play a role in influencing each other. If it wasn’t for Ba Kien, Mr. Chi in the past would not have been Chi Pheo now. Because in Ba Kien is both wisdom and deception, a person who knows how to throw stones and hide his hands.
Nam Cao once said: Art need not be the moonlight that deceives should not be the moonlight that deceives. Art may just be the sound of suffering, out of a life of misery. Those are the words of Dien (Bright Moon), but also a concern in Nam Cao’s writing life. His pen is directed at the poor working people who are often ugly people like Chi Pheo, Thi No… He purposely put Chi’s torn face or Thi’s weird face on the page. Because only with such a character, Nam Cao denounced all the brutality of the ruling class and the extreme suffering of the slaves.
In Chi Pheo, Nam Cao has focused on deepening and highlighting the basic social contradiction in the countryside: it is the extreme conflict between the oppressed working people and the rulers and landlords who specialize in exploiting them. strip off. The tragic end of the story is the inevitable, inevitable result of that contradiction. Nam Cao respects realistic writing style, so when he writes, he does not hesitate to include mundane details such as the depiction of Chi Pheo and Thi No in the moonlit night. Those two crazy people also yearn for love, also have very human desires, if Nam Cao’s pen is not genuine, we can’t see it all. The more realistic it is, the more it shows us a Nam Cao full of altruism, kindness, a noble humanitarian heart.
The tragedy at the end of the story is a breakthrough, self-liberation for the character. Nam Cao put his feelings into it to indirectly express his deep hatred for the regime and his love and respect for the peasant class. Ba Kien’s death is the wish of the end of an unjust dark regime. Chi Pheo’s death is the only way Nam Cao reincarnates suffering humans, only death can free them. Nam Cao’s look is a bit extreme and deadlocked, but it fits the logic of the short story. When the evil has been deeply ingrained into a person’s character and quality, there is no way to change it, only death can get rid of it all. Finding death means Chi Pheo is looking for life, a real life.
The short story Chi Pheo marked a great career of Nam Cao. He understood that it must be reality, literature has the meaning of deeply denouncing the regime, only reality can see all the suffering and torment in the working people, and only reality can highlight it. the great humanity of the writer. Chi Pheo’s sudden drastic action in the story is a reasonable development, showing the people’s “unlocking the cage”. However, Nam Cao only saw the resistance in one person, but was not aware of the potential power in the masses. Nam Cao looked only at Ba Kien, not at a ruling class system throughout colonial Vietnam. Through the short story Chi Pheo, Nam Cao has proved to be a sharp realist writer, a “loyal secretary of the times”, a kind and open heart haunted by the painful fate of human life. slave. It was the land where he was born that greatly influenced his creative career.

Reference #5
In our country’s realist literature, in addition to names like Ngo Tat To, Nguyen Cong Hoan, Vu Trong Phung, etc., the name Nam Cao is highly appreciated by many researchers for his works denouncing the reality of Vietnam. this writer. With positive views on literature, Nam Cao has produced works that “unleash sources that have not been opened and create things that have not been”. Everyone knows his famous work, Chi Pheo, is still a topic about farmers in a feudal society, but Nam Cao did not explore the character of a poor life, having to sell dogs for sale. children in which the writer talks about the fates of peasants deprived of their human rights. Especially through this short story, we can see the real value of the work.
So what is the real value? It can be temporarily defined as the value that speaks to the real faces of life from which, when looking at it, people know how the reality of our country at that time was. That’s why the realist writer Nam Cao built the character Chi Pheo from an incomplete number so that we can see the tragedies that the colonial feudal society caused to an honest and kind people. heal.
The real value in that short story is a reflection of the law in our country during the French colonial period, honest people were pushed down the road by society to become impoverished hooligans, into a devil and unable to be saved. back to being human again. All of the above is clearly shown through the tragic life of the character Chi Pheo.
The author’s way of opening the story also contributes to expressing the reality of life in those years. Chi Pheo appeared with the look of a drunk man cursing while walking. That’s how he communicates with the people around him. But no one talked about Chi, they didn’t accept Chi Pheo when he cursed Vu Dai village. When he was drunk, Chi cursed “beginning he cursed the heavens, there’s no such thing as heaven’s own family, then he cursed life, Life is everything, but it’s no one. When he got angry, he cursed the whole village of Vu Dai, but everyone in Vu Dai village thought it would leave me alone.” Just like that, just a drunk guy with three dogs makes the whole village noisy. That bitter sentence helps us to see that Chi was originally a human being but compared to three dogs. What Chi said, no one answered. People do not consider Chi to be human.
From a young age, Chi was born with great tragedy. As a newborn baby, she was abandoned by her mother. The lice were only wrapped in a towel, the purple people cut them off and left them in the old brick kiln. Although he was fortunate to be saved by a farmer to bring Chi to life, Chi’s life was not bright at all. Living in a poor land but “real fighting fish” Chi was adopted by a person, but because of poverty, Chi also had to go to live in other people’s houses. Chi is an unhappy person.
Not only did his childhood lack parental love until he grew up, he still couldn’t escape the tragedy. Chi grew up to be a gentle and healthy guy. Chi stayed for Ba Kien’s family, but Ba Kien’s grandmother always liked Chi to give him a massage. One bad thing is that she kept squeezing high and high. I only see humiliation but no love. Then Ba Kien discovered and pushed the honest guy into a colonial prison. So Chi’s life of poverty but peace ended quickly.
Chi went to prison to the door of the colonial prison that dyed his soul black. He was no longer a healthy and honest young man, but became a demon. People see him wherever he is and stay away. Nam Cao successfully described Chi Pheo’s appearance in prison. This is the white tooth, the shaved head, the face is curved up, the eyes are glazed. The outfit that Chi wears is a pair of black sow pants and a yellow shirt.
Not only that, the image of the general holding a mace is also tattooed on his arm. So he doesn’t look like an honest person anymore. From here on, Chi’s life spanned on drunkenness, eating while drunk, sleeping while drunk, slashing his face while drunk. Chi became an effective henchman of Ba Kien. And in the end, Chi still can’t be human. Until his death, no one in Vu Dai village considered Chi a human being. It is perhaps the most painful mental tragedy that a human being has to endure. Living is a human life but not a full human life.
Not only stating the law that an honest farmer was deprived of his right to be a writer, but also strongly denounced the feudal colonial regime that robbed honest farmers of their human rights. That society turned Chi into a demon and absolutely did not allow him to return to being a human. Only death is left to end that demonic life, but it is impossible to return to being a human.
Chi Pheo has gone through so much time and is still a favorite work of readers. It is not attractive by clichéd rhetoric, not picky characters, but only with humanitarian values and profound reality that Chi Pheo has attracted so many generations of readers. Indeed, writer Nam Cao has had great merit in reflecting the fate of farmers in the old society.

Reference #4
As a writer loyal to realism, as well as contemporary foot-description writers, Nam Cao is primarily interested in deeply expressing the plight of the oppressed poor, including Chi Pheo. The work leaves a strong impression on the picture of rural social life. That is the hierarchical system of Vu Dai village; is the impression of the closed state of the feudal village. In particular, it exposed the complex social relationships of reality, and faithfully described the real relationships (Angels). At the same time, it is love for people who are pushed on the path of alienation and rejection by society. That is the real and humanitarian value of Chi Pheo.
Nam Cao is considered a farmer’s writer first of all because he has Chi Pheo. Chi Pheo has the scope of reflected reality spanning both the breadth of space and the length of time. Vu Dai village in the work is the epitome of contemporary Vietnamese peasant society.
Nam Cao’s pen was sharp when he outlined the relationship between the real state of the powerful. Not because the land of Vu Dai village has a real fighting position like the geography teacher said, so the strongmen divided into five opposing rafts and seven wings, but because they are a school of fish fighting for bait, the bait is delicious, but five raft seven termites. On the outside, they are kind to each other, but inside they want each other to fail. This is a regular phenomenon in the countryside, profoundly affecting social life – flies and mosquitoes have to die unjustly when buffaloes and cows butt each other.
Constructing a social picture in the countryside, Nam Cao first focused on highlighting the class conflict between powerful landowners and oppressed peasants – reflecting the rural reality on the level of class conflict. It creates great cognitive value and critical power.
Nam Cao has built a typical image of the ruling class in the countryside: Ba Kien – a powerful old fox with a very luxurious voice, Cao Cao’s smile shows his wicked and wise nature. And the dirty character of the old fairy only: jealousy, Ba Kien pondered about the profession of domination, drawn the motto: soft, snake loose, clinging to the hairy guy, whoever clings to the bald guy, first is afraid of his brother. hero, the second is afraid of those who try to risk their lives… With the policy: take the bull-headed guy to treat the bull-headed guy, employ the bad guys, not afraid of death, not afraid of going to jail.
Nam Cao did not go into the problem of tax collection, rent, and corruption, but in Chi Pheo Nam Cao went into the aspect: the farmer was destroyed in spirit by society, destroyed in humanity, denied his status as a human being. . Chi Pheo’s suffering is not that Chi Pheo’s life is just zero: no home, no parents, no relatives, no land to plant… but it’s that Chi Pheo is socialized. society slit the face, robbed the soul, was excluded from human society, lived a demonic life.
At the beginning of the work is the image of Chi Pheo cursing while walking. But behind the portrait of the drunkard there is something like the struggle of a painful, desperate soul. Chi Pheo’s cursing is not necessarily indifferent. Although he was drunk, he still vaguely understood the suffering of his identity. Chi Pheo is a typical example of a part of the old peasants who were pushed into the path of vulcanization. Chi Pheo is first and foremost a regular phenomenon of brutal oppression and exploitation in rural Vietnam. At now. It was a phenomenon where the peasants, who were too repressed, fought back to survive by means of delinquents. Miserable Nam Cao who gained existence by selling his dignity had become a blind force easily exploited by the rulers. Therefore, Chi Pheo from the place of risking death with his father and son, with only words and a few dollars, became his new henchman. The great denouncing power of Chi Pheo’s image firstly highlights the regular phenomenon that takes place in the countryside – the phenomenon of holocaust. But the general meaning of the image of Chi Pheo is at a higher level: destruction, humanity in a cruel society that does not allow people to be human.
Nam Cao’s Chi Pheo is highly appreciated for its denunciation value. Through the fate of Chi Pheo, Nam Cao deeply reflected the reality of Vietnamese society at that time and the reality of farmers being persecuted, suppressed and silently endured and despaired, recklessly reacting to extremes. Nam Cao also expressed his sympathy and love for the farmers who were pushed into the path of debauchery, discovering their inherent good nature. But like the realist writers of the time, he could not find a way out for his characters. Later, by way of revolution, To Hoai and Kim Lan found their own characters a direction.

Reference #1
Talking about farmers in the old society, it is impossible not to mention the work Chi Pheo by writer Nam Cao. He built typical characters, Chi Pheo and Thi No, to visualize the peasants living in poverty and suffering under the cruel rule of the feudal colonialists. With his honest writing style and sharp pen, Nam Cao has brought readers a work of profound realism value.
Realistic values are truths that are reflected through characters and events that the author mentions. In Chi Pheo, Nam Cao has built a Chi Pheo with cruel turning points and a town so bad that ghosts hate it, but it is she who has a strong influence on Chi Pheo. Chi Pheo was taken advantage of by Ba Kien’s lewd father, and then sent to prison. Chi held the hatred that followed him throughout the years of imprisonment. Released from prison, Chi became the devil of Vu Dai village, holding a drunken bottle all day. Chi goes where he curses. Unknowingly, Chi fell into the hands of Ba Kien and became an effective henchman for him, specializing in stabbing and slashing for him. Chi became “famous” making everyone afraid. After the night of accidentally meeting Thi No by the banana tree, the two stayed together as husband and wife. Her bowl of porridge is like a noble and beautiful grace that Chi has received for the first time in her entire life. But after a few days, Thi listened to her aunt and turned to reject Chi. Chi suffered and fell into despair again. In anger, Chi took a knife to Ba Kien’s house, killed him, and then committed suicide.
Perhaps the writer is also very sad, very painful when generalizing the cruel fate of the farmer through the character Chi Pheo. As a writer, he has no shortage of flowery words. But for him, literature is the place to tell the truth, not to polish the truth. Chi is an orphan. Chi is also very gentle, working hard to earn a living. But the unjust society and the wicked class did not allow Chi to live peacefully in his life as a farmer. Chi was sent to prison. Resentment at being unjustly imprisoned caused Chi to change his personality and appearance. Chi was released from prison with the appearance of a “hardcore” guy and was perceived by Nam Cao with the three words “looks disgusting”. Chi is tattooed, his face is full, his head is shaved, his teeth are white… Those words are enough to show that Chi is now in the shape of a “bad boy”. Moreover, Chi was still in a constant drunkenness. Chi goes where he curses. But no one bothered to respond to Chi’s curse. Chi just wanted someone to say a word to let him know that he was still considered human. But only the sound of dogs barking loudly and the sound of children playing and teasing Chi. It seems that Chi was removed from human society.
The image of Chi at this time is the image of impoverished farmers like Chi. They fall into difficult circuTaxances, reach the end and lose their own personality. Thereby, Nam Cao wanted to expose the crimes of the feudal colonialists who pushed the peasants into this situation. If not pushed to prison, Chi is still a very honest, gentle and hardworking person. Chi still lives as a hired worker to support himself. And if society didn’t have prejudice against those returning from prison, perhaps Chi would not have to drown in drunkenness, nor would he have to scream out bitter curses to expect someone to respond to his words, to Chi knows that Chi is still considered a real person. But the nature of society at that time was too cruel, too inhuman. Chi has become the devil, they still do not forgive.
Although Chi was able to meet Thi No, it was just a situation for Nam Cao to lead Chi’s footsteps to Ba Kien’s house, killing him to erase some of the anger in his heart. Thi No is also a typical character for the farmer. Although the market is crazy, ugly, ugly enough to hate the devil, it is the most rudimentary features of nature. The Creator did not favor her appearance, but put her great kindness in her heart. Thi and Chi accidentally met each other in the dark. After the passion of the flesh, the love in the two poorest people of society rekindled and became a blazing fire. Chi was given a bowl of onion porridge by the market, which Chi never dared to dream of in his whole life. Chi lives in the middle of life, but perhaps this is the first time Chi is sober and feels the flavors of everyday life. So simple but so beautiful. The sound of rowing boats, birds singing, people going to the market to talk to each other… Those sounds were never there, but today Chi only noticed. The details of Chi’s short love affair reflected a truth about the nature of the farmer. No matter how much bitterness they have to go through, in the end honesty always exists, it’s just that there are times when it is drowned out by life circuTaxances. It was Thi No that revived Chi’s essence. But it was also Thi who pushed Chi into the dead end again when she refused Chi’s feelings.
This event tells a bitter truth about prejudice, about the opinion of Vu Dai villagers towards people who have been corrupted like Chi. They looked at Chi with disdain and they no longer considered Chi a person. Although she was in love with Chi before, she had a feeling of love when she engraved the two words husband and wife, but because she was just an unmarried and crazy woman. Moreover, she was taken over by her aunt. The painful truth of being rejected by her lover made Chi fall into extreme pain. Thought that life would be peaceful from now on, but tragedy came again. The last little hope of Chi was quickly extinguished by the prejudice of society. At this time, Chi decided to go to Ba Kien’s house, kill him and then take his own life.
Ba Kien and his whole family represent the cruel and inhuman ruling class. It was they who took advantage of honest farmers like Chi, turning them into demons and no longer having the opportunity to return to being human, causing them to go to a dead end and eventually to death. But as a reckless and experienced person like Chi, death is no longer a fear. Chi died, but before he died, he wanted to bring along the person who made him this miserable.
As for Thi, even though she was crazy, when Chi died she was still awake enough to look down at her stomach and think of an abandoned brick kiln. Nam Cao did not continue to write, but the reader still understood her intention. And the child in her womb will be a baby Chi Pheo. The life of a farmer still has many people to suffer. Chi Pheo’s death is not the end. Ba Kien died and still had Ly Cuong. He is even more cold and cruel than Ba Kien. It is too easy for Nam Cao to write a happy ending, but he appreciates the truth, and he also wants to expose the truth about contemporary society so that readers can see that the life of a farmer is very hard. They both have to cope with life for a living, while trying to uphold their dignity. Many people have fallen before the situation, fell into the path of sin and have lost their personality like Chi.
With the art of building typical characters and realistic, emotional lyrics, the writer has depicted the real life of poor farmers in the old society. At the same time, he also denounced the feudal colonialists for cruelly pushing the peasants into a miserable life. They not only exploited the money and labor of the poor, but also trampled on their souls and noble personalities, turning them into demons in the middle of life.
