Top 9 essays about the image of holding a finger leaf in To Hoai’s “A Phu couple” (grade 12) the best

The image of “finger leaf” appears three times in the work and is only associated with the character Me – an honest, beautiful, talented highland girl, but her life is full of misfortunes. I appeared with a gloomy opening image: “Who comes back from afar… has a daughter. It’s always the same… sad face”. That is also To Hoai’s style: Straight to the point, stating the character right away. A gloomy appearance signals a not-so-bright reality. The parallel presence between “girl – ship – rock” shows the equality between the subjects: “man and animal, animal and inanimate”. Or that is also the author’s intention to refer to the contemporary society. This gray reality is the consequence of the corrupt feudal colonialism, the tragic outcome of benign people. Me – a highland girl who is overflowing with youth – on the night of the passionate spring festival, her pink life ended. She was tied up like an ox and forced to go home to the governor of Pa Tra to “offer ghosts” as a commodity. What people did in her life, she really didn’t know at that time, until A Su stood in front of her father and claimed to have sacrificed to ghosts, then she was already a family member of the governor! A free fall, a really straight whip. I went from a life as beautiful as a picture to the depths of hell – where others live by the sound of groans and breathe the smell of blood, but every step is a humiliation to the extreme. I live worse than death, living like a corpse in a life of animals and then “there is oppression and struggle”.

She looked for her old father, holding a leaf in her hand. The “finger leaf” first appeared as a black exit. This is the shortest and most effective way out. But it is an exit for those who want to end the grim present, not an exit for those who want to turn a new page. Obviously, this is fierce but hopeless resistance – a form of passive resistance. And the appearance of “finger leaf” at this time has a high denunciation meaning: The barbarism of society forces honest people to seek death. It is also the embodiment of the suffering of the people, the accumulation of bitterness, pain and resentment. She plopped down on the ground holding the leaves she’d picked herself in the woods as a pre-preparedness, throwing them in tears. Finding the palm leaf – the poison of the green forest – was the courage of a girl. But throwing away the poison to continue living in misery is even more courageous. For me, it’s better to die than to live in shame, but then I’d rather live in humiliation than be unfilial. It is filial piety that is the noble and beautiful bravery of a young girl. Doc is also the key reason for Vuong Thuy Kieu’s courage to sell himself to redeem his father in “Duong Tan Thanh” by the great poet Nguyen Du. Both girls are talented, beautiful and have great dignity, which ends up because of the corrupt evil regime, the unfortunate paradises born at the wrong time, the petals drifting in the storm. Such “finger leaf” has brought a layer of human meaning, although it represents death itself.

Finger leaves, now no longer follow my mind. Because “in suffering for a long time, I am used to suffering”. In that girl, there was no sense of wanting to protest, to struggle, no longer to want to die. But it was the drunken yeast of wine and the love of scenes that aroused in Me the emotions, senses, memories and aspirations that seemed to have been lost. I feel like reliving the night before, “I’m still young, I want to go out”. But when I woke up in reality, looking at my identity, I was in pain again. “If I had a handful of leaves in my hand, I would eat it to death right away, not thinking about it anymore.” When suffering was the most bitter, when I wanted to die the most, I found a leaf. But here, even while life has returned, the desire to live is rekindling in my heart, I still turn towards the palm leaves – towards death. Palm leaf here is the highest expression of life, of the desire to live, so “Human”, being himself, lives with his youth and love. Thus, the palm leaves are the embodiment of life, of liberation, of final liberation. Like how Thuy Kieu chose to end her own life to keep the word “Tet” or Chi Pheo took her own life to refuse to return to a life of alienation and abandonment by her fellow men.

By the third appearance, the thought of eating a handful of leaves reappeared in my mind on the night of spring love. Listening to the flute “sweetly hot”, “floating outside”, I whispered the lyrics and realized that I was young, I also wanted to go out but this reality did not give me the opportunity to go out. , being out there to feel the spring vitality of the sky and the landscape, immersing in the joyful spring atmosphere, bustling with sounds. Thinking that, I once again wanted to eat fingerling leaves. The details of the leaves at this time have highlighted the tragedy and suffering of My life. At the same time, the details also implicitly confirm that the sense of identity, the right to life, the right to freedom and happiness has not really died out. That vitality and longing are still smoldering in my heart and soul, but have not had the opportunity to explode to help me escape reality.

Just a small detail but says more than it. Lying on the palm leaves is a symbol of human extremes and despair. Holding the same leaf is the embodiment of the desire to live intensely, to live sincerely and to be yourself. It is both beautiful but painful, it tends to optimism but has to choose pessimism as the final solution. Thereby is a voice of mercy for fate, not only women but also people who are still suffering injustice and suffering of the old society; strong voice of condemnation and denunciation. It becomes a warning siren for the pleas of the compatriots who want to find a way to be free, long to find a better way. That is the premise for the writer to skillfully assert that the most sustainable path is the path of self-discovery and self-liberation, the best choice is to stand up for yourself, so that the Revolution can lead. Even the smallest details, under the hands of a talented artist, are meticulously sculpted and described, thereby highlighting the ideological meaning of the story.

The image of “finger leaf” appears three times in the work and is only associated with the character Me – an honest, beautiful, talented highland girl, but her life is full of misfortunes.

She looked for her old father, holding a leaf in her hand. The “finger leaf” first appeared as a black exit. This is the shortest and most effective way out. But it is an exit for those who want to end the grim present, not an exit for those who want to turn a new page. Obviously, this is fierce but hopeless resistance – a form of passive resistance. And the appearance of “finger leaf” at this time has a high denunciation meaning: The barbarism of society forces honest people to seek death. It is also the embodiment of the suffering of the people, the accumulation of bitterness, pain and resentment. She plopped down on the ground holding the leaves she’d picked herself in the woods as a pre-preparedness, throwing them in tears. Finding the palm leaf – the poison of the green forest – was the courage of a girl. But throwing away the poison to continue living in misery is even more courageous. For me, it’s better to die than to live in shame, but then I’d rather live in humiliation than be unfilial. It is filial piety that is the noble and beautiful bravery of a young girl. Doc is also the key reason for Vuong Thuy Kieu’s courage to sell himself to redeem his father in “Duong Tan Thanh” by the great poet Nguyen Du. Both girls are talented, beautiful and have great dignity, which ends up because of the corrupt evil regime, the unfortunate paradises born at the wrong time, the petals drifting in the storm. Such “finger leaf” has brought a layer of human meaning, although it represents death itself.

Finger leaves, now no longer follow my mind. Because “in suffering for a long time, I am used to suffering”. In that girl, there was no sense of wanting to protest, to struggle, no longer to want to die. But it was the drunken yeast of wine and the love of scenes that aroused in Me the emotions, senses, memories and aspirations that seemed to have been lost. I feel like reliving the night before, “I’m still young, I want to go out”. But when I woke up in reality, looking at my identity, I was in pain again. “If I had a handful of leaves in my hand, I would eat it to death right away, not thinking about it anymore.” When suffering was the most bitter, when I wanted to die the most, I found a leaf. But here, even while life has returned, the desire to live is rekindling in my heart, I still turn towards the palm leaves – towards death. Palm leaf here is the highest expression of life, of the desire to live, so “Human”, being himself, lives with his youth and love. Thus, the palm leaves are the embodiment of life, of liberation, of final liberation. Like how Thuy Kieu chose to end her own life to keep the word “Tet” or Chi Pheo took her own life to refuse to return to a life of alienation and abandonment by her fellow men.

By the third appearance, the thought of eating a handful of leaves reappeared in my mind on the night of spring love. Listening to the flute “sweetly hot”, “floating outside”, I whispered the lyrics and realized that I was young, I also wanted to go out but this reality did not give me the opportunity to go out. , being out there to feel the spring vitality of the sky and the landscape, immersing in the joyful spring atmosphere, bustling with sounds. Thinking that, I once again wanted to eat fingerling leaves. The details of the leaves at this time have highlighted the tragedy and suffering of My life. At the same time, the details also implicitly confirm that the sense of identity, the right to life, the right to freedom and happiness has not really died out. That vitality and longing are still smoldering in my heart and soul, but have not had the opportunity to explode to help me escape reality.

Just a small detail but says more than it. Lying on the palm leaves is a symbol of human extremes and despair. Holding the same leaf is the embodiment of the desire to live intensely, to live sincerely and to be yourself. It is both beautiful but painful, it tends to optimism but has to choose pessimism as the final solution. Thereby is a voice of mercy for fate, not only women but also people who are still suffering injustice and suffering of the old society; strong voice of condemnation and denunciation. It becomes a warning siren for the pleas of the compatriots who want to find a way to be free, long to find a better way. That is the premise for the writer to skillfully assert that the most sustainable path is the path of self-discovery and self-liberation, the best choice is to stand up for yourself, so that the Revolution can lead. Even the smallest details, under the hands of a talented artist, are meticulously sculpted and described, thereby highlighting the ideological meaning of the story.

As one of the elite writers of Vietnamese literature, with a deep and wide understanding, sophistication in observation, experience and unique expression, writer To Hoai has won the hearts of many readers. generations. “A Phu couple” is a unique short story written in 1953 by many readers interested and loved. The detail of finger-holding in the work is considered an impressive artistic detail that affirms the value of the work and the position of the writer.

“Small details make a great writer”, is a famous statement by the great Russian poet Maxim Gorki when talking about artistic details in literature. Genuine writers and poets have established their position based on many factors, one of which is the successful construction of impressive and meaningful literary details. Detail is not a strange concept to life literature, in the “Vietnamese Dictionary”, “detail” is defined as “a very small part, a small point in the content of an event or phenomenon. In literature, when defining it, literary critic Tran Dinh Su defines it: “Details are the details of a work that carry great emotional and ideological capacity. Depending on the specific expression, artistic details have the ability to express, explain, clarify the writer’s four artistic structures, become the focus and convergence point of the author’s thoughts in the work…” . In the short story “The A Phu couple”, the detail of holding a finger leaf is considered an artistic mark showing the penmanship and profound thought of writer To Hoai.

Throughout the pages of the “A Phu couple”, the detail of holding a finger leaf appears three times and especially all appearances are associated with the character Me. In the first appearance, Mi held a palm leaf to worship her father to die after living a miserable life in the house of governor Pa Tra under the noble name – the daughter-in-law of a rich family in the village. Talking about the character of My, the writer has sketched out before the reader’s eyes a portrait of a beautiful, young Northwest girl with full of vitality but the violent power and oppression of the lord of the land. High and the consequences of the customs pushed that girl into a tragedy of her own life. Because my parents ate the money of the rich in a previous life, in this life, people forced their children to pay off their debts, so reluctantly, I had to go back to be A Su’s wife, and to be the wife of the governor of Pa Tra. The days of being a mandarin with Me were like a buffalo body, a horse body, so “for several months, I cried every night”. I went to the forest to pick a handful of leaves and then went home to bow to my father to die, but if I die, my debt will still be there, my father is old and can’t work to pay the debt, so I can’t bear it. I threw a handful of leaves on the ground, and this is the first time To Hoai mentioned the details of this leaf – a poisonous leaf of the mountains that can cause death.

When I felt that I couldn’t get rid of the chains and damned the governor, I chose to eat leaves to end my own life. That action represents the fierce resistance of consciousness, is the expression of the burning desire for freedom and happiness in Me. However, my own will could not overcome the ties with duty, filial piety, and the way of being a child, so I had to “throw a fistful of fingers on the ground”. Because of her filial piety to her father, I accepted to return to continue living the days of suffering and torment like a child in a servant of the governor’s house.

In another appearance, the details of the leaves in my mind are different, that is, I no longer think about eating the leaves to commit suicide. To Hoai wrote: “Staying in misery for a long time, I’m used to suffering. I nodded, not thinking anymore. Every day I don’t talk anymore, retreating like a turtle raised in a corner.” This detail has shown resignation, accepting patiently to live the life of slavery in the governor’s house. Having been suppressed for a long time, my resistance seems to be gradually numb.

By the third appearance, the thought of eating a handful of leaves reappeared in my mind on the night of spring love. Listening to the flute “sweetly hot”, “floating outside”, I whispered the lyrics and realized that I was young, I also wanted to go out but this reality did not give me the opportunity to go out. , being out there to feel the spring vitality of the sky and the landscape, immersing in the joyful spring atmosphere, bustling with sounds. Thinking that, I once again wanted to eat fingerling leaves. The details of the leaves at this time have highlighted the tragedy and suffering of My life. At the same time, the details also implicitly confirm that the sense of identity, the right to life, the right to freedom and happiness has not really died out. That vitality and longing are still smoldering in my heart and soul, but have not had the opportunity to explode to help me escape reality.

The details of the hand-holding of the author To Hoai’s fingers have honestly and deeply portrayed the dark and miserable life of the character Me. Along with sympathy and sharing with the characters, readers also seem to be more indignant at the brutality of the Muong lords. My reactions and thoughts to the appearance of the palm leaf image have shown an extremely rich and complex inner life and a strong desire for life, freedom, and potential happiness. Along with other artistic details in the work, the detail of holding a finger leaf has contributed to expressing the creative talent and subtlety and depth of writer To Hoai.

Referring to works such as De Men adventure diary, surely none of us would not immediately think of a talented writer, an old man in that literary profession, To Hoai. Anyone who loves To Hoai knows that he has a lot of love for people, so every page of his writing is always imbued with a kind heart, a passionate breath of lessons and life meaning. And surely, we can’t help but remember the short story on the Northwest that is A Phu and his wife. To Hoai spent his pen to make the most humane cries, and to describe that, we are still impressed with the image of holding a finger in the story.

It is still said: “Details are the golden dust of the work” a good and excellent work, an excellent writer and excellent style, certainly in his stories, it is impossible not to have meaningful details. So that when the author is gone forever, when it comes to artistic details, we immediately think of their work and talented pen. Coming to the A Phu couple, we heard To Hoai tell about the precarious fate of two destinies. Imprisoned in the dungeon of backward customs, feudal lords, harsh and barbaric henchmen. A Phu couple’s short story was composed when To Hoai had a trip to visit the far Northwest region, and here, through his lens, he highlighted the fate of a mountainous girl named Me.

Grasp the leaf is an image that has appeared three times in the work, each time carrying a different meaning, but all are hidden meanings of the author that have highlighted the aspect of Mi’s mood and personality. At the beginning of the story, we can’t forget a girl with the image: “Who is far away… there is a girl. Always… sad face” is such a gloomy image, the daughter of a rich family should have a happy life, but this is what I thought of as an inanimate object, poor soul. and wilted to the point of grief. I was originally a beautiful, talented and hardworking girl, but those precious qualities have been suppressed by contemporary society, like a burning fire, and are suppressed under hardships. excruciating pain, both body and soul. I also feel that I am not as good as a “buffalo and a horse” a buffalo and a horse can still chew grass leisurely, here I do not have a minute to rest, again being tortured by A Su, without affection, life passes is the unhappiness, boredom of the school over and over again, an exit with no end, no destination that seems to repeat over and over again.

But who knows, what that girl was like, the first image of “holding a finger” appeared after Mi was arrested by A Su to “give a ghost” to become a daughter-in-law to cheat the rich. Life was so miserable and cramped with a freedom-loving soul, longing for happiness, so I was in dire straits, grabbed a leaf and picked it up in the forest and ran back to tell my father. But that can’t be, My father said: “You come back and say hello to me so you can die? You’re dead but I still owe you… I’m so sick. I can’t, my son,” although he has a heart for you, but there is no other way, because of the long-standing debt to the rich. So I have to give up, “grasping the fingers” first appears as an image representing a dark escape, although this is the shortest and easiest way out, it is an escape from the present. in a cruel way. But on the other hand, she affirms a beautiful soul of mine, a brave heart, does not want to live like a buffalo and a horse, live but die. This is a fierce but desperate protest of Me. It is also the true embodiment of the oppression, exploitation and barbarism of the harsh feudal system, which torments honest people to the extreme. Then I just covered my face and cried, “I threw a handful of leaves down there, grabbed the leaves that I found and picked in the forest. I’m still hiding in my shirt. So I can’t bear to die”, that’s it, human life has been decided, I accept to be a daughter-in-law to get rid of debt, accept life – life is not as good as my own death. A girl who had the courage to reach for the palm leaves, but more courageous to live with her misery, in the end is still a kind, filial, and brave heart. Feeling sorry for Me, the more I understand To Hoai’s humane heart. And “I have to go back to the governor’s house”

So I saw a light flash in my heart, I found a release for fate, but then accepted to fight alone. Then her old father passed away, now I’m “used to suffering.” I don’t remember the leaves anymore, because at this time, life or death is the same with Me. And what is more painful than when people think of death, but like life, that is when the mind has cooled down. And this is also the second image of “holding a finger leaf”. The image symbolizing the departure of the leaves, the haunting and tormenting thoughts of death are no longer in my mind. I don’t care, I’m used to suffering, and instead of protesting, now I have to endure. The struggle and now the weak fatigue. So the second toenail is the image of leaves leaving, and this is also an implicit cry of the people towards the revolution.

And then the spring love night of any year has arrived. The spring love in the year of Me living at the house of the governor, was different from the previous spring love nights. I reminisce about the past, I gnaw on the inconsolable nagging pain, old melodies, old songs resound, echoing in the memory of my mind like a harp, torment and pain. I realize I’m young, and I want to hang out. I drink alcohol, I keep drinking “bowl by bowl” The more I get drunk, the more I wake up, I remember how I was in the past, I love my own fate now, I am in pain in this “unreal life” scene of mine. very much. So the fistula appeared for the third time, I thought, if I had the fingernail in my hand, I would eat it to death immediately, not bothering to remember it anymore. So the more sad you think, the more sad you are.

So the palm leaf has appeared throughout the story three times, three times with three different meanings. The first time symbolizes an outlet of the soul. The second time is the departure of the palm leaf, I am used to being a servant. The third time appeared again as a glimmer of light, and I wanted to die right away so that I wouldn’t have to live this life of being a buffalo as a horse. Thereby is the self-help and resistance of a young girl’s soul. A beautiful young girl with a beautiful soul, was “born in the wrong time” so she was damned in the confinement of the harsh feudal forces. Thereby also showing a misery of the people in the Northwest of our days before.

So, holding the leaves was an important detail, emphasizing the deeper and more profound suffering of Me. A poison of the mountains and forests is also a liberation, but it cannot be as toxic as the society itself at that time. Thereby, grasping the leaves is also the urgency and request of the people in the highlands towards the revolution. And also a deeply humane heart of To Hoai. Grasping leaves is an important detail, highlighting the story of poor workers in the Northwest.

In the work A Phu Husband and wife by writer To Hoai, the image of holding a finger leaf with 3 appearances is a unique artistic detail, contributing to expressing the deeply humane thought of the work.

The image is associated with the character Me, a filial, beautiful, talented girl who has many misfortunes. My life seems to be extremely happy and free with days of working and playing. But then one day, she was robbed of that freedom by the governor of Pa Tra by kidnapping her and bringing her home as a wife for A Su. Her life lost its freedom and came to a complete standstill. She looked for her old father and held a finger leaf. The image of the palm leaf appeared for the first time as a way to relieve my dark life.

The act of wanting to commit suicide showed a strong and fierce resistance of a freedom-loving highland girl who did not accept her life as a buffalo and horse at the governor’s house. However, this is only a quick and passive form of resistance by Me, not a form of resistance in the long run. She may die, but if she dies, her father will suffer even more. At the same time, the appearance of the palm leaf at this time also brought accusations of the crimes of the governors who pushed honest people into the dead end. The suffering, bitterness, pain and resentment of the people poured into those cruel handfuls of leaves. For her father’s sake, she threw her fistfuls of leaves on the ground and picked them up in the forest as a preparation beforehand. For Me, she would rather lose her freedom than let her parents suffer and grieve. The sufferings piled up when I had to commit to returning to live in shame in the governor’s house. Many years passed, my father also passed away, but my desire to die to be free was no longer there.

The image of holding a finger leaf, even though it is a poison, is my only way to escape from this cruel life is no longer in my mind. Faded leaves represent the cooled desire for life, the fading desire for freedom, and replaced by the resignation of patience: “Staying in suffering for a long time, I’m used to suffering”. I have now completely given up on giving up due to fatigue and despair for so long. The finger leaf appears for the third time with a deeper and more intense meaning layer. The poison of the leaves is still not equal to the evil of society.

Palm leaves become an alarm sign for the urgency and help of the highlanders for the Revolution, which is still too far away and is also the noble human thought that the author wants to convey.

In the words of Professor Nguyen Dang Manh, the details of the short story are like every word in the quartet poem. There are details that play a special role like the title of the poem. Short story by saying the least to say the most. And the “golden luster” of short stories, sometimes, lies in the small details themselves. With what everyone already knows, short stories need not be mentioned. When describing a moonlit night, he doesn’t need to refer to the clear sky, silver clouds, bright moonlight or the sound of music. Just a piece of glittering mussels on the side of the road is enough to know that there is a bright moon. When “cleansing out all the gravel of things, squeezing out all the water of words”, we are left with “golden dust particles”. Through that speck of dust, we can see the sparkling thoughts and values ​​of the writer’s work and artistic ideas. A small ivy leaf with O. Henry can also become a “precious dust” cast on a “golden rose”. And a handful of toenail leaves is enough for To Hoai to paint in the most honest and profound way a picture of people’s fate and aspiration to live.

The episode “Tay Tay Bac” is the crop harvested from To Hoai’s field trip to the Northwest in 1952. It can be said: “The country and the people of the West have loved and missed me so much, I can’t say enough. now forget…” not only reminded the artist of the day he returned, but also “must give back to those loved ones” “a heart of mine, something that recreates the whole life of the honest and sincere H’mong people…” . With that sincere heart, “A Phu couple” was born. Reading the short story “A Phu couple”, we cannot forget the “sad” face of Mi. It was a face that seemed resigned, losing all its vitality. That sad face is not the first face of my life. I grew up, beautiful with many happy aspirations. But it was the feudal customs that made the other girl forget her hopeful face and become confused, not even happy, sunny, green and grassy. And the palm leaf has followed me through that dark journey.

The image of holding a finger leaf was described by To Hoai twice in his work. Me, a beautiful, talented girl, “holding leaves in her hand, blowing leaves is as good as playing a flute”, is in the days full of spring and aspiration, suddenly becoming a “debt-wielding daughter-in-law” for the rich. From a bird used to singing, flying and dancing with the sky, I became the body of a working horse, just like a “turtle in a corner”. The reason is: “Parents ate money from rich people in their previous lives, now people force their children to pay off their debts”. My reaction was “For several months, I cried every night”. It is non-cooperation, unwillingness to compromise with the present life. And the climax is the action of Mi “kneeling, face down, sobbing” to say goodbye to her father and eat a handful of leaves in her hand. Palm leaf first appeared, is the only way I can think of to escape the current dark and cramped life. It is both the highest expression of resistance, the attitude of refusing to live in darkness, not to lose youth and youth; but also the highest expression of despair when having to choose death as the last way to live. It’s just passive resistance, in the end. It is the fistful of leaves in My hand that is the strongest voice denouncing the regime of the Muong lords for exploiting human labor. But because of her love for her father, she threw a handful of leaves to the ground and returned to her life as a “daughter-in-law to get rid of debt”, living the life of an inanimate herb that doesn’t want to be happy with the sun, green and wind.

Finger leaves, now no longer follow my mind. Because “in suffering for a long time, I am used to suffering”. In that girl, there was no sense of wanting to protest, to struggle, no longer to want to die. But it was the drunken yeast of wine and the love of scenes that aroused in Me the emotions, senses, memories and aspirations that seemed to have been lost. I feel like reliving the night before, “I’m still young, I want to go out”. But when I woke up in reality, looking at my identity, I was in pain again. “If I had a handful of leaves in my hand, I would eat it to death right away, not thinking about it anymore.” When suffering was the most bitter, when I wanted to die the most, I found a leaf. But here, even while life has returned, the desire to live is rekindling in my heart, I still turn towards the palm leaves – towards death. Palm leaf here is the highest expression of life, of the desire to live, so “Human”, being himself, lives with his youth and love. Thus, the palm leaves are the embodiment of life, of liberation, of final liberation. Like how Thuy Kieu chose to end her own life to keep the word “Tet” or Chi Pheo took her own life to refuse to return to a life of alienation and abandonment by her fellow men.

Just a small detail but says more than it. Lying on the palm leaves is a symbol of human extremes and despair. Holding the same leaf is the embodiment of the desire to live intensely, to live sincerely and to be yourself. It is both beautiful but painful, it tends to optimism but has to choose pessimism as the final solution. Thereby is a voice of mercy for fate, not only women but also people who are still suffering injustice and suffering of the old society; strong voice of condemnation and denunciation. It becomes a warning siren for the pleas of the compatriots who want to find a way to be free, long to find a better way. That is the premise for the writer to skillfully assert that the most sustainable path is the path of self-discovery and self-liberation, the best choice is to stand up for yourself, so that the Revolution can lead. Even the smallest details, under the hands of a talented artist, are meticulously sculpted and described, thereby highlighting the ideological meaning of the story.

To Hoai for Vietnamese literature is a great author right from such small details.

To Hoai is one of the outstanding writers of Vietnamese literature. Perhaps because of his rich life and experience, he was able to write good pages even though he had just finished primary school. But his works are usually short stories and autographs about nature and country life. In 1952, during an eight-month trip to live with the Northwestern people, To Hoai released a collection of stories “Northwest”, featuring the work “A Phu couple” and from there, the “finger leaf” image. become one of the typical artistic details, carrying many layers of meaning and leaving a deep impression in the minds of Vietnamese readers.

Like the label in a poem, the artistic detail has an extremely important artistic position for the prose work, it can capture the soul of the work. And even though time has passed and the author is no more, when it comes to artistic details, the content of the work will be recalled. That’s like not wasting people lying down. The short story “A Phu couple” was composed when To Hoai participated in the resistance war, an operating base in the Northwest highlands. The story is the humiliating life of Me and A Phu – two lives with almost the same unfortunate fate, representing the miserable lives under the cruel rule of the feudal colonialists. They met, liberated themselves and came to the Revolution as a matter of course, symbolizing the path to the Revolution, liberation and freedom of the people in the Northwest highlands.

The image of “finger leaf” appears three times in the work and is only associated with the character Me – an honest, beautiful, talented highland girl but her life is full of misfortunes. I appeared with a gloomy opening image: “Who is far away…has a daughter. It’s always the same… sad face”. That is also To Hoai’s style: Straight to the point, stating the character right away. A gloomy appearance signals a not-so-bright reality. The parallel presence between “girl – ship – rock” shows the equality between the subjects: “man and animal, animal and inanimate”. Or that is also the author’s intention to refer to the contemporary society. This gray reality is the corollary of the corrupt feudal colonialism, the tragic outcome of benign people. Me – a highland girl who is full of youth – on the night of the passionate spring festival, her pink life ended. She was tied up like an ox and forced to go home to the governor of Pa Tra to “offer ghosts” as a commodity. What people did with her life, she really didn’t know at that time, until A Su stood in front of her father and claimed to have sacrificed to a ghost, then she was already a family member of the governor! A free fall, a really straight whip. I went from life as beautiful as a picture to the depths of hell – where others lived by the sound of groans and breathed the scent of blood, but every step was a humiliation to the extreme. It is not equal to dying, living like a corpse in a life of cattle and then “there is oppression and struggle”. She looked for her old father, holding a leaf in her hand. The “finger leaf” first appeared as a black exit. This is the shortest and most effective way out. But it is an exit for those who want to end the grim present, not an exit for those who want to turn to a new page.

Obviously, this is fierce but hopeless resistance – a form of passive resistance. And the appearance of “finger leaf” at this time carries a high denunciation meaning: The barbarism of society forces honest people to seek death. It is also the embodiment of the suffering of the people, the accumulation of bitterness, pain and resentment. She plopped down on the ground holding the leaves she had picked herself in the forest as a pre-preparedness, throwing them in tears. Finding the palm leaf – the poison of the green forest – is the courage of a girl. But throwing away the poison to continue living in misery is even more courageous. For me, it’s better to die than to live in shame, but then I’d rather live in humiliation than be unfilial. It is filial piety that is the noble and beautiful bravery of a young girl. Doc is also the key reason for Vuong Thuy Kieu’s courage to sell himself to redeem his father in “Duong Tan Thanh” by the great poet Nguyen Du. Both girls are talented, beautiful and have great dignity, which ends up because of the corrupt evil regime, the unfortunate paradises born at the wrong time, the petals drifting in the storm. Such “finger leaf” has brought a layer of human meaning, although it represents death itself.

We can see the determination and a little light in My heart as she reaches for the palm leaf with the thought that she has found a way out. But at the same time, she also realized her pain when she saw that it was not the right time and that escape once again slipped out of hand. But then every pain must pass after the time limit. I returned, continued to live for the rest of my life with humiliation. Many years have passed, the old father – the only relative also passed away, but the urge to liberate in his chest is now gone. I no longer think about fighting because life or death is not important to her right now and of course “finger leaf” is no longer lingering in my sleeping mind.

That is the second appearance of the “finger leaf” because in this time, the “finger leaf” appears by leaving. Faded leaves represent the cooled desire for life. The obsession with death no longer gnaws the soul for the freedom of reason. But for me, it’s scary! “Staying in misery for a long time, I’m used to suffering.” Gradually replacing “resistance” is “accepting to endure”. A girl with the courage to pick poison for herself now surrenders to accept. She gave up not because she tried to accept it, the shareholders agreed, but that drift was the end of a lonely, persistent self-struggle that ended in fatigue and despair that fell on her weak shoulders. . So, the other “finger leaf” is secretly calling on behalf of the people towards the Revolution. I don’t know when, I turned into Pa Tra’s housework like a machine and until the buffalo and horses returned to the barn, she still stood there and continued forever. Always like that, sitting alone in a dark room looking out at a white square block that doesn’t know “of dew or sunshine”, I always stare at her. That look was both longing and reminiscent. If I consider the square hole in the room as the dividing line between prison and freedom, at least every time I look into it, I still have some desire to live. As for “finger leaf”, thinking about it is thinking about death and only when I want to end my life, the palm leaf is the first default image that appears.

Then tonight, the night of spring love comes again – the night of sweet love, the night of loving emotions prepared in advance by “flower dresses hanging on the cliff” or the night pictured by the sound of music. love flute. The Spring Festival night still comes and goes like every year. And this year, when the time comes again, the long-awaited night comes again. It arrived still with its beautiful appearance and sweet nature. Still the same green forest, still the old mountainside, but the sender is different. This spring night without peach cheeks. The old flute still flies carefree with the wind and clouds, looking for a lover who has been absent for a long time. Then as if resenting, as if not wanting to go, the sound of the flute kept ringing in the girl’s ear like nostalgia and hesitation. Like a miracle, the lips that seemed to have been sealed by this time moved something! What’s that? Oh, the old song – the passionate song with the golden forest music. That image is so sad. The girl captivated so many boys, the flower of the majestic mountains disappeared every day in the cruel night. For now, only the singing of the old days remains. I’m singing, trying to sing to bring back golden emotional memories. After countless days of living as a slave, I still remember every song and every song. Proving in her, the golden lipstick does not close. Past and reality are two opposite peaks and living in the past in the midst of a talented reality, I’m yearning for so much, her heart is still sobbing. The memory that comes next gives me courage, the courage to exist makes me want to live in the memory and she turns to alcohol to continue the path against time. People drink alcohol, they get drunk, and the more I drink, the more awake I get. I woke up because I remembered my old self and compared to my present self as if I was suddenly startled by what had happened to me for a long time. I woke up because I remembered the cruel treatment of those depraved people for her. Then the sense of individuality rose strongly, but once that consciousness reached its peak, I could not accept the humiliation and pain in this “unhuman life” scene. How can I?! Rescue! Free! I can’t be free of body and… she will be free of spirit, and… the palm leaves appear again.

Who needs for whom and who depends on whom?! When I want to be free, do I go to the palm leaf or when I want to die, the palm leaf appears again? “If I had a handful of leaves in my hand right now, I would eat it to death right away, not thinking about it anymore.” The more you remember, the sadder you are, the more sad you are. It’s better to die than to remember what to do when you are force majeure! Thus, the palm leaves once again appear with the meaning of liberation, liberation from hell on earth. The earthly hell here is not simply the pain of the flesh and the soul when being tortured, but the real hell when you have to live in misery with sweet memories that persist. Taking the meaning to another level is “self-consciousness”. Marking the return of living consciousness, marking the awakening of a soul that seemed to have “died in the living”. Perhaps this appearance of the leaf is the most important, the most powerful. Because, I think about the palm leaves with extreme determination, indignant state and most aware because now, she has nothing to regret, to cling to. The first spring of life – the most beautiful time – is now over, the old father – the endless source of love is no longer there. My heart is now dead. Palm leaf for her is not a poison, but becomes a means, a form, a way to go to another shore without pain, to protest against the limit of contemporary society.

When I look to the palm leaf, I look to death as a self-help and resistance.

We come across similar tragic situations in literature: Thuy Kieu in “Tan Thanh period” committed suicide, though unsuccessfully, to preserve the word “discipline”, refused to dishonor her body, could not continue. continue to exist with dirty society; Chi Pheo, perhaps because he was a man, Chi’s death took place somewhat proactively and had a great impact. Because he stabbed Ba Kien with his own hand – symbolizing ending his life at the bottom of a rotten society and taking his own life – as if being a human being, even though that “beginning” is also the end. all yours. Belonging to the motif of characters with tragic fates, precious people but “born in the wrong time”, Mi is the image of the Northwest highland people living the life of slaves in the society of the feudal colonialists. , as well as people in the lowlands or all over the country when the light of the revolution had not yet shone. I also have my pride, but to protect that pride, she chose toe. And perhaps, it is natural for a lonely girl whose soul is too pure but her position is too small, especially when the light of the revolution has not yet been able to call the distant Hong Ngai.

Excellently dotted green into the chaotic picture of the times, To Hoai brought “finger leaf” from the thousand-year-old poison of the mountains and forests, which is death from nature, now suddenly it is liberation. The finger card appears three times with three layers of deeper and more intense meanings. So the poison of the leaf is still inferior to the poison of society. The more poisonous the leaves are, the more pain they suffer. Palm leaves become an alarm sign for the urgency and help of the highland people for the Revolution, which is still too far away and is also the noble humanitarian thought that the author wants to convey to us through the spirit of the wind. mountains of the far northwest great thousand!

M. Gorki once said: “Small details make a great writer. A great writer must be great even in the small details.” Because details are “gold dust of the work”, “tiny people with huge tasks”, so writers always have to forge sentences and cast words to create expensive details. In A Phu Couple, To Hoai did that by letting the character Me and talking about death: “I think I just sit in that square hole and look until I die”. On the night of spring love, I thought: “If I had a handful of leaves in my hand right now, I would eat it to death”. Through those two details, we will see the movement and unity of the character’s image.

I used to be a beautiful, talented girl with a love of life and a strong desire to live. Ironically, that daughter could not decide to take her own life because of the debt of her parents. Being arrested to the governor’s house as a daughter-in-law to clear the debt, the darkest days of my life began. Under the oppression of power and theocracy, Me became a tool of labor, paralyzed with all emotions and resistance. If in the early days of becoming the governor’s wife, “I cry every night” and still want to commit suicide, “I think I just sit in that square hole and look until I die.” . It seems that I have gotten used to, accepted that life of misery, sadness, sadness, no joy, no happiness. The once-talented Miss Me is now at the mercy of fate, living in a state of indifference and indifference. It is true that when “staying in misery for a long time, I am used to suffering”. The sense of resistance has now been extinguished under the oppression of power and theocracy. Truely reflecting a dark patch in the lives of mountainous people, To Hoai has proven himself to be a “faithful secretary of the times”, the real value of the work thus becomes even more profound. .

However, “what does a writer exist in the world if he is not a sleeper for those on the same road, who are cornered by unlucky fate”. My sense of resistance, which seemed to have been extinguished, returned once again when she thought of death: “If I had a fingernail in my hand right now, I would eat it to death”. Spring in Hong Ngai has awakened all things, awakened the vitality of nature and even in the hearts of people. Now, I am deeply aware of my current situation. The more beautiful the past is, the more bitter the reality is. I think of death as a necessity. Death helps me free myself so that I no longer have to suffer irony and unhappiness. Turns out, my soul is like a coal hidden under the ashes, just a slight breeze will wake up strongly. That resurgence was the first signal, setting the stage for strong resistance behind.

It can be seen that To Hoai was very skillful when using the dialectic of the soul to express the character’s psychology in a natural and logical way. My character’s sense of resistance, although extinguished at times, has never been lost, it just waits for the opportunity to explode strongly. From being enslaved, numbing all emotions, I gradually awakened and rekindled a sense of struggle and resistance. This has highlighted the vitality of the character’s soul as well as the talent in To Hoai’s story-telling pen.

In the realist literature of Vietnam in the period before and after the revolution, there were many talented writers who brightened up the whole nation’s literature. The works are associated with a painful and miserable era of the nation, especially emphasizing the unhappiness and extremes of the peasants and poor intellectuals of the time with the tragic whirlwind of a ruined life. fierce. Some of the famous works such as Chi Pheo, Nam Cao’s Extra Life, Ngo Tat To’s Lights Out, or Kim Lan’s Picked Wife, etc. Come to To Hoai, a talented author with a bright fortune. He also contributed to Vietnamese literature a number of works that reflected the reality of the country during the war years, the most typical of which was the work. String. A work that has pointed out the unfortunate fate of short people in the northern mountains, especially the painful condition of women under the oppression of both theocracy and power. It revolves around the tragic life of the character Mi, the palm leaf has appeared in her life three times, with meanings marking each turning point of this woman’s life like a “label” specifically for the work.

Perhaps we ourselves have heard a couple of times about the “long-term” leaf called the leaf that the mountain people often tell each other about how poisonous they are, when just a small handful is enough. one can easily end one’s life. It is an extremely toxic medicine, a species of folk tree typical for the northern mountainous region, typical for the cultures of the ethnic groups here. The inclusion of the image of holding a finger leaf into the work, not to mention the profound meanings, initially had the effect of enhancing the flavor and sound of the Northwest mountains and forests for the work, expressing the understanding of the work. deep knowledge and attachment of the author to this land.

In the work, holding the finger leaves has appeared three times, through the actions and thoughts of the character Mi. The first time was when I discovered that I was robbed to the house of the governor of Pa Tra, forced to become a debtor’s daughter-in-law, to repay the long-standing debt of my parents, the extreme pain of being forced to marry someone I did not. falling in love, having to leave my family, giving up love, especially, losing my free life makes me unbearable. Before such pain, Mi cried for several months, finally she ran away to go home, in the heart of this young girl at this moment was endless despair, she wanted to give up everything, wanted to end her life. themselves to free themselves from the tragedies that they are suffering. That’s why, on the way through the forest, Mi picked herself a handful of leaves, intending to return to meet her parents for the last time and then die. That shows the strong resistance in my soul, when I have to suffer a miserable life, it is better to die to free myself from both physical and mental torments, ending everything. terrible tragedies that she did not deserve. Maybe this is an extreme way of liberation, like the way Chi Pheo used a knife to commit suicide, but looking closely, I don’t have any other choice, when living is like dying. then, not even as happy as dying, because death is the end, to live is to suffer.

Finding death is the only passive resistance that I can do at a stalemate like this. The appearance of the palm leaf, has sharply reflected the brutality of the powerful feudal regime and the cruel theocracy that forced an honest, weak girl like Me to seek death. At the same time, it also reflects the miserable, tragic and bitter life of our people before the liberation day like eating a handful of leaves, then writhing waiting for the end of a dark life. Meanwhile, when I find the palm leaf here, it is a very clear and strong expression of my desire for freedom, happiness and a beautiful life. She was very aware of her rights, so as soon as they were taken away almost forever, she had no desire to live anymore, because she was no longer free, had to live with someone she did not love, and a a life of slavery is worse than death. But in the end, I was still alive, I still gave up on liberating myself “I threw a handful of palm leaves on the ground” and returned to the governor’s house Pa Tra. It’s actually a bravery of mine, I can easily die, but because of my filial piety and love for my old father, I can’t bear to die, because my death is over, but my father’s debt is still there. That, it will still torment My father for a long time. That’s why she chose another way of “death”, that is, to live quietly and endure all the bitterness and humiliation like a talking labor machine, no longer interested in life anymore. I live not because I want to live, but basically just an existence, a repayment of a long-standing debt, filial piety.

The second time the image of the palm leaf appeared was when I had been in the governor’s house for a few years, at this time, extreme suffering and unhappiness had completely hardened my pure soul. To the point that “I’ve been in suffering for a long time, I’m used to suffering. Now I think I’m also a buffalo, I’m also a horse. The horse can only eat grass and work”, then she even thought to herself. Being aware that “The horse and buffalo work sometimes, at night, they can stand scratching their feet, chewing grass, the women and girls of this family bury themselves in work all night and all day”. It sounds bittersweet. However, despite such hardship, My father also passed away, but now she herself no longer thinks about eating leaves to die to relieve suffering. It’s not just that I’m used to suffering, but rather, it doesn’t make much difference to me now that I live or die, I no longer want to protest, or have the strength to resist. I began to exist as an inanimate entity, like a ship of water, a rocky shore that does not know pain, does not know what suffering or happiness is. I was completely desperate and buried all my longings for freedom in the depths of my heart, covering it with a rough, calloused shell. That’s why the image of holding a finger leaf seems to have faded from my mind, because she is no longer earnest, in my mind is always only going to work, to the point that she forgets to deliver. continue to talk, live forever like a turtle in a corner. It also means that the longing for freedom, the desire for the joy of life has gradually cooled down in my soul, like a handful of cold ashes.

On Tuesday, the palm leaf once again appeared in my mind, on that spring love night, the flute calling for you earnestly, aroused in her heart so many beautiful memories. Once upon a time, when I was a young girl, pursued by many boys, I had a beautiful love, a talent for playing the flute, playing a good leaf, then in the spring nights I was free to play, colorful dresses. ,… Thinking of that makes me feel nauseous, sad, then I gulp down each bowl of wine as if to vent all the sadness in my heart, then I blow the leaves again. The light of the longing for happiness and freedom gradually rekindled in my heart slowly, then “I feel refreshed again, my heart is suddenly as happy as the New Year nights before. I’m young. I want to go out. Many married people also go to Tet.” But A Su never let me go out, he kept forcing me at home. Thinking of that, another pain in my heart was opened, it was also the most painful pain in my life that I had to endure, the thought that had become a scar turned out to be bleeding. I was forced to marry A Su, the two lived together without any love, I myself had to give up my first love, and A Su was a brute who only knew how to play. Thinking of that, the idea of ​​dying a long time ago flared up again in my heart, “If I had a finger leaf in my hand right now, I would eat it right away. I don’t bother to remember anymore. I can only remember seeing it. tears welled up”. That has shown one thing that my soul of desire for life and happiness has gradually awakened, I have felt pain again, and I want to free my life in some way. She was very clearly aware of the suffering she had to endure again, I thought of the palm leaf with an indignation, resentment to the very end, a strong resistance, in order to save myself from this. the misery that I have endured for so long. Marks the resurrection of a soul that has cooled down, does not care about life and death, thereby opening up for the work and the characters new directions, new exits and decisive turning points.

Thus, the image of holding a fingernail back and forth three times in the work with different layers of meaning not only reveals important turning points in my life, but also carries a deep symbolic meaning when implicitly saying: about the virulence of the powerful feudal theocracy that is dominating the Northwest mountains. But there people like Me are daily suffering from oppression and endless tragedies, they can’t get out of that terrible poison, but can only passively protest with a fist. finger leaf, but ultimately the decision whether to eat it or not is not in their hands. The more I think about it, the more painful it is.