A Tone of Compassion for Those Who Have Encountered Many Unfortunate Fates in Life

The woman spoke 8 times in a row. That was her heart with so many worries, struggles, fears, pains... These were lines in a dialogue with "psychological problems" of the communicating characters. It was more meaningful to express moods and emotions than to promote the development of the story.

In short, in Nguyen Ngoc Tu’s short stories, the language of the narrator character occupies a larger proportion than the language of other characters. Perhaps this is one of the characteristics that makes up Nguyen Ngoc Tu’s unique artistic style. Reading the short stories of Nguyen Huy Thiep, Le Minh Khue… we see that these authors are very talented in creating character dialogue. The dialogue in their short stories often occupies a very large proportion compared to the language of the narrator character. As for Nguyen Ngoc Tu , the character’s dialogue occupies a very small amount of space, the dialogue aims at empathy, sharing and it is often a one-way dialogue – similar to a monologue.

3.2. Narrative tone

Tone plays a very important role, it contributes to the writer's style. Through the narrative tone, we can see the social stance and emotional attitude of the narrator towards the subject being told. Depending on the purpose, function and different subjects, the narrator in Nguyen Ngoc Tu's short stories has chosen different narrative tones to be able to retell the story in the most attractive way and express his thoughts most deeply. Through the survey and study of the tone in Nguyen Ngoc Tu's short story collections, we see that the narrator's dominant tone is a tone of pity and sympathy for the unfortunate fates in life ; a tone praising the good qualities of the people of the South; a tone rich in philosophy and contemplation; a gentle, emotional tone mixed with a bit of humor. They combine to create the appeal of her writings.

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3.2.1. A tone of sympathy for those who have encountered many unfortunate fates in life

This tone originates from Nguyen Ngoc Tu's kind and loving heart. She writes to live lovingly, as she herself once confided: "Everyone needs to be loved. And to do so, one must know how to share kindness and care from one's own heart first" [96]. It can be said that this is the dominant tone that covers and dominates most of Nguyen Ngoc Tu's short stories. The characters in her short stories are people with difficult and arduous lives. They are hard-working farmers, artists devoted to art, mothers, wives, husbands, fathers with tragic lives... Writing about them, Nguyen Ngoc Tu expressed sympathy, sorrow and sharing. She borrowed the narrator's words to express these emotions, so they were revealed naturally, sincerely and had the power to move the reader. The tone of sorrow and sympathy is expressed in many aspects such as the choice of images, the use of language, the construction of syntax, and the use of rhetorical devices.

First of all, the tone of sorrow and sympathy is expressed through the system of words and images that the narrator often uses. These are phrases about tears : the sorrowful, loving tears of Diep in By love "Sau Tam heard a drop of salty water falling down, burning the wound", "she clung to him, burying her tears in his chest and crying"; the tears filled with tragedy of the father and mother in Dong nho : "my father cried, he sobbed, tears and snot were dripping down", "my mother cried a lot too", "my mother sighed, ran to the next room to cry with my grandmother", "my mother also burst into tears", "my mother did not say anything, turned away and cried"; the tears of unrequited love, secret love and longing of the character "I" in Mot nuoc tinh : "sitting sadly, listening to the singing echoing in there, the play mocked each other

"I was crying like a hen, but my tears were flowing without me knowing", "I held a rag to wipe the table with one hand, and held the door with the other, crying like rain, crying more than my sister", "I looked at my sister, wanting to cry so much, I felt so sorry for her, I felt even more sorry for myself"; were the tears of a father who had been looking for his child for nearly twelve years: "his tears flowed down", "Mr. Nam sat there, embarrassed, embarrassed, wiping his tears" ... Seemingly unable to hold back his tears before the character's tragic and unfortunate fate, the narrator let the character cry a lot - whether they were tears that overflowed or bitter tears that sank inside.

Along with words and phrases describing tears, the narrator in Nguyen Ngoc Tu's short stories also often uses words describing sadness and pain : the extreme pain of the narrator in A Stream Flowing Forever "I sat there, stunned. Bitter, bewildered, painful, and bewildered beyond description"; in The Stream of Memories with the story of the narrator telling the love story of mother, father and aunt, we encounter the image of the father "in the depths of suffering", the mother with "the pain of losing her husband", the aunt with "a silent, painful look"; the lyrics "so sad, so heartbreaking", the voice "choked up as if my heart was aching" of Het's father (Hiu hiu gio bac) ; is the image of Aunt Dieu: "For half of her life, she was only sad that she could no longer have children... Aunt Dieu was so sad that her heart was torn out, she cried", "hearing the neighbors gossiping about Ms. Lanh having a child without a husband, Aunt Dieu's heart ached", "Aunt Dieu laughed, then acted as if a wind had come from somewhere, her heart was filled with pain" (Being a Mother) .

The tone of sorrow and sympathy is sometimes expressed through the narrator's cries, laments, and bitter sighs : "How could they tear themselves away from each other, oh heavens and earth, the adults... The road of life is so short, why do they go around and around, so far away?" [84, p.152]; "Oh my God, another winter wind season and no one has found a husband yet.

Despair like Aunt Chin cooking is one thing, but there is also My, Lam, Huong... and Xuyen, she is about to pass her maidenhood" [83, p.144]; "The cry can be heard reaching the sky, why don't human beings learn to understand each other" [88, p.126]; "Oh my God, except for my sisters, no one can see that behind that radiant square face is a deep black hole, the shore is dim, uncertain, easy to stumble" [83, p.196]. Sometimes it is expressed through descriptions of the scenery: "the restless sunlight is yellowing on the river surface (that sky color often returns in his dreams)" [88, p.122]; "The sound of a rooster crowing in the distance, the water level is rising so fast tonight, just recently it has already submerged half the boat's anchor pole. At this time, the water was high and the cuckoo bird could not be heard calling, but, thankfully, hearing the cuckoo bird calling was even sadder” [83, p.139].

Rhetorical questions are also often used by narrators to express sympathy, sorrow, and sympathy for the torment and pain in the inner life of the character. It has the ability to recreate the complex, hidden developments within each person's inner life. In Endless Field , the narrator is also the first-person character who speaks his heart with haunting questions that haunt the reader, deeply penetrating the reader's sympathy:

-“I shook my head, how could I bear to share half of your mother's two small buckets of water? [83, p.171].

- And I remembered, this morning, this afternoon, what did I do like my mother, put too much pepper in the fish stew? Or was it because I tied my hair up? Or was it because I sat there picking lice for Dien? [83, p.182].

-But is nine or ten years old enough to be called a human life? [83, p.186].

- What's wrong with me tonight? Is it because I see hope? [83, p.190].

- Did my mother also choose quickly like this? [83, p.191].

- Is anyone waiting for us, on the open fields? [83, p.193].

- But, having absorbed and torn apart the pain of separation, aren't you afraid yet? [83, p.194].

- But, at that time, I was numb, why did I look towards my father? Because I wanted to call for help (like children who are startled and often blurt out "Mom" or "Dad")? Because I found myself unable to bear the pitiful cries of the ducks buried deep underground? [83, p.203] .

- I burst out laughing, oh my god, who should I marry? … Who should I marry among them? [83, p.212].

In addition, the sorrowful and sympathetic tone is also revealed through the narrator's choice of language - a language distilled by a kind heart, so it is rich in emotions and moods. It clearly shows a passionate feeling, a kind heart, and deep sympathy for the writer's unfortunate and unfortunate fates. It is a story that reveals the narrator's pity for the poor and unfortunate life of Uncle Doi's family: "Like other street singers, his family has a total of four people, but on the busy street, they look so small and lonely (...). After the dry season, his voice is hoarse in his throat, and he cannot even make a call. Uncle Don sings for his child Nhu, his singing is very weak and immature, and his "vo vong co" always breaks off halfway. Poor child, she has no talent, she even loses her voice when she snores, so how can she sing?" [84, pp. 59-64].

In Nguyen Ngoc Tu's short stories, the narrator sometimes follows the lives and fates of the characters, and sometimes appears as an insider, expressing his own feelings. But no matter what position or point of view he appears in, the narrator's tone is always one of sorrow and sympathy for his characters or self-pity. This shows the writer's humane view of people and life, giving us an undying belief in the undying values of humanity.

3.2.2. Tone praising the good qualities of the Southern people

If writer Nguyen Minh Chau uses a praising tone to search for the pearls hidden deep in the human soul, Ma Van Khang uses this tone.

To dig into the essence of the human soul, Nguyen Ngoc Tu uses a praising tone to affirm the noble values hidden deep in the hearts and souls of the simple, rustic villagers. From a certain perspective, they have met in common, which is always trying to find the noble values of humanity. However, in each writer, that tone is expressed in different tones. That is what makes each author's unique characteristics.

In Nguyen Ngoc Tu's short stories, the tone of praise permeates every sentence, every word. This tone is first expressed in the way the narrator addresses the character being told. The narrator calls the character "Mr. - Mrs.", the children call him "Anh - Chi", by name: "Mr. Nam Nho stayed at the Suong intersection, continuing his search" [83, p.9]; "Diep became weaker and weaker. She was sick, thin as a flat rice grain. Her hair had fallen out to the point that from a distance of about ten steps, she could count each strand, each remaining strand. She stopped feeling sorry. Ever since Sau Tam broke the mirror, she kept reminding him that he had not bought it back" [84, p.9].

Born and raised in the rural areas of the Mekong Delta, when writing, Nguyen Ngoc Tu often uses the realities that she has experienced and witnessed as the subject for her stories, in which most of her main characters have one thing in common: poverty that clings to them. With Nguyen Ngoc Tu, it can be seen that she rarely describes or recreates specific details about the process of people falling into poverty and destitution like Nguyen Cong Hoan (The Last Step) , Ngo Tat To (Lights Out) , Nam Cao (Chi Pheo) ... but mainly focuses on exploiting how people face and behave in the face of poverty and how people treat each other in the face of poverty. It is in poverty that the people in Nguyen Ngoc Tu's short stories rely on and protect each other to live, even willing to sacrifice themselves to help each other in times of trouble. That is the way of behaving

The beauty of human beings that when talking about this issue, the narrator used his praising tone to praise. The story " Being a mother" , although taking the topic of the current issue of "surrogacy", but through the behavior of the characters, the reader is completely surprised by the love and noble behavior they have for each other. In the story, Aunt Dieu could not give birth so she hired Ms. Lanh - a woman who carried water for hire to give birth. Because she was poor and also needed money to send back to her hometown, Ms. Lanh agreed, the two made a contract. However, later, when thinking about the scene of having to hand over her own child to someone else, Ms. Lanh left. At this point, the reader thought that there would be an argument, a fight between the two women, but Nguyen Ngoc Tu had a very surprising ending but also very suitable for the psychology and simple thoughts of the poor but loyal villagers: "People with love and loyalty cannot easily abandon each other. Aunt Dieu bit her lips until they were red with teeth marks, she hugged Ms. Lanh very tightly (…). Aunt Dieu took out the contract and burned it to a thin sheet of ash” [84, pp.96-97]. In Ben do xom Mieu, the reader encounters the behavior of the guy Luong, who, although extremely poor, is very noble and chivalrous. Luong is ugly, uneducated, works as a boatman, and loves a beautiful girl named Bong, who dropped out of school to sell “beer hugs” on the other side of the river. The reason Bong later agreed to marry Luong was because she had an accident and was paralyzed from the lower half of her body, forced to sit in one place, unable to walk. However, the reader still sees a more important reason: Bong saw in the depths of Luong’s soul a sincerity and generosity: “He thought a lot in his heart but could not say a word. He was foolish and had no talent for speaking, for a long time he could only laugh. Luong did not want to be like other men, treating Bong like a toy. Bong is Bong, is a girl, is a person” [88, pp.89-90]. We can also easily recognize the behavior of poor people like this through most of the characters in

Other short stories by Nguyen Ngoc Tu such as: Phi (The Starling Crosses the River ), Het (The North Wind) , Mr. Hai (The Anxious Look) , Quy (New Year's Eve) , Mr. Old Man Nam Nho (Oh Cai) , Sau Deo (The Immense Sea of People) , Nuong (The Endless Field) ...

The respectful and praising tone is also clearly shown when the narrator talks about the gentle, simple, honest people and their love - humanity is as abundant as the sea of Ca Mau. Whoever they love, they love for life, whoever they love, they love until they forget themselves. They are: brothers and sisters who are willing to give each other happiness, love. "After graduating from high school, Tu Phuong volunteered to join the army. He left without saying anything to The, I kept following him and asking why, he said, "I love my second brother so much, Ut Nho. At fourteen, he replaced his parents to raise him, taking care of everything inside and out, failing his studies..." [83, p.70]; he is an extremely filial son: "After catching a few perch, he put the "o" on the pot to cook, meticulously separating the meat for his father, and the bones for himself. On sunny afternoons, taking advantage of the lunch hour, he asked permission to run home, taking his father out to the porch to bathe and scrub. On rainy nights, he would scurry around, holding a conical hat to welcome the old man. Walking beside him, covering his father's head, solemnly as if he were protecting some very small, very weak creature" [83, pp. 31-32]. The narrator sometimes had to exclaim: "It is true that the name is like the person, hard-working and filial" [83, p. 32]; that the old man Chin Vu gave up a life of wealth and luxury to follow the person he loved: "He was the eldest grandson of the Nguyen council. Since childhood, the family had prepared for him a life of comfort and luxury without having to do anything, the whole family pampered him (...). He loved the actress Hong from the first moment... The next day, when the Kim Tieu troupe returned to Saigon, a young man left home and wealth to follow him. Not knowing how to sing, with a clumsy and small appearance, he was not allowed to go on stage... Eating at restaurants, sleeping on the stage. He endured any hardship, as long as the day

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