Characteristics of Trinh Thanh Long's novels Through the two novels Ma Lang and Dong Lang Dom Dom

During the war, Huu fought bravely and fiercely, but deep inside were worries and thoughts about the war, torments about life after the war, and in his heart there was always a fire of love for his homeland, for his father Banh and especially for Dan. Lying in the water-soaked bunker, Huu thought: “ Everything is now just a memory. The war and battles have turned Huu into a person who obeys orders and gives orders. If he met Dan now, he probably wouldn’t recognize Huu in either form or temperament because the life and thinking of a wise person is usually in a closed room, and with that long period of time, Dan probably wouldn’t have been faithful! Who knows, maybe now Dan is holding a baby in one hand and holding the other.” [31; 199] Thoughts about the war, post-war life and himself kept flowing in Huu’s head. Those thoughts were recorded by Huu in his diary. These lines are the creation of writer Trinh Thanh Phong. It shows the writer's perspective on life, shows the courage of the writer when attaching those thoughts to the character Huu, thinking about the mistakes after the war of many people. " The war will come to an end, but the most painful loss will still be the civilians! Who are the civilians? Huu often told Dan and the guys Tung and Phu, they are the ones who grow rice and corn, the ones who give birth to boys and girls for this war, the ones who don't have medical records, don't have stamps to buy meat or sugar!.. The next generation will be full of stories of jostling, calculating to fight for food ". [31; 201]

Those torments come from the compassion and understanding of a person who has experienced life: " There are many more ironies, which are mothers on the front lines whose children are soldiers on the other side, whose children have died in battle, some even died at Huu's hands, but when Huu is in danger, they still help him ." [31; 226]

Dan is a strong and determined girl who fights against evil and in love, she always longs to love completely and intensely. This is shown through Dan's inner monologue when she goes to the battlefield.

“Oh my God, if only I could meet Huu now, Dan would sacrifice himself so that both of us could enjoy the sacred pleasure of humanity ” [31; 189]

Dan told Mrs. Vuong in his imagination about his future plans. All of these things show Dan's thoughts and personality:

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“… After the war is over, we will come back together, build a beautiful house like yours, and my husband and I will become doctors to treat the poor, grandma! And if by any chance we both die in battle, we will turn into a pair of white butterflies and fly back to land on the queen tree to be with you forever” [31; 189]

Old Peng, Huu's stepfather, the character whose psychological development the author focuses on, also has many internal monologues. The most notable of which are the lines he says to himself after being saved by Huu:

“ The old man remembers the time he brought the torn thing here… Now he is lying here, Huu has not shown any signs of revenge. He must die, he is a monster, causing trouble …”. [31; 49] This monologue marks the change in old man Bang, he has become a good person.

In the work Ma Lang , the author rarely lets the characters monologue. Among the characters' monologues, the most notable is Lo's monologue after seeing Mrs. Tong burned and taken to the hospital:

“ Poor old lady! She has served the children and grandchildren of old Tong all her life, but he still treats her like a servant… Poor thing! Lo thought that in this Loc village, only Lo was miserable and depraved. But now Miss Mua has stepped in Lo’s footsteps. The one who caused trouble for Miss Mua is still a Pham. Village chief At, son of Chairman Tong, is all in high places, ironically enough. Miss Mua is not

is a prodigal child like Lo, she is gentle and born into a family of rules and traditions. Why did Ms. Mua let this happen? It is truly a pity for the whole family of Uncle Tinh, for the reputation of the Truong family! Why did Ms. Mua follow in Lo's footsteps? She is an educated person, literate, not stupid and ignorant like Lo!... Unfortunately, Lo became a depraved woman. But Lo's corruption is not only due to Lo. It is also due to the powerful and influential people in this Loc village. At that time, Lo was naive, gullible, and the sadness of the countryside made Lo make mistakes and be deceived. " [30; 55]

Through the monologue, we see that Lo's human nature is not a bad person, and we see even more the crimes of the Pham family's descendants. The narrative language that writer Trinh Thanh Phong uses shows his understanding of the rural theme, and at the same time it is an artistic means that contributes significantly to the success of character building in the work.

3.3.3.Narrative tones

In the process of creation, every writer must struggle to find the artistic tone for his or her work. “ Tone is the attitude, feelings, and moral ideology of the writer towards the phenomenon being described, expressed in the text, which determines the way of addressing, naming, using words, emotional tone, perception of distance, intimacy, respect or casualness, praise or sarcasm,…”. [10; 202] The artistic tone is influenced by many factors, from the realistic view, creative inspiration, to the author’s thoughts and feelings towards things, events, and people… That tone is concretized through words, text, intonation, and artistic techniques in the work, thereby revealing “the writer’s attitude , feelings, stance, and moral ideology towards the phenomenon being described” . [10; 202] In each work, besides the main tone, there always exist many different nuances of tone. Because according to M. Khrapchenco, “ the dominant tone not only does not exclude but also allows

"The existence of different tones in literary works" . Thus, the tone has become a means of conveying the picture of reality into the work and expressing the writer's attitude towards life.

In the two works Dong Lang Dom Dom and Ma Lang , the narrative tone of writer Trinh Thanh Phong has some notable nuances as follows:

3.3.3.1. Compassionate tone

The first impression when reading the work Dong Lang Dom Dom is the sympathetic tone. The sympathetic tone is used a lot by the author when talking about the tragic fate of the poor.

In the work Dong Lang Dom Dom , this tone is expressed a lot when the author writes about the miserable days of the boy Huu. The days were immersed in beatings and bamboo sticks, the boy's hope only depended on the flickering light of the fireflies.

That sympathy is conveyed by the writer through the character Dan. Dan pitied Huu so he tried every way to help Huu: “ Mom, see if there is anything to eat at home, mom, give it to Huu so he can bring it home to avoid being beaten by old man Bang! So that Huu won’t have to sleep in the banana garden today .”[31;36] Huu also felt his miserable life. Readers could not help but be moved when hearing a boy say: “ If I die, I might be able to meet my father in the underworld, which is better than living in this situation .”[31;7] A boy who was still at the age of being sheltered and protected had to run away day and night because of the cruelty of his stepfather, “ When Cai Dan arrived at Mr. Trang Chuc’s banana garden, it was already dark. He cupped his hands in his mouth and called cuckoo cuckoo… Hearing Cai Dan’s signal, Huu crawled out from the banana bush, his limbs still trembling .”[31;7] 12] Huu's small stature was probably due to the hard days. Readers cannot forget the image of Huu sitting on firewood, falling down, his face covered in blood, then he sat in front of the fire waiting to see if old man Bang would give him any more orders.

No. Huu's actions are those of a lonely child. It is not by chance that most of Huu's actions are associated with words such as: sneaking " He sneaked out to the front of the house, went down to the kitchen to open the ashes to find the crabs he had buried in old Peng's house, blew on them and put them in his mouth to chew greedily ", [31; 89] quietly " He quietly leaned against the jackfruit tree, looking at the sky and the earth" [31; 124], "He slowly carried the glass pearl shell that Dan had found for him and quietly walked towards Hon hill", [31; 132] "He stood silently in the dark night "... [31; 158] The author uses a series of verbs and adjectives to depict Huu's resignation, patience and lonely life: hesitant, crept, crept, trembled, quietly (used 6 times), trudged, stood still, slunk, squinted, sat still, absent-minded, tiptoed, quietly, waded... In general, the pages about Huu's childhood are pages full of sympathy. Through this, we can feel the writer's kindness.

We also see the sympathetic tone expressed in the pages about the remorse of old Peng. More than 10 times the writer describes old Peng crying, sometimes he cries, sometimes tears keep coming out of the corners of his eyes. In addition, the sympathetic tone is also used a lot when the author writes about the deaths of people participating in the war. Those are painful deaths: " blackened corpses, white teeth bared ..." [31; 191]

In Ma Lang, the sympathetic tone is expressed in many pages where the author describes the tragic fate of farmers who always yearn for a peaceful life. The pages about Ms. Lo, “ With everyone, Lo is gentle and trustworthy, because they are all leaders, superiors, fathers and uncles, Lo is an orphan, Lo has to rely on them, trust everyone, Lo is not the least bit cautious… Lo is hard-working so everyone loves him. It is that love and protection that makes Lo foolish. Lo does not expect that under the blanket covering his orphaned body, there are calculations of those who are heartless wolves, those who are

that has the highest power in the camp, Mr. Pham Ho”. [30; 56] The naivety and trust of a girl has become something that can be taken advantage of by those in power. This shows the writer's sympathy for the weak and vulnerable people, the people who are easily exploited in rural society. Writing about the lives of Mr. Do and Mr. Nghiep are also pages full of anxiety and pity. When Mr. Nghiep returned from prison and heard the news of his mother's death, he ran straight to his mother's grave, " his two hands hugged the mound of dirt, his mouth cried out to heaven. His voice hoarse, he broke off some dry dogwood branches, gathered them up to replace incense sticks and placed them on his mother's grave, and he kept praying". [30; 15] Nghiep was imprisoned because of the plot of the commune chairman, Mr. The, the whole village knew about this. However, it was unfair that when he returned and wanted to do honest work, he received the answer from the cooperative that he was a death row inmate and still had to be monitored, not qualified to be a cooperative member. Hearing this, " he got goosebumps, knelt down and bowed to Mr. Hai Thin and ran away ." [30; 16] Nghiep's life continued to be oppressed and suppressed by his father, his brothers, and Pham Tong until he had to pretend to be crazy and live with ghosts at Bai Gay.

The sympathetic tone makes the work rich in emotions, creating appeal to readers. This tone also contributes to expressing the author's deep affection and sympathy for these unfortunate people who always yearn for a free life.

3.3.3.2 Satirical tone

The satirical tone is also a prominent feature in the narrative tone of writer Trinh Thanh Phong. “ Satire - a special type of literary composition and at the same time a principle of artistic reflection in which elements of ironic laughter, sarcasm, exaggeration, and humor are used to ridicule, criticize, denounce, and protest... the evil, outdated, and cruel things in society .” [10;235]

It can be said that the satirical tone has become an effective artistic means for writers to expose, criticize, and laugh at the evil people of the countryside. To create satirical laughter, the author first creates contradictions between the form and content of the characters and events. Readers cannot help but laugh when an evil, cruel old man, a drunkard of Thong village (work Dong Lang Dom Dom ) is fierce and seems to fear nothing, but he is very afraid of going to jail, hearing the news of Mrs. Tu, he " softens like a chicken ". [31; 75] This laughter-creating technique is used more and more effectively in the work Ma Lang. Those are the small executive committee meetings of Pham Tong's family, the meeting has minutes, on the surface it looks like a commune meeting to discuss important matters of the village, commune. But in fact, this was a meeting of the Pham family to discuss how to eliminate Mr. Tam - the head of the cooperative, how to put a villager (Ms. Mua) in jail. They also contributed their opinions enthusiastically, blushed, banged the table, pondered, and agreed to write in the minutes, " The house was silent, then all five arms raised high. The minutes of the meeting of the Pham family's narrowed house mortgage committee were also approved. They poured wine and swore to carry it out together ." [30; 52] Then, the task that old Tong assigned Lo to do, he said: " Thank you, Ms. Lo, for letting us know that we will take precautions. On behalf of the commune leadership, I would like to commend Ms. Lo's spirit in maintaining order and security in the village and continue to assign her the task of grasping the situation at Mr. Tinh's house .", [30; . 40] " I will try to help you keep a close eye on the situation at Mr. Tinh's house .", [30; 41] The old man paid money to bribe Lo: “ This is the reward for you to perform your official duties” [30; 48] but in fact this was the old man bribing Ms. Lo to hear the news from Mr. Tinh’s family about Mua being pregnant with his child. How fake and shameless. Reading these pages, we feel as if the writer is writing, cursing, and laughing at their rottenness and hypocrisy. The satirical laughter is also

created by the contradiction in the character's actions and thoughts. Old Tong is the main subject of laughter in the work, especially in the scene of his son's wedding. The wedding is expensive, Old Tong feels like there is salt and thorns scratching him in his stomach, but he is the one sitting on the horse's back and has to gallop. He still commands: " Your hundred-year-old affair is expensive but there is nothing to lose. If the villagers love you, they will come. That way, you are a virtuous person, living in the right place with the villagers. Pigs and cows are ready, just take them out and slaughter them." [30; 85]

In addition, laughter is also created in the description of the language, gestures, names, and backgrounds of the characters. Naming the characters is not a coincidence but perhaps it is the intention of the writer. The names speak of the hypocrisy of the criminal faction such as: Luon, Lot, Luong, Noi Noi; the characters' backgrounds also have the effect of criticizing and satirizing the characters: old Tong from a drummer, for some reason, quickly climbed to the position of secretary and then chairman of the commune, then Luon, Lot, Luong, all of whom are ordinary people, suddenly held important positions. A government organization headed by people like that is truly ridiculous; The sarcastic laughter also comes from the character's own language: The old man wants his son to marry a girl named Sut to establish a relationship with the district secretary and he aggressively speaks to his children and grandchildren: " As for the scar on At's face, he fell off his motorbike in Loc village, who knows?" The old man licks his lips and continues: "Only Sut's lips can't go to the beauty salon, so what's the problem? At doesn't even mind, let alone me. I'm marrying my son, I'm marrying someone, marrying the district chief's granddaughter, not his lips . His lips are chapped, but his family lineage isn't chapped, so why worry?" [30; 84] The wedding of old Tong's son became a laughing matter for the whole Loc village. The song of Do is proof:

" The temple money is like a hat on the temple.

If only I was so talented that I could deceive people...