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The Theme of Children's Life in Modern Vietnamese Prose

CONTENT

CHAPTER 1

PICTURE OF SOCIAL LIFE IN TWO NOVELS: ORDINARY BETWEEN THE WORLD AND LY'S STORY BY MA VAN KHANG

1.1. Theme of children's life in modern Vietnamese prose

1.1.1. Concept of topic

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In the arts in general and literature in particular, the theme is the scope of life that the writer chooses to create . Just by looking at what the work is about, we can determine the theme of that work. In other words, the theme is the objective aspect of the content of the work [13, p.110]. Reading any work, we encounter vivid people, scenes and specific feelings. That is the scope of direct description of the work. The nature of the scope of direct description in works can be very diverse: it can be about people, animals, plants, birds... so the theme of a literary work always goes through a specific scope of description to generalize to a certain scope of life reality with a deeper meaning.

The theme is the area of ​​life that the writer perceives, selects, explains and recreates in the work. The way to perceive the theme is to start from the direct content of the work, to determine its historical and social features. Each character in the work can represent a social class, have a social personality, operate in a field of life, and can represent a theme. For example, in Ngo Tat To's work Tat Den , besides the theme of the tragic life of farmers, there are also themes about the lives of greedy, selfish mandarins, about the lives of poor children, etc. Thus, when talking about the theme of a literary work, we are not just talking about a theme but a system of related themes that complement each other to form the theme of the work.

The Theme of Children's Life in Modern Vietnamese Prose

The theme of a work is not only related to objective reality but also determined by the writer's ideological stance and life experience. Each writer, depending on his or her strengths, can choose a certain area to reflect. There are themes that seem to be repeated in literature everywhere and at all times, such as the theme of love and

happiness, war and peace, life and death… Some people say that these are the eternal themes of literature. Actually, that is just a way of speaking. Because, even when a writer writes about a certain area of ​​life, the theme of his work is also something new, not repetitive.

1.1.2. The theme of children's life in the two novels Lonely in the midst of life and

The Story of Lyby Ma Van Khang

If Ma Van Khang's writings, both for children and adults before the 1980s, expressed an epic perspective, in the later period the writer shifted to a personal perspective on world affairs. The life that appears in his works is now no longer unilinear but multi-linear, multi-dimensional, the bad mixed with the good, the devil mixed with the divine. He cares about and reflects the fate of people in many different relationships and circumstances and tries to grasp every aspect of life to portray it most fully in its diversity and integrity. He truly wants to use the power of his pen to bring human values ​​to people and people in the broadest sense.

With the concept of writing as "Digging into the depths of the soul" , Ma Van Khang has created for himself a voice and a unique artistic style. As he once said: "I can only write about what I have experienced and each long narrative prose has a part of my life" [29, p. 299]. This is clearly shown in the writer's writings about children.

In Ma Van Khang's writings about children in general, the two novels Lonely in the World and Ly's Story in particular, we see that Ma Van Khang always cares about and mentions the vital issues of human life, of the nation's destiny , especially the lives of children. That is the lives of children in the family, the lives of children in schools and in other social relationships.

During his lifetime, President Ho Chi Minh also advised that if we want to educate children, we “must know how to combine family, school, and society to raise and educate them. Everyone, every organization, every industry, every family must have the responsibility to take care of them… must pay attention to children who lack family affection,

Those in charge need to find ways to compensate the children. If the children are partly at fault, we adults are ten times at fault”… That is why the topics written about children's lives through the two novels Lonely in the Middle of Life and Story of Ly have been reflected relatively comprehensively by Ma Van Khang, mentioning all aspects of the children's spiritual lives.

1.1.2.1. Children's life in the family

In the lifestyle of East Asians, family plays a very important role in nurturing the soul and educating human personality. Because “family is a group of people living together as the smallest organizational unit in society. They are bound together by marriage and blood relations. The family usually includes husband and wife, parents and children” [40, p. 43]. Therefore, when writing stories for children, Ma Van Khang pays special attention to family affection. Because children are one of the important components of the family. It must be determined that a happy family is the safest place for children.

In Ma Van Khang's works for children, we see the life of children in the family appear quite clearly. That is the life of children in well-off, wealthy families and the life of children in poor families.

Representing the class of children living in poor families but they are obedient, studious, emotional and have the will to overcome their circumstances to live well like Duy, Tham (Orphaned in the midst of life) and Ly (Ly's Story).

First of all, Duy - a boy who used to live in a very happy family with a gentle grandmother like a fairy in a fairy tale; with parents who were both good workers who loved each other and cared for their children. However, that period did not last long, then many bad changes happened to the family and the boy's childhood. The disaster began when Duy's father worked as a soldier driving a truck in the Cambodian battlefield - separated from his family without any news. Duy's mother at home believed in a fortune-telling that her husband had died, so she left her family, left her job to follow a man driving a truck, leaving her mother-in-law with a five-year-old son. So from a childhood filled with happiness, filled with laughter and joy, Duy suddenly became an orphan, lacking the care and attention of both father and mother, only his grandmother.

my grandmother is my only support

Not long after Duy's mother left, the house that used to be the peaceful home of Duy's family was taken back by Mr. Dao Chi Hung - Head of the administrative department where Duy's mother worked, in collusion with Mr. Luong - Chairman of Ngoc Sinh ward, where Duy's grandmother and grandchild lived, and essentially occupied it for himself. From a twenty-four square meter apartment, Duy's grandmother and grandchild were left with only a six square meter corner room with a bed in the middle of the common passageway for both families. Now the two of them had to live in a cramped, oppressed environment and especially had to witness and endure the vulgar acts, insults, torture, and persecution of those evil cultists every day for this or that reason, including political slander.

Then, cruel fate still did not let go of the poor and helpless grandmother and granddaughter. In the midst of extreme poverty and hardship, Quynh - Duy's father's younger sister - brought her newborn granddaughter - the result of a mistaken love affair - back to her grandmother to be raised, while she herself had to go elsewhere to make a living. With a small worker's pension, she was only able to buy enough rice for the two of them. Now, Duy and his grandmother began a period of having to spend more frugally and save more to raise another small creature who had to fight for life day and night with illness.

It must be said that Duy's childhood was full of misfortune and adversity. Although he lived in a family with a mother and a father, he was an orphan. However, with the strength of love and protection from his grandmother, with the help and encouragement of many good people, especially with his self-control, willpower and great effort, Duy was able to overcome the difficult and cruel days to one day meet his father and mother again in the happy moments of belated reunion later.

Even more tragic and sad than Duy's was Tham's childhood. Tham never knew what family happiness was. She was the daughter of Quynh - Duy's aunt, a farm worker who was deceived by a Don Juan, causing her life to be ruined. Not long after Tham was born, Quynh's mother brought Tham back to her grandmother to raise. As for herself, she left the farm and the village to go elsewhere to make a living.

The carpet was only breastfed for a few days after birth, and was raised in the following days.

He was raised entirely on milk given to him by the women in the ward who had small children, and spoonfuls of sugar water and rice water from his grandmother.

Tham overcame the most difficult period of his childhood. At the age of three, he learned to walk and babbled his first words. He grew up quickly, was easy to raise, and unlike other children of the same age, he did not ask for anything. Tham was agile, intelligent, talkative, and very unique. He was a child who did not succumb to any force, from the old ghost bullying the new ghost of his classmates to the unkind words of teacher Thin on the first day of class. Tham lived a more abundant and rich life than Duy. If Duy sometimes felt lonely and self-conscious among a group of tiny individuals who were pleasing to the eye but also had all sorts of complicated and troublesome matters, Tham was completely different. He was “active, innocent, straightforward, trusting. He did not have any inferiority complex to stay silent or accept defeat. He threw himself into demanding justice. And he conquered even those who were prejudiced against him” [24, p. 270].

Like Duy, Tham is full of emotions. He is attached to his grandmother with a rare depth, not just the normal grandparent-grandchild relationship but also the relationship of two parts of one body. With her, it is not only respect and admiration. She is also a spiritual mother, a living soul that shines in his soul. With his mother, although separated since childhood, there seems to be an invisible, unimaginable connection between Tham and his beloved mother despite the distance, the long time and the limitations of the media. Deep in his soul, there are still moments when he misses and longs for his mother so much.

However, Tham encountered many difficulties. She was born into a situation where she was not recognized by society and suffered many material and spiritual disadvantages. However, she was a child who had a spirit of independence from a very early age. When her grandmother was sick, Tham and Duy asked each other to take care of the vegetable garden and raise chickens. Tham was like a real owner of the family when he could take care of the meals and shopping for her grandmother very well. Moreover, Tham also knew how to comfort and take care of her grandmother very thoughtfully.

Baby Tham has made up for what Duy lacks in personality. She has

with Duy - two poor children grew up in the loving arms of their grandmother, together with her overcoming the most difficult, deprived and harsh days. The lives of the two children seemed to sink into the bottom of the abyss of despair and hopelessness if there were no hand and heart to protect and support them: That was their grandmother. She was both the paternal and maternal grandmother of the two children. "She is the Buddha, the fairy descended to earth to protect and take care of us with love and mysterious, miraculous miracles!" [24, p. 289]. She has great strength - strength emanating from love, from a sharp and experienced intelligence... But above all is still the toughness, courage and strength to fight back in the inner struggle and not accepting mental failure; fight back with the perseverance and brilliance of conscience, of a heart for her children and grandchildren. She was also the one who brought the "family raft" to safety even though she herself was "exhausted" and had to leave - after handing over her "career" to her eldest son whom she often looked forward to, waited for, hoped for, and wondered about, and for which she tried to overcome.

She was a person with good qualities. That was even more clearly shown in Duy's mind when she was no longer physically present in this life. Duy's dream was that she would live forever with him, but in the end it was just a wish. It can be said that Duy and Tham are the embodiment of a "fierce childhood" but very independent, active and full of life energy. The two children have turned the sadness and loss in life into small joys, warm memories with their grandmother who has a kind, tolerant and protective heart. With what they have shown, Tham and Duy are truly healthy seedlings growing from the barren, harsh land despite the barriers, storms, and heat of life.

Always close and intimate with Duy and Tham is Viet. Not having to live in poverty and misery like Tham and Duy, Viet lives in a very happy, peaceful family, with "parents who are leaders at the Department level". However, Viet is completely different from other rich children in the work " Lonely in the midst of life ". Viet lives with a lot of love and compassion for the needy. He possesses a noble spirit of chivalry, loves justice, and is willing to share. Therefore, overcoming the wall of distinction between rich and poor, Viet has become a close friend,

The person who accompanies Duy through all the hardships in life. Viet dares to defend Duy, dares to denounce the slanderous words of the spoiled rich kids in class to the teacher to demand justice and reason for Duy. At home, Viet and Duy read books, study, talk, play marbles, play chess, and help their grandmother with their work. Since Tham had his younger brother, Viet has been taking care of him with Duy. When Tham often sulks, Viet finds all kinds of ways to comfort him. Viet molds toys, makes Sun Wukong masks, and makes Tham laugh. Viet is a clear note in the harmony of life, a pure and holy image that creates small joys for Duy and Tham's painful childhood.

Ly in the work The Story of Ly also had a similar situation to Tham . Ly was a child who suffered many disadvantages both materially and spiritually. Because “Ly was an illegitimate child. A child without a father. An illegitimate child. A member of the five billion human race. But not a citizen of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. He did not even have a birth certificate. Ly was not named in the family register. He was not entitled to any standards from the time he was conceived in his mother’s womb. His mother was not allowed to have prenatal checkups. She was not entitled to stay at a maternity home. She was not given money to buy diapers. She was not given any allowance. She was not allowed to rest for a month before and a month after giving birth” [28, p. 83].

Despite many difficulties, Ly was a very obedient child, determined and courageous early on. Ly's will and courage were expressed in his movements of crawling, walking, speaking, and then facing wild beasts. Growing up, Ly was no different from when he was a newborn, Ly still had a stable temperament: "He never cried or whined! Whatever his mother and Mrs. Pham fed him, he ate. Now, Mrs. Pham would carry him to bed and lie down for a while, listening to Mrs. Pham sing a lullaby of Dao folk songs, or tell the story of the Moon and the Sun , and he would lie still as if listening, until the end of the lullaby, the end of the story, he would be completely blind" [28, p. 81]. Thus, Ly was not only obedient but also quickly became wise because of his latent intelligence. Ly was a healthy, innocent, and active child: "For a whole year, he never once had a fever, he never had a cold or flu". Not yet six years old, Ly already knows how to brush his teeth, wash his face, take a bath, do laundry, or go to the forest to collect firewood with his mother. Ly knows how to help Mrs. Pham pick vegetables, cook rice, sweep the house, sweep the yard, and feed the chickens and ducks. Ly is

The child is hardworking and helps his mother.

But unlike Duy and Tham, Ly was nurtured by her mother, so she was a child full of love. Ly wholeheartedly helped her friends and was close to her parents and grandparents. Ly was the spiritual support for her mother to overcome her illnesses and the painful loss of her father Khanh. Ly was guided by her biological father and stepfather, two models of perfect personality. Ly was protected and loved by everyone and nurtured and molded by life and education. Ly was a seed of innocent and full of vitality, the image of a person living in the colorful flow of history with all his natural strength and pride, perfecting his human character. Ly was the image of a Vietnamese child growing up and maturing in the life that was both rich and beautiful in culture of his country.

In general, Ly is the son of Khanh's father, Nhu's mother, Duong's stepfather, but he is also the flesh and blood of life, the biological child of life. Ly is a child born from the life of people, in the love of people.

Besides the poor children who are active, independent, strong-willed, determined, ambitious, full of love, sacrifice, and tolerance, there are also many rich children who have abundant material conditions but live selfishly, do not know how to love and care for the poor, and even harbor bad habits in their infancy, in the form of naivety. Bad children like Kim Phu, Van Giang, Vang Anh, Vanh Khuyen (Orphaned in the midst of life) and Dao Le Anh (Ly's Story) ... have caused a lot of suffering and trouble to the already uneventful lives of Duy, Tham, and Ly...

Van Giang and Kim Phu were two friends in the same class with Duy. They were both rich kids, had many bad habits, and were negligent in their studies, but because they were rich kids, they always bullied and caused trouble for their friends, especially Duy - a poor kid but a good student who was always considered a thorn in their side. During the first days of school, with Ms. Thin's protection, they made many false accusations, causing much injustice and resentment for Duy. They only showed off on the outside, but in fact, they were bad at every subject. As soon as she asked a question, they raised their hands quickly, but when they stood up, they talked nonsense.

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