Dispairing Reality
13th
Happiness Street is a short story, written by Bei Dao, that uses
unique symbolism to portray familiar situations. David Der-Wei Wang
wrote a commentary called "familiarization of the uncanny,"
which can be used to assess Bei Dao's story. In It, Der-Wei wrote
that "Chinese literature of the late 80s and 90s has been
characterized by: radicalization of traditional realist discourse and
defamiliarization-to 'make strange' that which is familiar – or to
creatively deform what is unbearable – or to presuppose that
Chinese life is banal, repetitious continuum that needs upsetting."
While it's a mouthful to read, it is an accurate analysis of Bei Dao's
13th Happiness Street. The first
part that Der-Wei talked about – radicalization of traditional
realist discourse – is referring to something that's been
exaggerated from it's traditional sense. An example would be pointing
out how far removed children are from their parents because the
Chinese have always portrayed parents and children as very close.
Because traditionally children and parents are seen as close, to
portray them as disconnected may seem radical. It's something that
kind of goes against the norm and draws attention to something that
is normally swept under the rug. The second part, defamiliarization,
is taking something ordinary and tweeking it so that it's no longer
familiar. An example of this can be seen in 13th
Happiness Street when everyone in the library are reading the
exact same book about corpse robbing because the library is naturally
a familar location but having everyone read the same, strange book
defamiliarizes it. In 13th Happiness
Street, Bei Dao seems to be saying that the Communist party is
controlling, emotionless, and lackluster to follow and that life
under Communist rule is restraining, to say the least.
Early in
the story, Bei Dao references exactly how controlling the communist
party really is. “Hey, where's the neighborhood committee office,
young man?” (282) The definition on the bottom of the page reads:
“Also called a residents' committee, it helps the government in
social surveillance and control.” This dialogue lets the reader
know that something more is going on than what meets the eye. Now the
reader is aware there's a committee set up to survey and control. The
word control in this context really drives home the fact that the
communist party wants to control everyone because it feels harsh and
unexpected in this context. Another instance of how controlling the
Communists are in this story is seen when Fang Chang goes to talk
with the investigators. “The important thing to note here is that
by using psychological tactics you can force the criminal's thinking
into a very small space, or shall we say a surface, where he can't
possibly conceal himself, and then he's easily overwhelmed.” (288)
The communists think they can control everything and everyone by
manipulating things. Dao seems to be pointing out how outrageous and
wrong it is to think they can control everyone, as if they're gods.
It also is a good example of 'familiarization of the uncanny.' To a
reader, at least now, communism seems very uncanny and crazy but
here, Dao is familizarizing it by explaining tactics and making it
seem normal.
The
party is clearly seen as emotionless in many instances. “Then
they're still alive and breathing,” she broke in sharply. "A
howl of laughter. One fat woman laughed so much she started gagging,
and someone thumped her on the back. 'I'm a reporter,' Fang Cheng
explained hasitly. Instantly the room fell deathly silent. They gazed
stupidly at each other, as if they were not too sure what he meant.”
(283) This exchange of dialogue proves a lack of emotion. The woman
only cares to know if there's someone dead. She feels no sympathy or
remorse for this person whom she assumes has just lost someone. The
day to day repetitiveness of her job might play a role but it also
shows the lack of emotion taking place in this town. Then when she
finds out nobody is dead, she can't stop laughing. The level of
rudeness and inappropriateness is shocking. Another place that
emotion is lacking is seen when Fang Chang wants to know why nobody
can answer him why 13th Happiness Street is blank. Fang
Change goes to the library to look into some books for answer, and
the librarian cant understand why he thinks he would find answers in
a book. He responds: “A place where life has ended can still
contain all kinds of secrets.” She asks, “Doesn't anyone know
what they are?" and he replies, “No, because even the living
have become part of the secret.” (289-290)
Life has
ended in communist China because nobody is able to live anymore but
secrets are still carrying on. Even though this book that could give
him answers in not a living thing, it can still reveal answers more
than any living thing seems to be able to. Even the living have
become part of the secret because some people don't question why 13th
Happiness Street is blank. Those who know it's blank and don't
question it are just followers of Communist rulers and continue to
cover up the secret. The fact that so many, such as the investigator
and the librarian, don't even wonder why it's left blank shows a lack
of emotion within the society. They either know better than to
question things because people disappear when they start asking too
many questions or they couldn't care less about why things are the
way they are. Either way, it's a distinct lack of emotion and
passion seen in this town. And again, a deep standing lack of
emotion is seen at the end of the story. “You're the twelfth so
far. Just yesterday a girl jumped.” (291). This is definitely an
example of David Der Wei Wangs characterization: “identification of
the grotesque as a state of normalcy.” Although suicide is more
common in China than America, this comment is showing of sense of
desensitizing. Twelve suicides and the speaker is not in the least
affected by it. The speaker has watched Twelve people jump to their
deaths, yet he still sits there day to day, watching, and not
wondering why people are jumping at this particular spot. He doesn't
wonder what's beyond that wall? It shows how emotionless and absurd
people who followed the Communists were – as if to say they don't
have a brain atop their heads and are just acting as robots for the
Communists.
Bei Dao
also seems to make it a point how lackluster the whole town is. When
he uncovers the secret at the very end, the way he describes the
scene is interesting. He wrote: “When he looked at the people
running in circles around the desolate grounds and the outside all
covered with weeds, he finally understood: so now he too was inside
the wall.” (292). The final line “so now he too was inside the
wall” might also be a hint that now, he too, is inside of the
secret. These are the people that questioned society, just as he had
been questioning the blank spot on the map. The secret is that anyone
who questions the communists will be hidden away. It's ironic because
they're finally in on the secret, but they're inside a wall and
unable to communicate the secret to anyone else. Also, it is seen
here: “He bought a pair of high-power binoculars at a second-hand
store and set off in the direction of Happiness Street, working his
way towards his target through a maze of lanes and alleyways. Finally
he saw a tall chimney towering along in a stretch of vacant ground,
surrounded on all sides by broken bricks and rubbish” (290). The
way Dao describes it as “working his way towards his target through
a maze of lanes and alleyways” is ominous in that it feels as
though he's spiraling downward. As if uncovering these secrets is
sending him further away from the reality he's known for so long and
it becomes clearer that he may never climb out after he uncovers the
truth. It makes the reader stand in the place of Fang Chang, looking
through the binoculars and their eyes are darting around, through
mazes and lanes until finally they find what he's looking for.
13th
Happiness Street shows how secretive the communist party was. When
sitting with the investigator, Fang Change asked: “What am I being
accused of?” and they replied, “Prying into state secrets.” He
then asked, “Is Number 13 Happiness Street a state secret?” and
they replied, "Whatever no one knows is a secret.” (289). The
communist party did their best to keep everything on the down low.
They didn't want anyone knowing what was going on behind the scenes
or who was involved in any which thing. Even those involved may not
even know the answers to the questions or the truths behind the
secrets. The result of such secrecy ends up being an "insane
asylum" for those who refuse to stop looking for answers.
The
story is a strong, poignant example of what life under communist rule
may be like. There is a "radicalization of traditional
discourse" seen is how the houses are being built. Fang Change
asks the housing authority: “What exatly is it?” and he replies,
“A house, of course. The latest style.”Fang responds, “Actually,
it looks like a . . .tomb.” (285) This portion of the story where
they talk about the new housing style being built is intereting and
adds to the story because it shows how plain and boring the whole
system was. When read, describing something as a 'block' immediately
seems boring, yet the character talking about it is only excited.
Chang then compares it to a tomb as if to imply they are already dead
because they hardly get to live anymore. They might as well be dead
so why not build the houses like tombs. It's a radical jump from the
traditional form of housing but it sends a strong message.
© December 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment