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The Big Fish by Chen Jo-shi
MAIN SUMMARY
The Big Fish by Chen Jo-shi
This story, “The Big Fish” has been written by Taiwanese writer Chen Jo-hsi. This story took place during the Cultural Revolution in China. At the time of the Cultural Revolution, minor workers had to face lots of pain under the dictatorship of communists. All of the workers have to work for their state from morning until late evening, but they don't see any improvement in their individual as well as family lives. This story is about a kind of rebellion done by an old man and his plight and suffering. He wishes to buy a fish to make soup for his sick wife.
The main character of this story is an old man named K’uai Shih-fu. He is the man of his late forties or fifties. He has been working for his state in the Nanking Dockyard unit as an ironworker for 30 years.
He is an honest and hardworking worker in the dockyard. He has a son who works in the eastern part of China. K'uai Shih-fu's condition is too bad. He doesn’t have a fine facility. His wife has been sick for a few days. She has lost her appetite because she eats the same food all the time. K’uai Shih-fu brings cabbage each day. He loves his wife too much. Even after having a tight schedule of work, he manages to go home early to care for his wife. The wife also doesn’t reveal her pain because she doesn’t want to worry him. She is too delighted to see her husband coming home early. They do have an intimate love relationship. Being sick, his wife desires to have fish soup.
To fulfil her desire, K’uai Shih-fu goes to the market on his bicycle. He buys a big fish by paying an expensive price. While returning from the market, the cadre man stops him and snatches a fish from him, saying that the fish is not for sale but for demonstration for the tourists. K’uai Shih-fu becomes quite angry with the cadre man. The Cadre man tells him to go back to get his money from the cashier. In an aggressive mood, he tells all the bystanders to tell the cadre man to give his money to the foreigners.
He returns home without getting money. This act of K’uai Shih-fu shows a challenge not only to cadre men but to the whole Chinese dictatorship. He fails to fulfil his wife’s desire. He deceives his wife for the first time in his married life.
ANALYSIS:
As an honest worker in his state, K’uai Shih-fu becomes a victim of the dictatorship of China. The state has not provided him with facilities. With a little salary, he engages himself in heavy work for the state. This story talks about the rights of the people of China. Even after working honestly for the state, K’uai Shih-fu is biassed by cadre en. The cadre man shows the dictatorship of the communists over him. K’uai Shih-fu is even charged by young apprentices (learners) many times for walking in the way of the imperialists' devotion and corrupting young people. At his age, he is not treated well by the young Chinese people. Youths in China praise foreigners, but not people like K’uai Shih-fu. K’uai Shih-fu rebels against such a dictatorship. He becomes so sad for not fulfilling his wife’s desire and for lying to her. He has been serving the state for 30 years, but the state’s responsibility towards him is negative. He even doesn’t buy a fish for his wife later on because of communist power.
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