Hunter and Hussar

Chapter 122 Postscript Rejecting the Childish State

Teacher Wang Xiaobo once pointed out in the article "Getting Out of Childishness", "Now the United States and Europe separate the knowledge environment of adults and children, and some books and movies are not allowed to be watched by children. The logic behind this approach is to admit that adults have self-control. The ability to learn without the need for courts and churches to decide what he can know and what he cannot. Not only because it is harmless for an adult to be exposed to such knowledge, not only because there is something in it that he needs to know, but also because it It is respect for the personality of adults." This article starts from the censorship of the neutral content of publications in the United States, sees the big from the small, and finally discusses the childish state of the intellectual environment faced by the Chinese.Wang Xiaobo proposed respect for the personality of adults, and I think literary and artistic works should also respect the personality and intelligence of children.Getting rid of the childish state starts with the exposure of children to literary and artistic works, and the creators of literary and artistic works must actively reject the childish state.

"Today's children know everything", this may be the feeling that many parents often have.With the development of modern technology, the popularity of computers and smart phones, and the ease of access to information, the world that children and children are exposed to today is far wider than in the past.Therefore, the corresponding literary and artistic creation faces great challenges.On the one hand, it is to compete with the products of games and animations in modern society. An excellent game or animation often has excellent texts behind it, but many works have gradually faded out of sight because they cannot adapt to the times and the preferences of young people, and they can only pass the exam. requirements to maintain the possibility of being read; on the other hand, the current children's literature creation is still in a childish state of stagnation.In addition to the content that Mr. Wang Xiaobo has already discussed, the cause of this reason is the inferiority of the creator himself.Authors who haven't gotten rid of their childishness can't create works with depth and can be enjoyed by children.The first thing for creators to do is to reject their own childishness.Children may not be clear about what they can or cannot know, but adults must have a clear understanding and pass on the harmless and need-to-know elements to them in time. This is the respect for children's intelligence and personality.

Take literature, for example.The themes of literary creation are diverse, and some eternal themes have been narrated and rewritten continuously in the course of thousands of years of literature.Most of these topics are ones that all of us face throughout our lives, and it is worth discussing them as children.What literary creation cannot avoid is the discussion of life and death, which leads to the meaning of life, existence and choice.In today's society, the whole world is facing the problem of youthful suicide, and the crime rate of juveniles has not decreased significantly.It is extremely necessary to carry out "life education", and discussing life must discuss death.Only when one understands death can one understand life. It is precisely because people will die that life has meaning, and people have the ability to respect life and respect the lives of themselves and others.

Among the children's literature and art works around the world, it is not uncommon to see works with life and death as the theme or important objects of expression."The Other Side of the Sky Blue" by British writer Hill is considered a masterpiece of children's literature with the theme of death. No. 1 said that the protagonist died in a car accident before the narrative novel started. The stories of relatives and friends are deeply touching.Another example is "Coco", this excellent film depicts the warm and gorgeous world of death through Mexico's Day of the Dead.Children, including those in China, do not feel the coldness of death after reading or watching movies, but the warmth and vitality of life.Therefore, it is feasible to discuss life and death in works for young children.It is not because they are immature that they have to be covered up and avoided, but precisely because they are immature and innocent, as an adult creator, they should calmly discuss with them step by step what everyone will experience through excellent works.

In The Hunter and the Hussar, death is real and cold.I try to show life as it is - "When a person dies, he dies, and there is nothing left", not even "Azure Beyond" or "Day of the Dead".The younger brother passed away for three years, and the protagonist Ke Peiwei would sometimes be in a daze, imagining a conversation with his younger brother.On his birthday, he scored a goal for the team and wanted to dedicate the goal to his younger brother, but facing the empty sky, he heard no echo, and the goal was canceled because of a teammate's foul.I did not whitewash or evade the seriousness and cruelty of death. Copeway never even had a dream of meeting his brother in the three years after his death.

But there is still a strong warmth beyond the cold death. This warmth comes from the world, from the evergreen tree of life.Childhood trauma made it difficult for Ke Peiwei to move forward. Fortunately, on the first day of school, he met his best friend Mi Le, a smart, cute, gentle and naughty boy, but he was lonely and inferior in his heart.The two of them became bunk beds and the best partners on the court.In the process of getting along, they realized the meaning of life, Ke Peiwei's trauma was gradually healed, and Mi Le gradually got rid of the loneliness in his heart.After thinking about life and death, the children feel positive and strong.Not only them, other students in the team are also groping for the meaning of life.The main striker Mu Zheng lost his father since he was a child, and almost lost his life due to cancer in elementary school.After bravely overcoming the illness, he performed extremely well after returning to the court, but was suddenly found to have relapsed symptoms.The pain of treatment and the problems of family conditions made him think of ending his life.It was also after Copeway had a long talk with him about life and death that he suddenly realized that "one minute of darkness will not blind us" (Garcia Márquez), and his desire for life was far away. Far above all else. "What about mom? I can't leave her alone in this world." The moment they realized the meaning of their lives, the children got rid of their childishness.At the moment of writing and reading these fragments, both the author and the reader are consciously rejecting the childish state.Life and death are not restricted areas that cannot be touched. After seeing them, people will be more outgoing and love life.

"And when we come out of the aisle, we will see his figure reappearing on the sidelines of the stadium after six months. He is still wearing thick clothes and his hands are firmly on the railing. It seems that the king who boarded the castle is fully armed and looks at the battlefield filled with gunpowder. The body after a long illness is like an ancient relief on the cliff. The steadfast hull broke through and shattered on the reef, mixed with the fearless breath of the flowers on the other side of the sea after they bloomed in summer. His face was illuminated by the approaching hot sun to return to the spirit of the past, as if telling us that death is in Life is but a humble assumption in front of it."

"I have thought many times why I want to come back to the field. Do I like football very much? Do I want to inherit my brother's dream? Neither. I came back not for anyone, not even for myself. I didn't think about it very carefully. Almost for no reason. But, I seem to understand that something deep inside me is driving me, telling me to move, to get back to life. I can't tell what it is, it's a voice, An impulse, like a beating heart, may be my life itself. The moment I decide to return to the court, I should be ready to face the past, although I will still be afraid and escape, but in the end I still understand that I can no longer be immersed in the darkness. I have to bear everything that happened in the past. No matter how painful life is, it is still beautiful in itself. I love my life and everyone’s life. Football is my expression of this The way of emotion is the way my relatives and partners taught me when I was young."

"When there is sunshine, there are shadows. When there is birth, there is death. Courage is precious because of cowardice. After being shaken, the persistence of choice will not be changed. My first friend, I have experienced this from him in the past two years. "My heart was jumping in ecstasy, and everything in my heart was awakened again. I had a lover, inspiration for poetry, life, and tears", as well as many touches that I had never had before. I began to regard foreign lands as As a hometown, people from other places have become close friends. After wandering and wandering, I realized the value of home. After the entanglement of loneliness, inferiority and selfishness receded, I longed for love and unity so much. I belong here, I belong to this city, I belong to this This green field belongs to these lovely people."

The above three paragraphs are excerpts from the novel.The first paragraph is the scene of Mu Zheng defeating the illness again and returning to the sidelines after half a year.The last two paragraphs are the sentiments of Copeway and Miller at the end of the novel.What dispels the emptiness brought about by death is the vigorous vitality possessed by the young man himself, and his natural yearning for life and light.The children got rid of their childishness, but did not lose their innocence and liveliness.It may be feasible to discuss the propositions of life and death with young readers in this way.It is the creator's pursuit to make this work readable by people of a higher age, rather than just a "children's book".Perhaps the best "children's literature" or "children's" works are those that can be accepted by people of all ages.It should not only respect the broad vision and excellent comprehension ability of the current children, but also be close to their lives, be loved by them, and satisfy the pursuit of the depth and breadth of life.

(End of this chapter)