SUMMARY

Lu Xun's "My Old Home" is an autobiographical novel about the author's character, Lu Xun, and his memories of growing up in his wonderful home as a child. He couldn't put into words how much he adored it and how proud he was to have been raised there. The story extends the conflict between memories and real facts.

The narrator returns to his Old Home in 1911, twenty years after the Qin Dynasty was overthrown; at first, he can't believe his eyes. His earliest memories are represented here by his Old House as a symbol. His mother and nephew greet him. He finds his house in a ruined state after twenty years of weather, renovations, and other families. So many changes have been made, but not in good ways. Lu Xun makes amends with his family, including Mrs. Yang, a neighbor who had said that he was mean. When the bean curd lady says that Xun is being mean because he doesn't want to give away his furniture, Xun feels embarrassed. As he confronts the realities of his hometown, his preconceived notions clash.

He learns that Lu and his old friend Runtu will be meeting up at the house. He recalls his brief relationship with Runtu, a boy who worked part-time as a laborer and was his childhood friend. They had a lively, upbeat, and brotherly friendship. It was fun for them to talk about how to catch animals like Badgers, Zha, and Hedgehogs. Their concern for the outside world was less acute.

After 30 years, Runtu became much more mature as time went on and people changed. He had a hard life because of high taxes, social responsibilities, famines, bandits, officials, and landed gentry. Runtu has viewed the narrator in a different light as a result of these factors. Due to Lu Xun's higher social status, Runtu does not treat Xun as a friend but rather as a master. The first thing Runtu says upon entering is "Hello Master." Last but not least, Lu hopes that his children will not discover the class distinctions that exist in China and that they will not drift apart, harming their friendship. Xun hopes that his nephew will maintain their friendship. He hoped that Runtu's social obligations would not affect them both.

The story ends with the message that as one moves on to better opportunities and places, one remembers the memories that lie behind them. Through Runtu's cautious persona, Xun demonstrates the significance of loyalty. If someone only cares about themselves and their wealth, the friendship will end. The difficulties they encounter alter their friendship. They can't be friends because of what society says. People of different classes can't interact and form relationships with one another. In some positions, they are required to perform their duties.

UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT

ANSWER THE QUESTIONS BELOW.

a. The narrator describes how he felt when he arrived at his old home.

Before his arrival, the narrator has a lot of happy and exciting feelings about his ancestral home. However, as soon as he arrives, his happy feelings turn into depressing ones as he sees his surroundings and an environment that hasn't changed much.

b. At the time, in China, there were three types of servants. What does it tell us about the then China?

In China at the time, there were three kinds of servants:

Workers were divided into three categories:

• “Yearlongs”: they worked for a household all year round.

• “Short-timers”: They were paid according to the work they do on a particular day.

• “Busy-monther”: they tilled the land, and worked for a specific family just during the holidays.

It suggests that there was a hierarchy maintained in China. The wealthy families employed the disadvantaged families at work. It also suggests that there was a class distinction in China.

c. What brings back memories for the narrator? What did he do when he was young with Runtu?

The narrator feels nostalgic as his mother asks him to meet Runtu. In his youth, he stabbed the Zha while playing with Runtu on the sandy ground among the watermelons.

d. How did Runtu in his youth hunt a Zha?

When the moon was out and if he heard something biting the melons, he would use his pitchfork to stab it.

e. How does the storyteller make a clever image of Mrs. Yang?

The narrator paints a humorous picture of Mrs. Yang by comparing her to a bean curd lady, who makes fun of him for not giving her his furniture.

f. The narrator mentions several factors that contributed to Runtu's poverty throughout his life.

The narrator asserts that Runtu's heavy taxes, social obligations, famines, encounters with bandits, officials, landed gentry, and class divisions throughout his life contributed to his poverty.

g. Before leaving the ancestral residence, how does the narrator assist Runtu?

Before leaving the previous residence, the narrator aids Runtu by providing him with two long tables, an incense burner, some candlesticks, and a set of scales.

h. How does the author distinguish between two types of idols?

When Runtu took the censer and candlesticks, the author smiled as he thought that Runtu could not come out of idol-worship and he again thought that what about his hope- which was also some kind of idol which the writer had created by himself, unlike Runtu who worships idol created by others. The writer thinks that both were hoping for something and the only difference was that Runtu’s hope was for immediate results whereas the writer’s hope was rather long-term.

REFERENCE TO THE CONTEXT

a. Hindu readers will recall the friendship between Krishna and Sudama when they read about the narrator's friendship with Runtu. Which specific description brings to mind the mythological instance?

The mythological connection of friendship between Krishna and Sudama is brought to mind in the following descriptions of the story "My Old Home":

Lord Krishna's classmate and closest friend was Sudama. Lord Krishna ruled over kings. Sudama was a poor unfortunate Brahmin. A similar case is found in the kinship and connection between Lu Xun and Runtu the former is from the rich and high society while the latter is extremely poor. In the same way that Runtu was embarrassed and nervous when he met his friend and master Lu Xun, Sudama was helped by Krishna at the end, and Lu Xun helped Runtu by providing several kitchen supplies at the end.

b. In what ways does the story back up the idea that childhood relationships are innocent, impartial, and disinterested?

After 30 years the writer returned to his village and the writer had the memories of his childhood unaltered and expected to remain the same. However, when Runtu called him Master when they met, the writer’s opinion and expectations were completely overturned. This incident sheds light on innocence, impartiality, and disinterestedness in childhood.

When the writer and Runtu were a child they did not care about the class distinction between them; neither of them thought of each other as master and worker but hunted Zha, badger, and porcupine in the watermelon field, maybe ate the same fruit and sat in the same level. They were innocent, impartial towards each other, and disinterested in their social status. In addition, the writer wants the relationship between his nephew and Runtu’s son to be as theirs even in their adulthoods.

c. After reading the story, what conclusions can you draw about the past economic and social structure of China?

This story depicts a clear picture of social and economic disparity in China. These disparities are portrayed by two characters namely the writer who comes from a wealthy family and his friend Runtu who is a servant in the writer’s family. He calls the writer master which shows that social distinction was deeply rooted in China. The poverty of Runtu and other characters shows that wealth was not equally distributed. The distinction of types of workers also gives a hint of the oppressed and the oppressor in old China.

d. What clues does the narrative provide about the local geography of the narrator's hometown?

Geographically, the story "My Old Home" takes place in the narrator's hometown in 1911, when the Qing Dynasty was overthrown. The narrative began in the dead of winter, with a cloudy sky and a bitter wind. Through the window, the narrator sees towns and villages against a vast, gray sky in the distance. The location that the narrator remembered was much more beautiful. Most likely, all that lay ahead of him was his hometown. The narrator then describes his visit to his farm under a blue-black sky, standing in the middle of emerald green watermelons that stretched as far as the eye could see, and then discussing New Year's celebrations. He also talks about collecting shells near the beach, going to the beach before the spring tides, guarding the farm at night with his father, catching birds, hunting animals like badgers, porcupines, and others, and so on.

REFERENCE BEYOND THE TEXT

a. Since the beginning of time, people have been moving around, always to new places. Write a 300-word essay about the Nepali migration trend.

Nepali Migration Trend

Being a landlocked country, there are fewer opportunities in the country as the socio-economic and political sectors are greatly influenced by neighboring countries and some other countries. Although Nepal has a lot of resources, neither has it been able to utilize or export them resulting in lesser opportunities and increasing import and export differences. Consequently, especially youths, among others are moving to other countries with the hope to uplift their living standard. Additionally, political instability, economic disparity, and education concerns have been three major causes of Nepali people’s migration.

One of the major reasons is economic. A majority of Nepali youth migrate to Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait. They are employed there in various sectors such as construction, transportation, domestic, and business. It is very sad to note that, they are employed at merely between Nrs. 20,000 to Nrs. 50,000 because they cannot earn this amount in their own country.

Another reason behind youth migration is the political turmoil. Nepal has gone through a decade-long so-called civil war led by Mr. Pushkamal Dahal and Mr. Baburam Bhattarai. In this civil war, almost 17000 Nepalese were killed and numerous were displaced from their home villages. This created a huge upheaval in education, social structure, politics, economic structure, technology, and finance. It is said that this civil war pushed Nepal 20 years back. This caused massive insecurity, joblessness, and the closures of businesses. Consequently, currently around 2000 Nepalese migrate daily to other countries.

This civil war also created a huge gap in education and the outcome of education. The education received in Nepal is not contemporarily applicable and it does not prepare Nepalese students to compete internationally. Nepalese youth who are from the upper middle class migrate to English-speaking countries such as Australia, the USA, the UK, and Canada in search of better education and later on better jobs and permanent residency permission.

To summarize, the migration of Nepali citizens has been increasing year after year crippling the economic and geo-political strength of Nepal. Migration has become a curse for the country’s economy and development.

b. Look for a friend or relative who has moved away from their old home to a new location. Prepare a report on how he or she felt when leaving the previous residence after speaking with them.

Almost a decade ago, my friend left his village house and shifted to our city. When I asked him about his experience, he nearly cried and told me that it was hard to detach from the villagers, his childhood buddies, those trees, flowers, the river, and the dog. He had spent almost a decade there, joined the school, and made many friends, and suddenly leaving them was like a blow to the face for him.

You are free to add more as per your friend’s or relative’s story.