Chapter 106 Tragedy of Character and Tragedy of Fate

Amy/text I suddenly brought up tragedy because the three relatively long stories I wrote all contained certain elements of tragedy.I don't want to say that they are tragedies, but only say "with tragic elements", because what I write is not a literary work, and I don't want to rely on literary GENRE; also because I know that the definition of "tragedy" can be various, Different people accept different definitions, and I don't want to argue with people over definitions, it's something that can never be clarified. Here is Merriam-Webster's definition of TRAGEDY:

1 a : a medieval narrative poem or tale typically describing the downfall of a great man 1 b : a serious drama typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force (as destiny) and having a sad or disastrous conclusion that excites pity or terror 1 c : the literary genre of tragic dramas I heard that tragedies can be divided into two categories: "character tragedy" and "fate tragedy" according to the causes of tragedy. The former is a tragedy caused by character, and the latter is a tragedy caused by fate. It is said that the oldest and most representative of the former type of tragedies is the Greek tragedy. It is written that Agamemron led his team to attack Troy. He killed his own daughter and dedicated it to God.This incident made his wife hold a grudge and determined to take revenge.

Ten years later, Agamemnon's army defeated Troy and returned to the court victoriously, but her wife had been abandoned at home for ten years, and she already had a lover.The lover's father had an enmity with Agamemron's father, so the lover joined forces with Agamemron's wife to plan to murder Agamemron. They flattered Agamemron, saying that the Trojan War was won entirely due to him.They also coaxed Agamemnon into the house from the long red carpet.Agamemnon was proud by nature, and he was even more elated when he heard the compliments. He felt that he deserved the flattery and treatment, so he didn't return home quietly like a mortal, but stepped on the red carpet and entered the house like a god.

His arrogance and indifference offended the gods, who punished him at the hand of his wife: he was murdered by her and her lover while he was bathing. This story can be said to fit Merriam-Webster's first definition of tragedy: it is written about the downfall of a great man. The oldest and most representative of the second type of tragedy is, of course, the story that Huang Yan once quoted, killing his father and marrying his mother. Before Oedipus was born, his parents were told by an oracle that their son would kill his father and marry his mother to usurp the throne.To avoid this fate, his father ordered the newborn Oedipus to be killed.But the man who was ordered to kill him felt pity and didn't kill him. He just threw him on the mountain and was picked up by the shepherds of the neighboring country.

When Oedipus grew up in a neighboring country, he also learned that he was destined to kill his father and marry his mother.In order to escape this fate, he left his parents (actually adoptive parents, but he didn't know it), thinking that the farther away the better.As a result, he clashed with his biological father and his entourage on the road, and killed his father by mistake.Later, because he solved the riddle of the sphinx monster Sphinx, he won the treatment of taking the throne and marrying the queen, so he inadvertently realized the oracle to kill his father and marry his mother.

King Oedipus had a tragic end. He married his own mother and had several children.Several years later, his kingdom was invaded by natural disasters and man-made disasters, and the people were devastated. He vowed to find out the reason behind the disaster, and finally found out that the reason was himself.He blinded his eyes with his own hands and exiled himself to the barren mountains. This story fits Merriam-Webster's second definition of tragedy: a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force (as destiny) and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that excites pity or terror.

It is said to be a tragedy of character, because Agamemron's downfall was caused by his arrogance, and arrogance can certainly be regarded as a part of a person's personality. It is said to be a tragedy of fate because the fate of Oedipus was already determined for him by the gods. Although he knew the prophecy and tried his best to escape, the path set by the gods cannot be avoided by humans. Looking at these two tragedies with our modern eyes, we can say that the ancient Greeks were trying to explain the destiny of the individual and the destiny of the country. I'm not interested in "character tragedy", because the tragic characters in that kind of story only DESERVE a sentence: "This is what you caused, you deserve it".If I had to read such a story, most of my attention would be on how the tragic characters of the tragic characters are formed.

Regarding character and destiny, I will talk about it in another article, so I won't say more here. "Tragedy of character" doesn't impress me, what can impress me is the so-called "tragedy of fate".I have already said that I wrote these long stories mainly because I was moved by the stories, so what I wrote are all "tragedies of fate", maybe not tragedies in the strict sense, because they are not literary works, but they all contain elements of tragedy of fate .So what I write is about the good side shown by people who have been hit by the iron fist of fate in difficult or even painful situations.Of course, this beauty is based on my definition, and you don’t need it to feel beautiful.

The one who was hit by the iron fist of fate, of course, was ALLAN.He was taken into the interrogation station for no reason, tortured and almost disabled.I don't know how he survived those 49 days and nights, and he himself rarely talked about them afterwards.His performance during the trial and after his freedom is worthy of my admiration.As Xiao Kun said, he thinks more about others than himself.He didn't sink in, or become cold and heartless, he was still a loving person.This is what struck me about him and why I was interested in writing this story.Otherwise, even if you are bored, you can write other things.

Among those who were hit by the iron fist of fate, the third child was the most recommended.He was killed by leukemia at a young age. The truth, kindness and beauty he showed in the face of death moved me, so I am interested in writing his story. The Jingqiu in that story can also be said to be a person who was hit by the iron fist of fate.I was touched by how she and her family struggled through financial hardship and cared for each other.Jingqiu's life can be said to have suffered countless blows from the iron fist of fate, but she has grown into a strong, confident, smart, wise, and helpful woman, which I admire.

The protagonists and heroines of the novel, in my opinion, have all been hit by the iron fist of fate.In a certain situation, they made a wrong choice and took a wrong path, and they paid a heavy price for it.But they also showed a side of their characters that touched me in the face of difficulties: they still maintain a heart, and they can give everything for their loved ones. This is just like what is sung in that song: "People float and sink in the world, and they live for themselves, but I love you more than anything else." Helen is willing to sacrifice her own interests for her daughter, and the hero and heroine for each other. Including self-esteem, future, freedom and even life.This is very rare in this era when many people "live only for themselves". It can be said that the wrong decisions they made, if they were not in that environment, they would not have made such decisions.This is what BENNY said: born in the wrong place, grew up in the wrong place, made the wrong choice, and walked the wrong path. All I can say is that if I were in that environment, I'm afraid I wouldn't be much smarter.Maybe I'll make the same mistake, maybe I'll overcorrect and go the other way.So I read this story more to see how they struggled to get out of the predicament, rather than simply defining this story as a tragedy of character, and then blaming them for the wrong decisions they made in the first place for everything. My father once said: "Writing a novel until the author needs to jump out and explain the theme and purpose of his novel, then the writing has failed." He meant that a well-written novel does not need an author Tell the reader "The theme of my novel is XXX", and the reader will see it for himself. So, I failed to write these three stories, because I was obviously writing a "tragedy of fate", but people who read the story regarded it as a "tragedy of character". When watching Huyou, more people criticize ALLAN than criticize the trial system; when watching Hawthorn, more people criticize Jingqiu than criticize the Cultural Revolution; There are many people who call her "deserving, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid", but not many people think that her plight is related to the unequal treatment of women in Chinese society, or to certain types of men. Masculinity is related to ignorance, or to the restoration of rural feudal superstition, or to "fascist" parenting. Some people say, oh, you want us to bash these things?Then why didn't you say it earlier? I'm not asking you to bash anything, I just hate to see you take this story as a "character tragedy" without seeing the social and environmental factors. Others said that it was for her own good that I severely reprimanded Helen.On this point, I will write an article, so I won't say much here. Why do I disapprove of the stories I write as "tragedies of character"?One, I don't want you to be misunderstood that way because I didn't write it that way; and two, I don't see any advantage in treating my stories as tragedies of character. In a sense, it's no good treating any story as a tragedy of character unless you're trying to get into the causes of character.Otherwise, if a tragedy is someone else's, and we think it is a tragedy of character, our sympathy will be greatly reduced.Even if we don't say it, what we think in our hearts is two words: "serve it".At most, I can add one more sentence: You made it all yourself. Who told you to have such a personality? If it's our own tragedy, and we think it's a character tragedy, we're all the more depressed.Who is to blame?We can only blame ourselves, and there must be something wrong with our character for this tragedy to happen.But it is undeniable that there are some things in life that we cannot control by ourselves. If we learn lessons blindly without understanding how the tragedy is formed, it is easy to overcorrect. The reason why many women who are unhappy in love and marriage are so painful in thought and heavy in heart is that to a large extent, they have a sense of failure and a mentality of blaming themselves. A good school, so it did not produce a good husband.In fact, this is to regard a thing that requires the efforts of both parties and social support as something that can be handled by oneself alone, and to regard a half-personality and half-fate thing as a whole-personality thing. Attributing the failure of love and marriage to your own personal reasons, such as your bad personality, bad appearance, young age, etc., sometimes has no positive meaning, because there are many things that you cannot change.In many cases, the misfortune of love and marriage is due to bad luck and unkind people, and the degraded social atmosphere makes it easy for men and women to empathize with others. Habits can also turn what used to be a loving couple into a dull couple. But you don't have to hold yourself accountable for these things.While love and marriage can still be saved, make positive efforts as much as possible.And when love and marriage are gone with the wind, there is no need to blame yourself repeatedly, because blame is useless, it is better to believe that some people are unattainable, some feelings are irretrievable, and some eyes do not know how to appreciate.Done.Brace yourselves and find someone who can build or appreciate you. Even if such a person is never found, it should not be regarded as a tragedy of character. In the words of Li Haiyan in ordinary things: "Even if it is a famous painting, no one may appreciate it." Some people have said that for any story, readers will have different opinions, and the wise will see wisdom. Why are you afraid that others will have different opinions? I'm not afraid of your disagreement, even if you think the sun is square, I won't interfere, and I won't worry about that.But I don't want that disagreement of yours to be the result of, or reinforced by, a misunderstanding of the story I've written.So I'll take a moment to explain, to make a statement. I have no intention of arguing, I just want to explain that I am writing this article just to tell you that the three stories I wrote are stories that contain elements of "tragedy fate".