Analysis on the Living Situation of Chinese Intellectuals in Wang Mengs Novel Huo Dong Bian Ren Xing

Abstract

In the new period of literary thinking, literary artists try to re-integrate the missing image of intellectuals into history through self-imagination. The reinvented older generation of intellectuals still have strong beliefs even though they suffer from physical and mental torture. Wang Meng, the author of Huo Dong Bian Ren Xing (Move-to-Turn into Human Forms), combines his personal experience to create a completely different image, showing a real individual. He boldly shows the actual living state of his fathers generation, with the protagonist Ni Wucheng as a failure in many aspects, including his career, family, and conduct. From the perspective of colonial culture, this paper explores the living situation of Chinese intellectuals between the 1940s and 1980s by analyzing the cultural background and structure of the characters in Wang Mengs novel Huo Dong Bian Ren Xing. It can be concluded that Ni Wucheng was affected by the colonial culture. He was addicted to the illusion of Western material civilization and ignored its spiritual essence. At the same time, he could not get rid of the deep-rooted bad habits of the Chinese nation, using a compromising attitude to avoid problems and failing to truly recognize himself until his death. Ni Zao, his son, who also belonged to the intelligentsia, was also unable to completely eradicate the colonial culture at the time of his fathers trial due to the lack of a genuine cultural theory system belonging to his own nation.