On the Way of Shaping the Image of the Underclass Minor Intellectuals in Ba Jin's Cold Nights-Taking the Character Wang Wenxuan as an Example

Abstract

Cold Nights is a long novel written by the contemporary Chinese author Ba Jin in the 1990s, which is called The Civilian Epic. The book mainly portrays the characters of Wang Wenxuan, Zeng Shusheng and Wangs mother. It highlights the misery of the fate of intellectuals at the bottom of society in the war-torn environment and indicts the unreasonable social system. In this essay, the question of the way author Ba Jin portrays the underclass intellectuals in Cold Nights is studied and explored. How Ba Jin portrays the characters of small intellectuals who are down and out and the significance of such characterization are also analyzed. Conclusions are drawn by means of a close reading of the text and on the basis of extensive literature references. Ba Jin uses both opposites in contrast and like metaphors. The typical character of Wang Wenxuan is a vivid portrayal of the humiliated, humble and cowardly intellectuals of the lower class. It also extends from the single figure of Wang Wenxuan to the portrayal of a group of small intellectuals in wartime, expanding the universal significance of Wangs characterization.