'The Diary of a Madman': A Portrayal of Cannibalistic Society

Abstract

This article explores the use of cannibalism in the story ‘The Diary of a Madman’. It has an enigmatic ending that concludes with the didactic concept i.e. ‘Save the Children…’ reflects the voice of youths in which Lu Xun’s story portrays the optimistic societal values in the context of China during the first phase of early 20th century. In this story, the dehumanized characters are often described as exposing the cannibalistic feudal society of pre-revolution China. He intends to criticize the nature of feudal society through the story that reveals the social life of Chinese people. This modern story intends to show the distasteful concept of cannibalism. The issue of cannibal is an icon of primitive society that is a part of ideological strength of embryonic society. Cannibalism acts in the story as a metaphor and the insanity of madman is a break from the feudal society and states his hopefulness for the entire human beings.