Sanity In Disguise In Lu Xun's Diary Of A Madman

Referring from the text, the narrator explained, “Ha!—would a madman have been so wise as this?” In the beginning of the narrative, the slaughterer attempted to justify his sanity, which confirms that he can establish his own status. According to “The Tell-Tale Heart Insanity Plea”, no mentally unstable person could not perceive reality. “You should have seen how wisely I proceeded—with what caution— with what foresight—with what dissimulation.” If the murderer was legally insane, he would not have had such a comprehensible memory of the crime, however he did indeed. Considering the belief that evil eyes had such misfortune upon it, the narrator can be considered balanced, for it perhaps caused injuries and nobody would desire for anything like an evil eye in proximity of them. Nonetheless, the murder himself confirmed his guilt with all the precautions he took, therefore, he should be sent to prison instead of receiving medical

Without that initial statement, why would we think him mad? Then he says; "Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing." How does he know that madmen know nothing? I wrote in my own journal once; "Insanity is not madness. Sanity is madness, if one can distinguish the difference between sanity and insanity, does that not then make you sane?" So then, if the narrator questions our thoughts on his sanity, he must then know the difference or that there is a difference between sanity and insanity, does that not then create some question as to his own sanity? I think from the very beginning he questioned his own sanity to himself thereby creating the question of insanity to the reader! Isn't that insane? (ha ha) But was he insane? Insane is defined in Webster's New Concise Dictionary as: "Not Sane; mentally deranged or unsound. Set apart for demented persons. Not Whole." OK, well we still cannot prove that he was or was not insane. Was he a psychopath? Some would say yes, most definitely. But what is a psychopath? Psychopaths have a character type that enables them to pursue pleasure with indifference to the suffering they cause others. Psychopaths are completely lacking such virtues as benevolence and compassion. In this story, the narrator says; "I loved the old man.

Mao Dun, or rather his true name Shen Dehong, was a 20th century novelist and later the Minister of Culture of the People’s Republic of China from 1949 to 1965. He is considered one of the most well-known and celebrated left-wing realist writers of modern China and is best known for two of his stories, Ziya and Spring Silkworms, the latter which will be referenced throughout this essay. Spring Silkworms tells the story of an elderly man named Old Tong Bao, his family, and his village as they prepare for the coming silk worm season. Throughout the story, we are able to get a sense of the desperation and turmoil that Old Tong Bao’s village is experiencing. From learning about the debt that his family has, how they had to sacrifice food in

The narrator is constantly trying to prove his sanity, yet we can conclude that he actually, if not consciously, subconsciously understands he is going mad. He is the one that first puts the idea of him being mad in the reader?s mind, and he is the one that continually asks how it could be possible that he is mad, which shows that he himself is not sure. He?s trying to prove his sanity in such a desperate way, that I believe it is obvious he must have some idea of his insanity, otherwise he would just state his sanity, rather than trying to prove it.

Lu Xun’s short story, “Diary of a Madman,” illustrates the possible dangers of traditions and cultural norms. Lu Xun uses a rather savage, extreme example for a tradition which people blindly follow in the story: cannibalism. The story is presented through a series of diary entries. After being enlightened by the moonlight which he has not seen for thirty years, the narrator who is also the diary writer, is drastically affected when his perspective on life changes. He lives his life with the paranoia that everyone around him is determined to eat him. Convinced that everyone is practicing the evil act of cannibalism, the narrator attempts to persuade them to change their ways for the greater good. The story is filled with irony as Lu Xun demonstrates just how strong tradition can be in its influence, longevity, and deception, even when the tradition is immoral.

Some readers may argue that the narrator is sane because he constantly explains that his actions are sane. However, the narrator is actually insane because the actions that he justifies are very abnormal. The narrator explains that he concealed the body by, “ First of all, [dismembering] the corpse. [He] cut off the head and the arms and the legs” (Poe l 133-134). Clearly, the narrator’s actions mentioned above are not normal. No sane person would be proud of how carefully they concealed a dead body. The narrator is just trying to explain his peculiar actions in a normal way, which he hopes will convince the reader he is sane. Although the narrator justifies himself, the actions he carried out are not even something a sane person would do, therefore making him insane.

He watched the man sleep every night and he claimed that he heard noises, how can you possibly thing that the narrator is not insane? I believe he is insane due to his actions. He killed a man because of his eye then dismembered his corpse and then he said he hears noises. The narrator murdered an old man that was sleeping in his house, an old man that was probably his friend. The man had a vulture eye, a pale blue eye with a film over it. He murdered the old man because of his pale blue vulture eye. In the beginning of text, he said, “I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never insulted me. I had no desire. I think it was his eye! Yes, it was this!...Whenever it fell upon on me, my blood ran cold…I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever.” This quote demonstrates how insane the narrator is. He killed the old man because of his hatred for the man’s eye. No normal human will do such deed for that reason.

It is believed that the narrator has a mental disorder. It is not normal for his roommate’s eye to have so much control over him. “It becomes clear to the reader that this madman cannot judge reality from fantasy” (associated content). The definition of mental illness according to Houghton Mifflin is: any of various psychiatric conditions, usually characterized by impairment of an individual’s normal cognitive, emotional, or behavioral functioning, and caused by psychological or psychosocial factors. Also called mental disease, mental disorder. Basically it’s a disability in a person that causes then to behave in a not so normal way. I believe that the narrator in the story suffers from schizophrenia. Symptoms of schizophrenia are hallucinations, delusions, talking nonsense and aggressive behavior. The madman shows all these symptoms with his false perception, false beliefs, talk of the eye and violence against the old man. Yes everyone has evil thoughts sometimes but if your mental state is intact, you should be able to control those urges. “Human nature is a balance of light and dark good and evil, most of the time this balance is maintained. In those of us not mentally stable the dark side will always emerge”.

One of the oldest philosophies in Chinese history is Confucianism. At the time of the warring states, Confucius wandered throughout China seeking a ruler who accepted the Confucian way. Since then, his ideas grew and are still relevant today. Throughout time other philosophers, Mengzi and Xunzi, have interpreted Confucius’ teachings and have long debated whether human nature is good or bad. I argue that human nature is not, as Mengzi believes, inherently good, instead, completely self-interested.

Even during the time when the narrator was in the process of hiding the body, he does not find himself insane. The narrator speaks of how is was so cunning and intelligent enough to not get a spot of blood anywhere, of how he placed the boards of the floor precisely as they were before the murder.

The audience should also notice within the first paragraph where the legal definition of insanity could also be applied. It is here where his words begin to contradict themselves. It is here where he starts to demonstrate a mad man, by accusing the audience of coming to the conclusion that he is mad. He then goes on to imply that if he were mad, he “would be out of control, …profoundly illogical, and not even recognize the implications of his

Diary of a Madman starts off with a prologue that ends with the sentence “Ive got good reason for my fears (pg240)”. This sentence strategically prepares the reader for questioning and reasoning within the remainder of the story. The idea of reasoning and distinguishing sanity from insanity is very blurred in both of these stories. When madman continues to speak about reasoning and the study of humans I come to the conclusion that he is one that studies humans, therefore he is seen as an outcast. Society labels a knowledgable human being as a “nerd” instead of a professional. Diary of a madman can be read closely as a research journal which makes me challenge the idea of madman being insane and his perception of reality.

In the first few paragraphs of the story, the narrator makes a point of rejecting the idea that he is mad. It almost seems as if he goes out of his way to reassure readers that he is indeed sane. It was at this point that I first got an inclination that the narrator was unreliable, either because he is insane, or just lying. The average person who

Adler, Joseph A. "Confucianism in China Today." 14 Apr. 2011. Web. 28 Oct. 2013. .

Lu Xun’s story “Diary of a Madman” serves to demonstrate his discontent with traditional Chinese cultural, not only by the fact that it clearly addresses the incidence of cannibalism that is believed to have occurred but also symbolizes the oppressive nature of Confucian principles.Lu Xun’s madman has the ability to recognize the oppressive elements of Chinese Confucian culture serves to mock established but out-dated traditional scholarship and symbolizes the greater wisdom of cultural reform, especially as it is advanced by modern intellectuals of the period.