Buzz
1. Reference Essay 1
Nguyen Huy Thiep is a writer who has significantly contributed to the modernization of Vietnamese prose. He has a captivating collection of short stories addressing various themes of life and nature. One of these is the short story 'Salt of the Forest,' written in 1986. The narrative depicts the battle between good and evil while elegantly conveying hidden feelings and goodness.
The story unfolds chronologically, following Mr. Dieu's hunting journey from climbing the mountain to returning home. Mr. Dieu aims and shoots a male monkey. However, when the male monkey falls and the rest of the troop flees in panic, Mr. Dieu is overwhelmed with fear and horror. At that moment, his conscience awakens, realizing he has done something wrong. Thinking the female monkey's return to save the male is deceitful, he threatens her to leave. Nevertheless, the female monkey runs back to rescue the male. Further tormenting his conscience is the sight of a baby monkey falling into a ravine. He is appalled by the recent events. There, he encounters the wounded male monkey he shot. Seeing the injured monkey, he feels pity. The story of a hunter with a cruel heart, killing his prey but deciding to save a monkey out of conscience and human compassion. He finds a leaf to cover the wound, bandages it with his only pair of pants, and carries the monkey down the mountain. Nguyen Huy Thiep vividly portrays the pain and suffering of animals under human influence. However, they still retain emotions and hope for human help. The story begins with a ruthless man depicted only interested in hunting and destroying nature. Yet now, Mr. Dieu carries the monkey down the mountain, disregarding danger. Looking at it with wounds all over, his heart feels shattered.
Perhaps the most beautiful image in this story is when Mr. Dieu luckily encounters a mysterious flower. A species that blooms only once every 30 years, indicating the salted forest as a tranquil land. When humans have a conscience, do good deeds, they will encounter luck. This is perhaps the message the author wants to convey to the readers. The title 'Salt and Forest' seems to symbolize a sacred symbol, longing for goodness. There is always an inherent part of humans that needs to be explored. If from the beginning, Mr. Dieu was a destroyer of nature, then he is a nature protector when returning to his inherent kindness. The author brings a unique language and impressive writing style to show the close relationship between humans and nature. Nature is an image reflecting human attitudes towards life. If humans know how to protect and love nature, then nature will provide them with abundant resources.
The portrayal of hidden feelings between nature and humans by Nguyen Huy Thiep is profound and authentic in the short story 'Salt of the Forest.' This shows the wicked nature of wild animal hunting in Vietnam and calls for humans to protect nature.
2. Reference Article 3
The works of Nguyễn Huy Thiệp, depicting evil and negativity, still shine with humanity because he believes in the aspiration for goodness and humanism in a society full of post-war crises and challenges of the early years of renovation. As Nguyễn Khải once said, this is the allure of Nguyễn Huy Thiệp's literature. “Literature has the right to depict, but not just describe the vile, the repulsive, the cowardly. The magnetic pole that attracts all generations is still the noble, the good, the loyal.”
Nguyễn Huy Thiệp: “Salt of the Jungle is a hunting trip in search of the truth of life”. It is a hunt for fame and fortune. These are all monkey tricks. Life is full of monkey tricks. In the end, everything turns to dust. Life is a hunt for bad habits within oneself to eliminate toxins and transform from a monkey to a human.”
With the development of civilization, humanity is increasingly facing major risks from the ecological environment. It threatens human life and all creatures on earth. Faced with these risks, literature also has a responsibility to speak out. Ecological literary works warn of environmental risks and suggest a future for sustainable human development.
This work forms in people a progressive view of ecological humanism: valuing nature, treating nature equally with a spirit of friendship, and living in harmony with nature rather than conquering and exploiting it. By returning to nature, humans return to their original good nature.
The work reflects the inner struggle of humans to achieve nobility, goodness, while expressing faith in a better future if humans recognize the life of nature and the right to life of all people. The path from recognizing the right to human life to the right to natural life is a long step forward in the history of human cultural development.
3. Reference Article 2
The salt of the forest is one of the most remarkable short stories by author Nguyen Huy Thiep. This author's stories often have two distinct creative tendencies. The first is to criticize the remaining difficulties in society. The second tendency is romantic and philosophical. 'The Salt of the Forest' and 'The River Flows' are such works.
The content of the short story 'The Salt of the Forest' is very simple. The story revolves around Mr. Dieu's hunting trip in the forest. He goes hunting not to make a living but to satisfy his passion and try out the new gun his son just bought as a gift. Mr. Dieu encountered a family of monkeys and targeted a male monkey as prey. He raised his gun and fired, the male monkey was wounded, got up, ran away, and then lay back down. The female monkey did not hesitate to risk saving the male monkey. The male and female monkeys fought bravely to save their lives against Mr. Dieu's weapon. But they couldn't defeat him. With his final act of mercy, Mr. Dieu took off his last piece of underwear, bandaged the male monkey, and released it into the forest. Mr. Dieu returned home naked, filled with pride. Through Mr. Dieu's actions and thoughts, this work conveys a very meaningful message. It reminds people of the hidden love and respect for all living creatures. Like humans, animals also have their own lives and are worth living. For life to have meaning, humans need to respect the lives of animals. In this short story, the author also wants to convey the importance of life and living in harmony with nature.
The salt flower, the salt of the forest is a legend. Suddenly, a baby monkey appears on the ground and drags a gun on the ground. Eventually, both the weapon and the monkey fall into a deep ravine. All that remains is emptiness. This is a great metaphor. Not everything we want or do will become reality. Reality is often right in front of us, and even when we think it can be achieved, it can be lost at any time. Perhaps that is the philosophy the author wants to convey in this short story.
To make this short story successful, we must mention the unique features of storytelling, narrative perspective, and story viewpoint. The story is told in the third person, the storyteller stands outside the story and has an objective viewpoint. This allows the storyteller to recount all the events of the story, regardless of time or space, while capturing the events, character development, and plot.
By analyzing all of the above, we can assert that 'The Salt of the Forest' by author Nguyen Huy Thiep is an excellent short story. History has proven the outstanding talent of writer Nguyen Huy Thiep in Vietnamese literature.
6. Reference Article 7
In the story 'Salt of the Jungle,' on a beautiful day, Mr. Dinh owns a new rifle, a special gift from his son. His soul is filled with excitement as he decides to venture into the jungle to challenge himself in an exciting hunting expedition.
When he hits a male monkey, unexpected events change everything. When a female monkey appears to save the injured male, Mr. Dinh is suddenly filled with anger and mistakenly believes the female monkey is deceitful. But then, when the baby monkey snatches the gun and plunges into the abyss, Mr. Dinh witnesses a miracle and extreme fear. The cries of pain from the injured male monkey tear at his heart, and although he is relieved to catch the male monkey again, he is moved by compassion and decides to rescue it from the dire situation on the mountain.
Recognizing unity and love in the natural world, Mr. Dinh decides to forgive the monkey and leave. On the way back, he finds a special flower, which blooms only once every thirty years. This is a symbol of hope and prosperity in the future, as humanity learns to cherish and protect nature.
Despite portraying the ugly and negative aspects, the work of Nguyen Huy Thiep always shines with humanity's belief in the desire for goodness, belief in human nature in a society full of post-war crises and the early years of innovation. That is the attraction of NHT's literature, as Nguyen Khai once said: 'Literature has the right, but not only to describe the ugly, the dreadful, the despicable. The magnet still attracts all generations, it is noble, it is beautiful, it is faithful.'
Nguyen Huy Thiep: 'Salt of the Jungle is a hunting expedition in search of life, of existence. It is a hunting expedition in search of fame and fortune. Everything is monkey business. Life is monkey business. In the end, we are all stripped bare, everything returns to dust. Life is a hunting expedition to find the bad habits within ourselves to detoxify ourselves, to transform ourselves from monkeys into humans.'
Along with the development of civilization, humanity increasingly faces great dangers from the ecological environment. It threatens the lives of humans and all creatures on this earth. Faced with these dangers, literature must also speak up. Eco-themed literary works warn of environmental hazards, aiming for the sustainable development of humanity's future.
Works formed within the progressive human worldview of ecological humanism: A thought that values nature, treats nature equally in a spirit of camaraderie, a lifestyle harmonious with nature instead of conquest and exploitation of nature; humans must empathize with nature being trampled on, being harmed. Returning to nature, humans will return to their inherently good nature.
Reflecting the struggle within humans to reach the sublime, the good, the work demonstrates faith in a better future when humans realize the right to life of nature, the right to life of all species. The journey from awareness of human rights to the right to life of nature is a long step in the history of human cultural development.'
7. Reference 6
Nguyen Huy Thiep has been passionate about literature since childhood. He started reading books at the age of 10 and wrote his first short stories quite early (some of the short stories in the collection 'Hua Tat's Breezes' were written when he was only 21 years old). However, his literary fame only came from stories published in Van Nghe newspaper in 1986, when he was 36 years old. Then, in 1987, with the work 'Retired General,' he officially established his position in the Vietnamese literary world.
In the story 'Salt of the Jungle,' the main character is Mr. Dieu, a man who receives an excellent gun from his distant son. He was excited and decided to use this gun to test his hunting skills in the beautiful spring after the Lunar New Year holiday.
Initially, he eagerly sought to find a unique animal, one he had never seen before. Therefore, he missed the opportunity to catch wild chickens and instead chose to venture deep into the strawberry forest to hunt monkeys. When he spotted a troop of monkeys, his enthusiasm began to overflow, and he carefully analyzed to choose the appropriate target, waiting for the perfect moment to shoot.
However, when he saw a monkey family, he unexpectedly showed hatred towards the male monkey and decided to choose it as his target. He took aim and shot at the male monkey's shoulder, injuring it and causing the entire troop of monkeys to panic and flee in disorder. However, Mr. Dieu was surprised to see the male monkey's offspring come to its rescue. Perhaps at this moment, his compassion began to awaken, he treated the male monkey's wound and ultimately decided to forgive it. So his hunting trip ended with empty hands, but he did not regret his decision.
Humans, armed and equipped with the intention of destroying nature, ultimately return naked and alone. He returns with empty hands, in the primitive form of man as naturally born, also returning to the pure nature of all species. Mr. Dieu's hunting journey is the journey of humanity from the inherently unstable civilized world, from the deceitful, deceptive 'human world' back to nature, back to the source, back to purity, and goodness.
Forgiving the monkey is like an act of redemption with nature. In the silent struggle within him, eventually the human part, goodness, and compassion prevailed. Nature always opens its arms generously and behaves nobly towards humans. The gentle, pure spring rain envelops and protects his body. The natural world, though mysterious and unpredictable, has a precious quality of fairness if humans treat it with a spirit of friendship.
On the way back, Mr. Dieu chose the deserted path, he was amazed to see the mysterious flowers in abundance. The flower blooms once every thirty years, white in color, salty in taste, as small as a head of a pin, it's called the salt of the jungle. 'When the jungle produces salt, it is a sign of peace in the country, of abundant harvests.' It's like a reward from nature when humans recognize and understand the right lesson about how to behave with nature. For many centuries, humans have deluded themselves into the intelligence and power of industrial civilization, imposing the rules of the strong on communal life, killing nature and making nature angry. Humans need to understand that: Dealing with nature violently is an act of self-destruction!
