Analyzing the character Liên in the short story Two Children

Prompt: Analyze the character Liên in the short story Two Children

Analyzing the character Liên in the short story Two Children

I. Outline for Analyzing Liên in the Short Story Two Children (Standard)

1. Introduction:

- Introduction to the author Thạch Lam and the work Two Children
- Liên as the typical character of the story.

2. Body:

a. Overview:
- 'Two Children' featured in the collection Sunshine in the Garden
- A story revolving around the lives of sisters Liên and the unfortunate destinies in the impoverished town.

b. Character Liên: from the twilight to the passing train scene:

- Liên is a sensitive, innocent girl with great purity:
+ Witnessing the twilight scene, her heart suddenly becomes 'sad and desolate'.
+ Darkness descends, and sorrow seeps into the 'innocent soul' of Liên.
→ The sorrow of a young girl with a sensitive, pure soul. It reflects the author's own sadness towards contemporary society.

- Liên is a person rich in subtlety, feeling compassion for the unfortunate lives in the impoverished town:
+ Liên empathizes with the children in the town, yet 'she herself has nothing to give them.'
+ Compassion for the challenging lives, working days of 'catching crabs and collecting shrimps,' and the evening opening of her sister Tí's beverage stall; compassion for the difficult life of Uncle Siêu, Granny Thi with mental illness...
→ Liên sympathizes, understands, and feels sorrow for their fates, which is also the sentiment Thạch Lam aims to convey.

- Liên also harbors dreams and aspirations for a fresh, happy life:
+ She eagerly awaits the train despite feeling 'sleepy and exhausted.'
+ The train brings a radiant light 'completely different from Tý's dim light and Siêu's fire,' it 'sparkles with bright windows.'
+ The train is a different world compared to the gloom of the impoverished town, revitalizing the area.
+ The train is also a realm of beautiful memories for Liên, recalling her joyful childhood.
+ When the train departs: Liên regrets while the town returns to silence with the 'sound of drumming and barking dogs.'
+ Liên's mood returns to a subtle, lingering sadness.
→ The writer's appreciation for the aspirations and dreams of the people here.

c. Artistic Elements:
- Sentimental writing style, intimate and simple language
- Successfully portrays the character Liên: a young, sensitive, and pure girl with sophistication.
- Through the character Liên, Thạch Lam conveys his own thoughts about the unfortunate lives.

3. Conclusion:

- Liên is perhaps the only character in Two Kids who is conscious of her dull, monotonous, and mundane life.
- Pity for the impoverished fates in the town is also pity for Liên herself.

II. Sample Essay Analyzing the Character Liên in the Short Story Two Kids (Standard)

Thạch Lam is a writer with a special talent for short stories. His works often focus on exploring the inner lives of characters along with vague, pure, and delicate emotions. Two Kids, a short story by Thạch Lam, is a representative work showcasing his writing style. The character Liên is the epitome of the story, considered as the embodiment of Thạch Lam himself to express his perspectives and emotions.

The short story Two Kids is included in the collection Sunshine in the Garden, presenting a simple plot. It revolves around the lives of two sisters, Liên and An, in a poor town with difficult destinies. The narrative not only portrays the lives of the poor under French colonial rule but also reflects Thạch Lam's compassion for those living in poverty, trapped and seemingly meaningless, as well as his respect for their dreams of happiness.

Liên, the character in Two Kids, is a young girl, perhaps that's why her soul is so sensitive and fragile. This becomes evident when, in the impoverished town where Liên lives, she enters the evening, immersing herself in the moment of sunset. Liên suddenly feels a 'subtle sadness.' The picturesque rural evening unfolds with 'the western sky blazing red like a burning fire and clouds glowing pink as a dying coal,' accompanied by the sounds of 'distant drumbeats' and the 'echoing croaks of frogs in the fields carried by the gentle breeze.' Despite the beauty of the sunset, it contains a sadness, a silence that envelops her. Sitting in her tiny grocery store, as the 'darkness engulfs,' Liên realizes that the sadness seems to be 'seeping into the innocent soul' of Liên. It's the melancholy of a young girl with a sensitive, innocent, yet remarkably subtle and gentle soul. It's also the sorrow of Thạch Lam himself witnessing society at that time stagnating towards decay.

As darkness descends and the town's lights faintly appear, Liên looks out to the market. A poor market in the midst of a poor town. The market session has 'long ended, people have left, and the noise is gone,' and 'all that's left on the ground are rubbish, pomelo peels, persimmon peels, lychee leaves, and sugarcane residue. A musty smell rises, a mix of daytime heat and the scent of dust.' Liên stands still, sensing the familiar scent that feels like the 'distinctive smell of the land, of this homeland.' However, the end of the hometown market is also the time when the unfortunate lives, the poor children, appear. Against the backdrop of the desolate market, 'a few poor kids near the market crouch on the ground, searching. They pick up bamboo sticks, bamboo strips, or anything usable left behind by the sellers.' They are evidence of lives destined to live in misery, on a pile of rubbish, having to sow hope into that pile, that desolate market. Liên 'feels compassion,' sympathizing with their fate, but also helpless because 'she also has no money to give them.' Liên's compassion for the children is also Thạch Lam's compassion for the impoverished laborers. And that compassion becomes even more pronounced through the images of Sister Tý, Uncle Siêu, Uncle Xẩm, or An's own family.

Regarding Sister Tý, she is the epitome of a poor farmer in this town. During the day, she goes 'crab hunting and shrimp catching,' and at night, she 'cleans this water stand under the banyan tree, next to the milestone.' The long sigh of weariness from her 'oh dear, sooner or later there's nothing to gain' is the sigh of a stagnant, trapped, monotonous, and meaningless life.

Another life scene is Uncle Siêu with his wandering pho cart. In the middle of this town, that pho cart is a 'luxury, expensive thing' that few can afford. Therefore, Uncle Siêu's cart always goes unsold. Despite being diligent, setting up his stall every evening, and returning with his cart at night, perhaps when he lights that small fire, he's kindling hope for life, hoping for the light to shine on his stagnant, meaningless life.

Bác Xẩm's family are wanderers, seeking survival, building homes under bridges and on sidewalks. Their possessions consist of tattered mats, a guitar, and a white iron pot. Then there's Granny Thi, a symbol of a withered life. Or Liên and An's family, also a scene of misery in this poor town. Teacher Liên lost his job, Liên's mother sells sundries, and the sisters run this tiny grocery store. Their lives revolve around arranging goods in the morning and bringing them in at night. The simple joys of the two sisters are also taken away by that confined life.

The entire life scenes of the town unfold through Liên's eyes. Lives appearing in poverty, weariness, simplicity, and being trapped without an escape route. And Liên - a young girl with a sensitive, mysterious soul has shown empathy, compassion, and profound sympathy for those poor fates. She understands every piece of hardship in this town, cherishing them. And that is also the sentiment that Thạch Lam wants to convey through Liên's perspective.

The night train appears in the poor town like a brilliant light at the end of the day. Liên and An, like all the people here, eagerly await the train with hope. Because it seems that the train carries hopes, light for a new life for Liên, for the lives here!

Before the train arrives, Liên lives in restlessness, anticipation, determined not to sleep even though she's 'sleepy to the point of closing her eyes.' Not to sell goods as her mother instructed, but because the train is the 'last activity of the night,' or is it because she is expecting something more? When Uncle Siêu announces, 'The signal light is already out there!' that's when Liên stretches all her senses to receive that signal. Since the train is just a 'blue flame, hovering near the ground like a ghost' with a distant whistle. Liên calls An in excitement, eagerly anticipating because the train brings a radiant light that this poor town never has. It seems that for Liên, the train is a precious thing not to be missed.

When the train arrives, it seems all of Liên's senses focus on that train. From the 'screech as it pulls in' to the 'billowing white smoke in the distance, followed by the murmurs of passengers,' everything is absorbed into Liên's sight and hearing. The loud train sounds, along with the noise of passengers, revive the otherwise dull town. Liên and the people here are all anticipating the 'revival' that the train brings.

The train is also a distant memory for Liên, about a bustling, 'far-off' Hanoi. It's 'a completely different world' for Liên, full of the best things, the happiest memories. That train journey brings a radiant light, like a dream of a different, brighter life for Liên and the people here. Perhaps that's why Liên always waits for the train to pass, admiring the light 'shining brightly, casting down on the road,' with 'fields and ponds sparkling, and bright windows.' The light that is 'completely different from the dim light of Tý's lamp and Siêu's fire.'

However, when the train leaves and the 'night' again 'envelops everything, the night of the homeland, and beyond, the vast and silent fields.' Liên's joy suddenly extinguishes. Liên's regret is evident as she still 'stares at the red dot of the green light on the last carriage, far away disappearing behind the bamboo grove.' Liên's mood returns to the melancholy of the town, back to the dull, silent with the 'sound of the drum and the barking of dogs.' Life, when the train passes, only shines for a moment, now returning to darkness and loneliness. And Liên, she reverts to imagining herself 'living among so many remote things, unknown like Tý's little lamp only illuminating a small area.' Liên's life remains as dull, sad as this poor town!

Liên's anticipation for the train is excitement, but when it passes, it leaves endless regrets in her heart. Because for Liên, the train brings the best, the radiant light of the city that this poor town never has. Waiting for the train, anticipating the sounds and lights it brings, is Liên yearning for a different life, fresher, more vibrant than now? Through Liên, Thạch Lam wants to convey his appreciation for the people in this town! He values their hopes, dreams of a new, beautiful, and happier world!