Impressions on the tale 'Two Children' by author Thạch Lam

2 Sample essays Reflecting on the tale 'Two Children' by author Thạch Lam

I. Understanding the work Two Children

1. Structure

The tale 'Two Children' is structured into 3 parts.
- Part 1: from the beginning to 'the laughter of children gradually fading towards the village'. Scene of the evening in the rural town.
- Part 2: from 'the sky began to darken...' to '...vague feelings that are incomprehensible'. Scene of the rural town at night and the emotional state of the two children.
- Part 3: the remaining part. Scene of the rural town as the night train passes by and the vague dreams of the two children.

2. Theme
A vivid and touching portrayal of the lives of the impoverished and their vague, pitiful aspirations. Through this, the author expresses profound empathy through his humanitarian heart.

II. Reflections on the tale 'Two Children' by author Thạch Lam, sample 1:

1. The evening scene in the rural town

The picture of the rural town emerges with a desolate appearance in the twilight market 'an evening as gentle as a lullaby', with the distant sound of autumn drums, frogs croaking in the fields, at the market, filled with rubbish, coconut husks, sugar cane leaves, and jackfruit leaves. The children scavenge for scraps.
- The space of the rural town is filled with darkness, yet there is light but darkness covers the stories, the tiny lives about poverty, desolation.
- Darkness serves as the backdrop for the entire work alongside the bleak lives, like dim lanterns, the flickering flames of Aunt Tí's drinks stall, the small golden flames of Mr. Siêu's pho cart, the sparkling stars, and the fireflies fluttering on the ground.
- The picture also has a wildness like the cheerful laughter of old drunkard Thi.

2. Scene of the rural town at night and the emotional state of the two children
- Setting: 'a summer night as soft as velvet and cooled by a gentle breeze'.
- Night engulfed by darkness 'darkness covers the entire road leading to the river, the road through the market to home, the alleys into the village are even darker'.
- Life: bleak, desolate with lives of poverty, stagnation, trapped in destitution, with no light of tomorrow: 'every night, Liên and her brother have to sit on the bamboo cot under the banyan tree with the darkness of the common scene all around'. The pitiful scene of the blind musician's family... has created an atmosphere of resignation, hopelessness. And the author empathizes, sympathizes: 'In such darkness, people long for something bright for their daily impoverished lives'

3. Scene of the rural town as the night train passes by and the vague dreams of the two children.
- A bit of vitality breezes through from the sound and light every time the night train passes by, bringing vague dreams to the two children. In Liên's hazy memories, Hanoi appears with a 'bright and bustling' aspect. However, this is the past, while the present here is so dark!
- The eager anticipation of the night train is a longing, a dream of living a more meaningful spiritual and material life.
- That dream seems to fade away when the present for Liên and her sister's dreams is just a bowl of pho, yet: 'Uncle Siêu's gift is a luxurious thing, lots of money, something the two sisters could never afford'.
- Life like that has gradually eroded, destroyed the unfortunate lives

CONCLUSION

- The story is constructed as if there were no plot, yet with gentle language, subtle emotions, and rich imagery, it has achieved special success.
- At the center of that poor rural town picture is the image of Liên and An sisters, with simple, humble dreams that are so out of reach. Everything falls short, falling into the darkness of life.
- Through a realistic perspective and evocative descriptive technique, the story has left poignant marks about those tiny lives in that society of yesteryears.
- Thạch Lam's pen has created writings that touch people's hearts, as he writes under the guidance of a soul full of humanitarian beauty.

III. Reflections on the tale 'Two Children' by author Thạch Lam, sample 2:

If writers of the Self-Reliance Literary Group depict life with all its best, brightest aspects, then Thạch Lam finds his own path. In his eyes, life not only encompasses passionate love to the point of forgetting everything, including the land and the sky, and forgetting everyone, but also includes pain. Thạch Lam's pen blends with life, delving deep into the alleys of human souls to filter out an entire picture of life in the impoverished rural town (Two Children), where darkness weighs heavily on the harsh, entangled lives of people.

The picture of rural life begins with dim flickers and ends with Liên and others waiting for the train. The entire picture is darkness, darkness spreading, enveloping the scenery, creating a heavy, gloomy atmosphere. It seems that life here is only a dark gray. Shadows in the bamboo grove, shadows in the corner of the deserted market at night. Liên and her sister linger around the stall, which is already deserted. Mr. Siêu's pho cart quietly rolls the wheels... Those isolated, solitary images, along with a few dim lights, are not enough to dispel the dense darkness, gradually overwhelming their lives - the people who can be counted on fingers 'how many uncles,' 'how many people.' Darkness, along with its silent companion, dominates over people's lives. Time suddenly becomes silent, strangely oppressive. The stifled space of human life. That picture evokes so much sorrow.

But Thạch Lam - the artist of that soul - does not stop at depicting darkness. Darkness may be terrifying, but the entangled life in the corner of the street is even more frightening. They here are all poor people. It's Liên's family, forced back to the rural town due to poverty. It's crazy old lady Thi: it's Uncle Xẩm's family; it's Aunt Tí's stall; it's Mr. Siêu's pho stall... The impoverished lives in the rural town gather together but not enough to create a bustling life. A terrifying dullness emerges. Just through a small detail: Liên and her sister do not turn back even knowing the laughter behind is from old lady Thi, looking at the distant blue lights, they know it's Mr. Siêu's pho cart. For years, they have only done one repetitive job. A monotonous, boring job like their own lives. These events make their lives more bewildering, suffocating, with no way out, nowhere to go. For them, the future seems nonexistent, only the bleak reality, desperate. Before them, the future seems closed. They hope for nothing, wait for no one. The present is only poverty, misery, and boredom. That picture evokes a pain in the reader's soul, bursting into cries of despair with no answers.

All actions, events, and human lives in the impoverished rural town are repetitive and boring. Only the train keeps repeating but never gets boring. The train is the embodiment of hope, of the future for everyone. They come to the train, not just for trading, but also to await something strange for the surrounding monotonous life. That train with its roaring engine breaks the heavy, gloomy atmosphere, with its dazzling light, tearing apart the night that had covered everything, then falls back into darkness as usual. For Liên and her sister, the train is also the embodiment of the glorious past with a prosperous life in Hanoi, is a bit of novelty in the present, and even a dream in the future. The image of the train passing by has alleviated the stagnation of a life, leaving behind dreams - extremely pitiful dreams for each individual.