Perceiving the Veiled Beauty in the Souls of the Wife Picker and Thị N

Prompt: Appreciating the Hidden Beauty in the Souls of the Wife Picker and Thị N

Appreciating the concealed beauty within the soul of the wife collector and Thi No

I. Outline Appreciating the concealed beauty within the soul of the wife collector and Thi No

1. Introduction

- Introduce general aspects of the topic of women in Vietnamese literature throughout history.
- Provide an overview of the short stories 'The Wife Collector' (Kim Lan) and 'Chi Pheo' (Nam Cao).

2. The Soulful Essence

a. Outer Appearance: Despite an unattractive external appearance, exuding the inner beauty of love, compassion, and a perfectly balanced gentleness.

* The Diligent Wife Character:
- External Features: A face resembling a plowed field, dressed in tattered attire, a skinny and bony chest, with a raspy, assertive voice, and actions like 'running to and fro pushing the cart for Trang'...
- Soulful Beauty:
+ Following Trang home: 'she looked bashful or pretending to be shy,' with actions like 'one foot stepped in, the other foot following,' indicating a sense of embarrassment, shyness, and some kind of shame.
+ Upon arriving at Trang's house, she 'silently followed Trang inside,' looked around the house, and then 'let out a sigh, with a faint smile on her lips.'
+ The next morning, after waking up early, tidying up the house, the garden, with her mother-in-law, she appeared as 'a genuinely gentle woman.'

* Character Thí Nở:
- External Features: 'hideous as a cursed demon.'
- Soulful Beauty: A heart full of compassion and rich in love.
+ After a chance encounter with Chí Phèo, it seems Thí Nở has taken an interest in Chí. Thí Nở thinks about Chí Phèo, worries, and feels a sense of responsibility towards him.

b. Burning Desire for Life and Happiness.
- Character the wife picked up: Thị accepts following Trang home not because she doesn't understand the rituals, the importance of marrying off as a wife, but for her, at the current moment, the desire to cling to life, the burning desire for happiness, and the hope to escape hunger are greater than everything else.
- Character Thí Nở:
+ After the night with Chí, Thị returns home and can't sleep. She thinks of the words 'husband and wife' and awakens the long-buried desire for happiness within her.
+ When Chí Phèo suggests 'either come over and live with me for fun,' Thị Nở overcomes prejudices and lives together with Chí for five days.

3. Closing

Summarizing the images of the character of the wife who picks up and the character Thí Nở, affirming the humanitarian hearts of the two authors.

II. Experiencing the Hidden Beauty in the Souls of the Wife who Picks Up and Thí Nở

From ancient times to the present, women have been one of the prominent themes in Vietnamese literature, especially in modern literature with various works spanning different genres. The depiction of women, as seen through the creative pens of each writer, emerges uniquely, and Kim Lân, Nam Cao contribute to enriching this theme through their works 'The Picked-up Wife' and 'Chí Phèo.' Particularly, the characters of the picked-up wife in the short story 'The Picked-up Wife' and Thí Nở in the short story 'Chí Phèo' have helped us deeply feel and vividly perceive the hidden beauty within the soul of women.

Firstly, both the character of the picked-up wife in 'The Picked-up Wife' and Thí Nở in 'Chí Phèo' appear with an outwardly ugly appearance, yet they shine with the beauty of love, compassion, and a properly balanced gentleness within their souls.

Reading the entire work 'The Picked-up Wife' by writer Kim Lân, the character Thị - the picked-up wife appears with an imperfect figure, no round or smooth numbers, no name, no hometown, and no close relatives. Moreover, the picked-up wife also has an ugly appearance, being the victim of severe and dreadful hunger in 1945, 'a face like a plowed field, skinny and gray,' 'tattered clothes like a rat's nest,' and 'a skinny chest sticking out.' Not only in appearance, but the reader's impression of Thị is also in her actions, like 'hurriedly running to push the cart for Tràng,' eating a whole four bowls of bánh đúc, speaking in a curved and harsh manner, and acting assertively. However, hidden behind the ugly appearance and these actions, the graceful demeanor of the picked-up wife is the beauty of a capable and genuinely gentle woman with a rich humanitarian heart. This beauty is evident as she follows Tràng home. The villagers' comments 'she looks bashful or pretending to be shy,' and the action of stepping one foot in, the other foot following, indicate Thị's embarrassment and shame when deciding to follow Tràng home as his wife. Especially, the composure and gentleness of Thị are clearly shown when she follows Tràng home. Upon arriving at Tràng's house, she 'silently followed Tràng inside,' looked around the house, and then 'let out a sigh, with a faint smile on her lips.' These actions perhaps partly express Thị's disappointment, and her reaction is unique—just a suppressed sigh, demonstrating the subtlety and discretion of the character. Additionally, Thị only sits quietly on the edge of the bed, a very thoughtful way to sit when stepping into her husband's house for the first time, showing the modest and discreet beauty inherent in women. And then, Thị has truly changed, transforming into a completely different person the next morning after waking up early, tidying up the house, the garden, along with her mother-in-law. Now, there is no longer a harsh, assertive Thị, but only 'a genuinely gentle woman,' making Tràng's life change positively and become better. Thus, hidden behind the awkward, ugly appearance of the picked-up wife is the composure and subtlety inherent in women.

Alongside the picked-up wife, the character Thí Nở in Nam Cao's short story 'Chí Phèo' has vividly portrayed the hidden beauty of the soul. Similar to the picked-up wife character, Thí Nở has an unattractive appearance realistically depicted by Nam Cao's sharp and vivid pen: 'ugly as a cursed demon: the nose is short, wide, red, and rough like tangerine peel, bulging as if competing with the lips, which are intentionally made equally large, cracking open like crevices. Not to mention, Thí consumes betel nut, thickening her lips once more, fortunately smoothed out by the betel nut paste, concealing the grayish buffalo skin color. Even the very large teeth protrude: they probably think balance can fix some of the ugliness.' Perhaps, Thí Nở is the clearest embodiment of ugliness. However, hidden behind this grotesque appearance that is 'cursed and demonized,' one sees in Thí Nở's soul a heart full of compassion and abundant love. After the chance encounter with Chí Phèo, it seems Thí Nở has shown interest in him. Thí Nở thinks about Chí Phèo, worries, and feels a sense of responsibility for him: 'If I abandon him now, it would be heartless. After all, we spent the night together! Spending the night together like a married couple... That battlefield last night was truly something. Call it exhausting today. I have to feed him something; he can only eat onion porridge when he's sick. Sweating will make him feel relieved right away...' Perhaps, these soliloquies, these thoughts of Thí Nở clearly express her care, worry, and it is this that motivated her to cook onion porridge for Chí Phèo, bringing it to him and urging him to eat quickly. Thí Nở's bowl of onion porridge is not only a remedy but also carries within it a wealth of love, concern, and care that Thí Nở has for Chí Phèo. This love has given Thí Nở a completely different perspective on Chí Phèo compared to the villagers in Vũ Đại. For Thí Nở, Chí Phèo is not a malicious demon, but someone she perceives as 'Oh, how gentle he is. Who would dare say he's the Chí Phèo who bangs heads, slashes faces, and stabs people.' Thus, the warmth of Thí Nở's love for Chí Phèo has awakened him and ignited his desire for love, to return to being a good person.

Not only stopping at the treasured beauty of the soul, in both the picked-up wife character and the character Thí Nở, readers can vividly sense their burning desire for life and passionate pursuit of happiness. First and foremost, in the picked-up wife character in Kim Lân's work 'The Picked-up Wife,' this desire is manifested in the action of Thị following Tràng home to become his wife. In the ancestral beliefs passed down through generations, arranging a wife for marriage is an important event in a person's life, a matter of centuries, requiring time for mutual understanding and rituals to become a married couple. Despite this, Thị doesn't have the time for those things, becoming Tràng's wife with just four bowls of bánh đúc and a cheerful song. Thị does these things not because she doesn't understand the rituals, the importance of the wife-picking ceremony, but for her, at the present moment, the desire to cling to life, the yearning for happiness, and the hope to escape hunger are greater than everything. All of Thị's actions can only stem from the burning desire for life.

In the character of Thí Nở, the desire for life and happiness is authentically and vividly expressed in the thoughts and actions towards Chí Phèo after their fateful encounter. After the night spent with Chí, Thí returns home and cannot sleep. She thinks about the words 'husband and wife' and awakens the long-buried desire for happiness within her. Then, when Chí Phèo suggests, 'either come over and live with me for fun,' Thí Nở overcomes prejudices and lives together with Chí for five days. Perhaps, for both Chí Phèo and Thí Nở, those five days were the happiest and most love-filled days of their lives. Also, it is this longing for happiness and serious consideration for Chí Phèo that drives Thí Nở to seek permission from her grandmother but is not accepted. This rejection leads to the tragedies later in Chí's life.

In conclusion, it can be seen that hidden behind the ugly appearance of the picked-up wife and the character Thí Nở are beautiful souls with valuable qualities and a fervent, intense desire for life and happiness. Through this, we also perceive the humanitarian hearts of writers Kim Lân and Nam Cao - always exploring, discovering, and appreciating the hidden beauty within the human soul, especially that of women.