Insect Diary

It is a miracle that a person spends his whole life observing and studying insects; a person writes ten large volumes of books specifically about insects in his life. Not to mention a miracle. The creator of these miracles is Fabre, whose "Insects" (also translated as "Insect Stories" or "Entomological Notes") is known as the "Epic of Insects".

As an entomologist, Fabre is very rigorous and meticulous. Based on a large amount of first-hand information he personally observed, he vividly revealed the little-known life and habits of insects, allowing people to understand the real life situations of insects. For example, cicadas "lurk" underground for four years before they can emerge from the ground and sing in the sun for five weeks; crickets are good at building nests and managing housework; spiders are unique in capturing food and weaving "nets"; mantises are good at using "psychological tactics" "To subdue the enemy; the woodcutter bee can "cut" precise round leaves to make the cover of the nest without using any props... various wonderful phenomena, to name a few. I believe that after reading it, you will be surprised and amazed by the special abilities of these little creatures.

"Insects" is an excellent popular science work and a recognized literary classic. Its writing is lively, its tone is relaxed and humorous, and it is full of fun. In the author's description, the willow beetle is like a miser, wearing a short tuxedo that seems to be "missing fabric"; the little beetle "makes selfless sacrifices for its offspring and breaks its heart for its offspring"; and A sparrow bitten by a poisonous spider will also "eat happily. If we are slow to feed it, it will even cry like a baby." What a cute little creature! No wonder Lu Xun regarded "Insects" as "a model of insect life".

It is worth mentioning that Fabre's "Insects" not only truly records the life of insects, but also reflects social life through the insect world. The instincts, habits, labor, marriage and love, reproduction and death of insects all permeate the author's thinking about human beings, and his wise philosophical thoughts appear on the page. The whole book is full of love for life and praise of all things in nature.

The following is the main introduction.

1. Introduction to the author

Fabre (1823-1915) was born in December 1823 into a poor peasant family in the village of Saint-Léon in southern France. Due to his poor family background, his parents sent him to his grandmother's house when he was 4 years old to reduce the family burden. The naive Fabre fell in love with his grandmother's white geese, cattle and sheep, and was obsessed with the flowers, birds, fish and insects in nature. It wasn't until he was 7 years old that he was taken home and sent to the village primary and secondary school. Later, his parents moved several times, and he entered middle school at the age of 10. Later, he was unable to complete his studies due to frequent moves. However, Fabre, who was diligent and studious, took all the time to study by himself. At the age of 15, he was admitted to the Municipal Normal School of Avignon. After graduation, he found a teaching position and began a teaching career that lasted for more than 20 years. While teaching hard, he used his spare time to tirelessly observe and record the growth of animals and plants, and determined to become a person who wrote the history of insects.

In 1850, Fabre resigned from his teaching position. In the following five years, he mainly aimed at writing readings on natural science knowledge, and his outstanding talents were increasingly demonstrated.

In 1853, at the age of 30, Fabre obtained a bachelor's degree in natural sciences through self-study. In 1854, he obtained a doctorate in natural sciences with two outstanding academic papers. In the same year, he published his long-term accumulation of results "Observations on the Customs of the Arthroplasty" in the "Annals of Natural Science", which was widely praised. It is unanimously believed that he not only corrected the mistakes of previous authoritative scholars, but also elaborated on his own unique insights, thus attracting the attention of the scientific community. The British scientist Darwin called him an "inimitable observer."

In 1875, after long-term thinking, he decided to stay away from the hustle and bustle of the city, concentrate on implementing his plan in insect research, and moved his family to a rural town. After four years of unremitting efforts, he processed and organized the information he had collected over more than 20 years and wrote the first volume of "Insects", which was published in 1879.

In 1880, Fabre used some of his hard-earned money to buy an old house near the town and humorously named it "Barren Stone Garden". In this small world, he compiled his daily research results into volumes year after year. Therefore, people saw the publication of "Insects" volume after volume.

By 1910, the 10th volume of "Insects" was published. This 10-volume masterpiece consumed the great author's life's energy, and was unanimously praised by people. It received rave reviews for a while: praises of "amazing" and "the most outstanding" spread from all over the world. The French literary circle calls him the "Virgil of the Insect World" and recommends him as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Unfortunately, before the judges of the Nobel Prize for Literature had time to make a decision, news came that the old man had passed away.

2. Summary of the work

This book combines the author's lifelong efforts, research results and life insights. It uses human nature to care for insects and transforms the insect world into a human being to gain knowledge and interest. , beautiful articles of beauty and thought. The original French version contains 10 volumes, each volume has several chapters, and each chapter describes the life of one or several insects in detail and profoundly. According to the content of each chapter, it can be divided into three categories: 1. Directly describing the living habits of one or several insects, showing charming life scenes, such as "Scarab", "Corpse-Eating Insects", etc.; 2. Using a specific Relying on the natural environment, it shows us the colorful and dazzling world of insects; 3. Commentary or argumentative articles, the author may comment on a certain theory, or express his feelings after thinking about a certain phenomenon.

Our translation selects some excerpts from the 10 volumes of the original text. These articles describe some interesting insects that are familiar to us readers or have seen and heard. The living conditions of these insects, the process of egg laying, hatching, growth and their living habits are vividly displayed in front of us; even the coprophagous insects, after reading about them, make people feel pity instead of Produce feelings of disgust and nausea. 3. Insect image

Scarab: Also known as scarab beetle, it is the largest and most famous among coprophagous insects. Six fine-pointed teeth are arranged on the front edge of the crescent-shaped top shell. It is not only a digging tool, a cutting tool, but also a fork for inserting, lifting, throwing, and throwing away the non-nutrient plant fibers in the manure. It can also be used as a rake to remove delicious food. All the things came over. The first step for it to store food for its offspring or itself is to select materials, remove impurities, gather them into piles, then clear an area to make and store dung balls. Next, it has to transport the stored food to a safe place. During the transportation, the scarab's skills were amazing. What's even more amazing is its digestive power. It can keep eating until it has finished its food reserves.

Languedoc Languedoc is the name of a region in southern France.

Scorpion: Silent and uninteresting, their customs are covered with a thick veil. But the description in the book reveals its mystery for us. The Languedoc scorpion has a long tail (actually its abdomen), a sharply curved stinger, and a pair of pincers protruding from its mouth. In April, when the cuckoo first tests its mellow voice, the usually contented scorpion begins to "fall in love." They sang and danced and got to know each other. Look: in that pair, the female scorpion has a bulging belly and is dark in color, while the male scorpion is thin and pale in color. Both of them are shaking their tails, twisting their tails into beautiful spiral flowers, and walking in a graceful way. He was walking along the base of the wall. After getting along like this for a few days, the couple found a secluded and quiet place to get married and have sex. However, the ending of this beautiful idyll was sad! The thin male scorpion paid the price with his life for love - the female scorpion brutally ate her groom. After a relatively long pregnancy, the female scorpion lays eggs and the babies are born. The mother feeds her children alone until they talk about marriage and go their separate ways.

Mantis: It has broad thin green wings and a pair of front paws raised to the sky in a prayer posture. However, this devout prayer hides its cruel customs. The pair of raised arms are actually its terrifying weapons, tools for preying on gray locusts and white-fronted katydids that pass by it. The sharp weapon attacks the prey in a flanking manner, leaving the opponent unable to parry. Even spiders and other insects are frightened by it and become its prey.

Cicada: In the hot summer, people can often hear the chirping of cicadas. However, no one may know that cicadas have to hide in the hole for 4 years from insect eggs to larvae and then become the singers of summer. for a long time. It has to go through a life of nine deaths before it can achieve true results. However, the life of this singer is only 5 weeks, which means that the time for an adult cicada to sing happily in the summer is very short. It has not seen the light of day for 4 years, and only has 5 weeks to sing in this world, so it is not surprising that it always has to sing enough, and sometimes it makes you upset.

4. Artistic Features

In addition to its scientific ideas, "Insect Diary" is also a literary work with beautiful writing and unique style. This is not unrelated to the tradition of writing scientific research results into literary works that was prevalent in France in the 18th and 19th centuries. During this period, there were many biologists who were keen to write down their scientific research into literature and philosophy. The most typical founder among them was Buffon. The famous saying "Style is people" comes from his pen. His intention is that if the style of the work is unique, even if his work is surpassed by subsequent researchers in terms of scientific thought, his work will still be passed down to future generations. Fabre was undoubtedly influenced by Buffon and put a lot of effort into the style of his article, which is why the world-famous "Insects" was published. In his paintings, all kinds of small insects are so vivid and lifelike that people can't help but love them.

5. Influence of the work

"Insects" occupies a very prominent position both in the history of French natural science and in the history of literature. The writing is concise and clear, the writing style is simple, interesting and unique. Therefore, it was favored by French readers as soon as it was published. Later, it was translated into many languages, spread all over the world, and was also favored by readers from all over the world. A warm welcome. Therefore, it is not unreasonable for people to call Fabre the "Virgil of the insect world". Mr. Lu Xun has long commented on this book. He said: "Insects" not only has academic value, but is also very interesting to read. It is a very interesting book." Romain Rolland said: "He observed I admire his enthusiasm, patience, and meticulousness. His book is a masterpiece of art." Edmund Rostan said: "This great scholar thinks like a philosopher, feels and expresses like an artist."

Childhood

Classic masterpieces

"Childhood" and its sequels "In the World" and "My University" together constitute three of Gorky's autobiographical novels. "Childhood" is the first chapter. This novel describes the author's childhood life before he was 10 years old. It narrates the protagonist's growth and life process, and describes the suffocating and narrow world full of terrible scenes. When Alyosha was four years old, his father died, so he lived a poor and difficult life with his grandfather and grandmother. My grandfather has a contradictory and complex character. He has a kind side in his heart, but his greed for money has corrupted his soul. In this cold world, only his grandmother protected and cared for him, gave him infinite warmth and love, and gave him useful teachings.

Supplement: The Tragedy of Destiny - Introduction to "Childhood"

1. Introduction to the author

Maxim Gorky (1868-1936), formerly known as Ali Ksei Maximovich Pishkov is renowned as one of the most important writers of the 20th century and "the most outstanding representative of proletarian art" (Lenin's words). His creation began a new era of world proletarian literature, and his name "represents a new period in the history of world literature" (Lu Xun said). At the beginning of the 20th century, his works began to be introduced to our country and had a huge impact on our country's literature and our country's revolution.

Gorky was born on March 14, 1868 in Nizhny Novgorod on the Volga River in Russia. His father is the son of a soldier, and his mother is the daughter of a dye house owner. My grandfather once served as an army officer, but was demoted by Tsar Nicholas I for brutally abusing his subordinates. My grandfather was so strict with my father that my father ran away from home five times, and the last escape was successful. After escaping, he worked successively as a carpenter, a manager of a shipping company office, a worker who decorated indoor curtains and papered wallpapers, etc. He was a smart, kind and very pleasant person. Later he contracted cholera and died when Gorky was 3 years old. After his father died, Gorky lived with his mother at his grandfather's house. He spent his childhood in his grandfather's home, which was full of philistine sentiments. During this period, my mother remarried and died of tuberculosis a few years later, and my grandfather went bankrupt. The 11-year-old Gorky was forced to live in the world and began to make a living independently. He picked rags, worked as an apprentice and a handyman, suffered bullying and abuse, and experienced the suffering and hardships of life. He only attended elementary school for three years, but he loved reading. He took advantage of every opportunity to read whatever books he could find and studied hard on his own. In 1884, he came to Lushan with the intention of going to university, but he failed to do so and finished his social university at the bottom of society. He has worked as a dock porter, baker, grocery store clerk, gardener and night watchman.

At the same time, he got acquainted with advanced populist intellectuals and Marxist works, further realized the ugliness of reality and the suffering of the people, and gradually established his determination to reform society. In 1888-1889 and 1891-1892, Gorky traveled to Russia twice in order to understand the motherland and its people. It ran from Nizhny to Tsaritsyn, through the Don River region, Ukraine, to Bessarabia, and from there along the southern coast of Crimea to Kuban, and then to the Black Sea.

The journey and arduous experiences broadened Gorky's horizons, tempered his will, accumulated rich knowledge and life materials, and inspired him to have a strong desire to engage in literary creation.

In the 1890s, the Russian working class began to step onto the stage of history. Dark and backward Russia became the cradle of world revolution. Marx’s revolutionary theory was widely spread. It was against this historical background that Gorky began his own of creation. From 1892 when Gorky published the romantic short story "Makar Chudra" in "Caucasus" to 1899 when the novel "Foma Gordeev" came out, Gorky created many Chinese works in the 1890s. There are more than 700 pieces, including long and short stories and features, stories, essays, essays and poems, which generally include romantic works and realist works. The main representative works of Romanticism include "Makar Chudela" (1892), "Old Lady Ezegil" (1895), and "Song of the Eagle" (1895). Among them, the image of Danko created in "Izegir" and the image of the eagle created in "Song of the Eagle" are the earliest heroic images that appeared in Gorky's creations. They highlighted the revolutionary spirit and heroic spirit of the Russian revolutionaries at that time. Spirit, forging the writer's lofty social ideals and moral ideals. They are like sparks, "burning in the darkness of life, igniting the passionate desire for freedom and light in many brave hearts!" The main representative works of realism include "Ye Meiliang Piliayi" (1893), "Che" "Kash" (1895), "Mariva" (1897), "The Troublemaker" (1897), "Because I'm Bored" (1897), "Twenty-Six and One" (1899), "Fu Ma Gordeev" (1899) and so on. In this type of works, Gorky criticized the tsarist system and capitalism, exposed the vulgarity of small private owners and small citizens, and affirmed the human dignity of workers, especially homeless people. Gorky is famous for writing about tramps. He created a series of tramp images in his works, such as the tramp Ye Meiliang in "Yemeiliang Piliayi", Cherkash in "Cherkash", "Ma Maryva in "Liva", etc., have added new literary images to the Russian Literature Gallery. Among such works, "Foma Gordeev", published in 1899, is particularly worth mentioning. This is Gorky's first novel. The protagonist of the novel, Fuma, was originally a successor to the bourgeoisie, but the facts he heard and witnessed made him increasingly feel that the dirty cause of the bourgeoisie was incompatible with all noble human emotions. He was distressed, disappointed, and finally sent to a lunatic asylum. In this novel, Gorky has used rich pictures of modern life to show the activities of different types of bourgeois, reflecting the development process of capitalism in Russia and the predatory nature of the bourgeoisie. Therefore, the publication of this novel marked the mature stage of Gorky's realist creation.

The first two decades of the early 20th century were a period when the upsurge of the Russian Revolution was brewing, rising and winning. In the past 20 years, Russia has carried out three revolutions (the 1905 Revolution, the February Revolution of 1917 and the October Revolution). During this process, Gorky always linked his creative activities with the revolutionary cause, showing the characteristics of a revolutionary writer. Sublime quality. In March 1901, Gorky participated in the student demonstrations in Petersburg and wrote the short story "Melody of Spring", but only the ending "Song of the Petrel" was published. The whole article uses symbolic techniques to describe the scene of Haiyan, the incarnation of the proletarian revolutionary warrior, fighting against the wind, rain, thunder and lightning represented by the counter-revolutionary forces. At the same time, it ruthlessly mocks the representatives of the bourgeois social class who are afraid of revolution, such as seagulls, sea ducks and penguins. . "Let the storm come more violently!" became a powerful call for revolution. While writing the novel, Gorky saw the important propaganda role of the theater, and wrote the scripts "Little Burgher" and "The Bottom" in 1901 and 1902 respectively. In 1905, Gorky participated in the 1905 Russian Revolution, joined the Bolshevik Party and met Lenin, which made a huge leap in his thinking.

In 1906, he completed the world-famous novel "Mother" in the United States. From 1906 to the end of 1913, Gorky lived in Italy. During this period, he created the novella "Destruction" (1909), which reflects the revolutionary struggle in the countryside, the novella "Okurov Town" (1909), which exposes and criticizes the habits of the small bourgeoisie, and the novel "Matvey Kzhmi" Yakin's Life" (1911). At the end of 1913, Gorky returned to Russia and wrote "Russian Fairy Tales" (1912-1917) and "Russian Travels" (1912-1917). Published the first two volumes of his autobiographical trilogy, "Childhood" (1913) and "In the World" (1915). The third "My University" was completed in 1922. In his later years, Gorky was still diligently engaged in literary creation activities. The main works of this period include the memoir "Lenin" (1924), the novel "The Artamonov Family Career" (1925), and "The Life of Klim Samkin" (1925-1936).

On June 18, 1936, Gorky passed away.

2. Summary of the work

After the death of his father, the young protagonist Alyosha lived with his mother in his grandfather's house to spend his time. During this period, he received the love and care of his grandmother, and was influenced by the beautiful fairy tales told by his grandmother. At the same time, he also witnessed the two uncles quarreling over the family property and the selfishness and greed displayed in the trivial matters of life. The existence of good and evil, love and hate in real life left a deep impression on his young mind. Alyosha spent his childhood in this "suffocating, narrow world full of terrible scenes."

3. Ideological content

In 1914, the Russian writer Thoreau Gub wrote in "A Writer's Diary" about Gorky's autobiographical novel trilogy: "I read it while It's a pity. I can't help but think of Leo Tolstoy's fragrant childhood. On the contrary, here there is fighting, fighting, whipping... It is a kind of sadism that is psychologically incomprehensible. What is described throughout "Childhood" is a rich, colorful, bizarre and indescribable life. That life seemed like a tragic fairy tale told by a kind and extremely honest genius. In that dark life, there are too many cruel social things.

When a child did something wrong, he had to take off his pants and was beaten; father, son and brothers fought and fought to separate the family, and even beat their heads to blood; the grandmother did nothing wrong and could not escape the fist of the grandfather. Beating and kicking; Uncle Mikhail teased the old craftsman Grigory with a red-hot thimble for fun; the mother knelt on the ground and begged her stepfather not to fool around outside, but the stepfather kicked her hard in the chest with his booted feet. ; Grigory worked for his grandfather all his life, but when he lost his sight and lost the ability to work, he was kicked out of the dyeing shop and wandered the streets begging for food; his grandfather not only cruelly exploited the workers, but also refused to recognize his relatives. When making tea with his wife , the tea leaves should also be counted carefully in the palm of your hand, for fear that you will suffer a loss. Finally, he kicked his wife and grandson out of the house and left them to fend for themselves. But despite the many unbearable tragedies and scandals described in the work, the whole work still radiates the brilliance of optimism like sunshine through clouds. The protagonist Alyosha was not overwhelmed by the hardship, pain and humiliation of life. He was full of confidence, struggled hard, broke through all kinds of obstacles and misfortunes, and constantly explored new life. This optimistic spirit gave the work a positive ideological content. color. The author Gorky also repeatedly stated in "Childhood": "Whenever I recall the depressing, dirty and barbaric life in Russia, I often ask myself: Is it necessary to write about such ugly behavior? Every time I cherish the fullest hope Answer yourself with confidence: It is necessary! Because this is the living and ugly reality of life. This reality still exists. To change this reality, we must clear it from people's memories and hearts, and from our heavy and dirty lives. "I describe this kind of ugly behavior in real life for a more positive reason: although these ugly behaviors are disgusting and make us feel depressed; although they have killed countless people. Beautiful souls, but the Russian soul is still so healthy and young and is overcoming and finally able to overcome this ugly behavior. "Our life is very amazing."

In our lives, although there is fertile soil that breeds all kinds of shameless scum, this soil will eventually grow outstanding, healthy and creative forces, grow good and humane things, and they will continue to inspire us to build The undying hope of a bright new life of humanity. "This aspect shows Gorky's aesthetic principle: writers do not have to avoid any scandal in life, but the purpose is to awaken people's attention so as to completely eliminate it, and firmly believe that human society has a self-regulating mechanism of truth, goodness and beauty. On the other hand, it also It shows that the purpose of Gorky's writing about his tragic childhood experience is not to show people how worthy of sympathy and pity he is, nor is it simply to recall his childhood life, but to use his own childhood experience to tell readers that no matter how bad the environment is, How difficult life is. There are always some kind and beautiful people who can cultivate a healthy and upright mind in a dirty environment as long as they have a positive heart. Therefore, we say that the ideological content of the book is positive and uplifting. Not decadent and dejected.

The work mainly creates two categories of characters, and the author expresses his love and hatred for them through the description of these two categories of characters. There are selfish and cruel people represented by Grandma, and the upright and kind-hearted people represented by Grandma. Grandpa is a person that Alyosha hates very much. Whether it is the description of his appearance or the portrayal of his inner world, the author is always pungent. The irony lies in it. He is short and skinny, only as tall as his grandmother's shoulders. He walks quickly and thinly. He is selfish, cruel, brutal and rude. He beats and curses people at every turn, and will have hysterical attacks even if he encounters something unsatisfactory. In order to maintain his shaky status as a small proprietor and his disintegrated family, he cruelly abused his workers and even disowned his relatives. He drove out the old craftsman Grigory who had worked for him all his life and married his lifelong wife. He also wanted her to make a living on her own. She was domineering and arbitrary when she was rich, but she became even more greedy and stingy when she went bankrupt. She was financially bankrupt and mentally broken, although there was still something in this philistine person. There are flashes of humanity, such as when he was a tracker on the Volga River when he was young, he experienced poverty and heavy life, and was a fighter and warrior in life. When he told Alyosha about his experience at that time, he showed a sincerity and excitement. His expression also reflects his love for Alyosha, but this cannot cover up his overall human cruelty and selfishness. Alyosha is very disgusted with his grandfather's various bad behaviors. Especially when his grandfather beat his kind-hearted grandmother for no reason, he was extremely angry and took revenge on his grandfather. This disgust and anger also existed in the author's heart. Through the description of Alyosha's resistance to his grandfather, he expressed the author's feelings towards his grandfather. The contempt, disgust and denial of people also express the author's denial of the dirty, dirty and bad character of the small bourgeoisie. In contrast to the disgust of people like grandpa, the author expresses his feelings for grandma through the memories of grandma and others. It represents the love and respect of the working people. Grandma is kind and loving, she loves her relatives, her neighbors, and everyone. She is willing to bear all the pressures in life without complaining. Her son's disobedience...can't extinguish the light of kindness deep in her heart. She is a working woman full of life and poetry. She is good at singing and dancing, and is good at telling all kinds of legends, fairy tales, and folk stories. She is also a brave person. When the workshop caught fire, everyone was panicked. Only she rushed into the fire and grabbed a bucket of sulfate the size of a bucket. Therefore, although she has the shortcomings of obedience and patience to evil forces and blind faith in God, this does not affect her overall brilliance as a human being. People who are similar to my grandmother include the young man Gypsy and the tenant "Good Things". The young man, Gypsy, was an abandoned baby and was adopted by his grandmother. When he grew up, he became his grandfather's employee. He was hardworking, capable and extremely powerful. Although he was treated like a cow and horse by his grandfather and uncle, he was still kind and optimistic. Compared with the young man Ci Gang, the tenant "Xiao Shier" is an adult with a thorough understanding and perception of life. He is one of the countless outstanding figures in the motherland, with far-reaching vision. He taught Alyosha to observe and discover life carefully, and taught him to pay attention to skills in everything he does. These people are all liked and respected by Alyosha. They have an important influence on the formation of Alyosha's outlook on life, and they positively arouse Alyosha's passionate yearning for life. These people opened their hearts to Alyosha to varying degrees and helped him understand that besides scandals, there are also healthy and creative things in life.

The author wrote in the work: "In my childhood, I imagined myself as a beehive, where some ordinary and ordinary people, like bees, send the honey of their knowledge and thoughts about life. Everyone does his or her best. This kind of honey is often dirty and bitter, but all this knowledge is still honey." Therefore, Gorky showed his love and praise for these people in his works, through Alyosha. His enthusiasm for interacting with them praised them.

The work also exposes the reality of society at that time through the description of Alyosha's childhood experience. At that time, Russian society was in the 1870s-1890s, which was the eve of the Russian Revolution. The entire society was under the rule of the Tsar, and the people were displaced. Stealing has become a custom among the villagers and is no longer considered a sin. It is almost the only way to make a living for the half-starved and half-fed citizens. Children who have no money to go to school are forced to live on the streets and earn a living by picking up rags. Broadly speaking, it is this social environment in which people are living in dire straits that causes Alyosha's personal tragedy.

4. Artistic Characteristics

Gorky is an outstanding representative of Russian socialist realism. In his creation, he adheres to the principles of realism and attaches great importance to the authenticity of description and the accuracy of details. . In 1937, when Gorky answered the Leningrad Writers Publishing House’s question about what kind of materials he “uses (autobiographical, books, observations and records)” for creation, he said: “I mainly use autobiographical materials, but I put myself in the position of an eyewitness to the incident, and avoided coming forward as a party involved, in order not to hinder myself as a narrator of life. "The work "Childhood" follows such a realistic creation principle. The objective description of Alyosha's life experience, on the one hand, describes the process of Alyosha's character formation, on the other hand, it extensively depicts Russian social life in the 1870s and 1890s, exposing the darkness and evil of Tsarist Russia's autocratic system. It reflects the vulgar selfishness and emptiness of the small bourgeoisie. The whole article particularly vividly expresses the conflict between two forces: on the one hand, the dark, cruel and barbaric habits of the small townsfolk, and on the other hand, the outstanding spiritual power of the Russian people - purity of heart, strong will, sympathy for the weak, and love of justice. , full of fantasy, longing for a bright, happy and reasonable life, and working tirelessly to realize it. All these contents are expressed through objective and calm realist descriptions and narratives. What is described in the book are realistic real-life scenes. The characters’ language, actions, and objective environment are all consistent with real life. consistent. This is completely different from the creative approach of some of his earlier romantic works such as "Song of Petrel". "The Song of Haiyan" is filled with the spirit of romanticism, showing readers a magnificent picture of the heroic struggle between the revolutionary people and the reactionary forces on the eve of the revolutionary storm: on the vast sea, dark clouds are gathered by strong winds, and thunder rumbles , the angry sea set off huge waves and rushed high into the sky, fighting fiercely with them; the flying petrel shouted loudly as a victorious prophet: "Let the storm come more violently!" This work is different from "Childhood". The author did not describe real life truthfully, but used symbolism to express strong subjective feelings through exaggerated descriptions of the majestic natural phenomena.

In "Childhood", Gorky also successfully used a variety of artistic techniques to create a series of lifelike characters under the guidance of realist creation principles. The cruel, selfish, insidious and irritable grandfather, the uncle who is greedy for money, the cold and ruthless mother, the kind and kind grandmother, the happy and capable Gypsy, the hard-working and capable old craftsman Grigory, and the cheerful and lovely nanny Yevgenia. Among the creation of these characters, grandma and grandpa left the most profound impression on readers. The image of grandmother is one of the most distinctive and poetic images of women in the history of Russian literature. She is a symbol of the great mother and a symbol of Russian suffering life. She likes to sing, tell stories, and dance. She is loving, kind, and strong, and can attract people to her even in very noisy and chaotic situations, adding a joyful atmosphere to a hard and suffocating life. In the book, Gorky comprehensively portrays her image through her appearance description, language, actions and quoting a large number of folk songs, fairy tales, stories and other forms. Gorky described her appearance this way: "Grandma talks like singing, which is very beautiful. Every word she says is like a blooming flower, gentle, fresh, fresh and easy.