"The Next Thing" is a novel by the modern Japanese writer Natsume Soseki. Natsume Soseki is a landmark figure in the history of modern Japanese literature and enjoys the status of a "national writer". He uses humorous language and understatement to address the pain of the dark side of society.

Natsume Soseki absorbed artistic nutrients from all aspects of literature. He was very interested in Chinese classical literature, and even his pen name was taken from the ancient Chinese book "Jin Shu Biography of Sun Chu" "Soseki" is the word "Soseki" in "Soseki's pillow flow". At the same time, he also studied in the United Kingdom, and the enlightenment ideas in Western culture also had a great impact on Natsume Soseki.

As a national writer, Natsume Soseki has received much love and attention from the people. His image has also been printed on Japan's 1,000-yen banknote. His literary works have a very high status in the history of Japanese literature.

Mr. Lu Xun once commented: "Natsume Soseki's works are known for their rich imagination and exquisite writing. They are the mainstream of New Edo art in the Meiji literary world and are unparalleled in the world."

Speaking of Natsume Soseki's works, perhaps the ones you often hear are "I Am a Cat", "The Young Master" and "Straw Pillow", and the one that had the greatest impact on me was "What Happened Later".

Brief description of the content

"What Happened Later" tells the story of a young Daisuke who has nothing to do and has been chewing his old age for a long time. He has been living a life of idleness and has not yet reached the age of thirty. Get married and live off your family's support. Many years later, Ping Gang, a former college classmate, chose to return to his hometown to develop due to career setbacks. After not seeing each other for many years, when the two old friends reminisced about the past, they discovered that an invisible wall had already formed between them.

During the chat, Hiraoka confided to Daisuke the grievances and unwillingness he had encountered in the workplace over the years. Daisuke, who had a negative attitude, did not take it seriously and thought that work itself was a boring thing. It was valuable, and the two started a passionate debate.

Regarding the failure at work, Hiraoka said:

"I failed, but I still have to work after failure. I plan to continue to work. Seeing my failure, you are here Laughing. Oh, even if I don’t laugh, we can achieve the same goal by different paths anyway, so there is no need to mince words...

As for me, I want to use my will to influence the development of real society. I must find even a tiny bit of the product of my will in this real society, otherwise I will not be able to live. I think this is the value of my existence...

You can think about it, I disclosed that disharmony, but you kept it inside. Just because I disclosed it, the number of real failures will be reduced... .

Oh, no, even though I want to laugh at you, society must think that I can’t laugh at you. ”

In terms of pursuing the value of life, Hiraoka. He appears positive and optimistic. Although he has fallen and lost his way at work, he is willing to stand up and continue to challenge. Daisuke's ideas are not worth mentioning in Hiraoka's eyes, because Daisuke's attitude of idleness all year round is scornful by Hiraoka.

Daisuke retorted:

"Why don't you want to do it? It's not my fault. To put it more clearly, it's because of society. To put it more broadly, it's the difference between Japan and the West. The relationship between the countries is so disappointing, so I don’t want to do anything. Japan, a country that cannot stand on its own without borrowing money from Western countries, actually wants to consider itself a first-class power, and it is so difficult to squeeze into the first-class power. What's even more sad is that if you look at everyone's words and deeds, they are basically stupid. They don't think about anything except their own affairs and the things in front of them, because they are unable to think, mentally exhausted and physically exhausted. Weakness, misfortune came at the same time, and moral decay followed. To be honest, if Japanese society was still mentally, morally, and institutionally sound, I would still be an ambitious person today. ” < /p>

Daisuke blames all his laziness and incompetence on this country and society. He is like an innocent victim, with more than enough ambition and insufficient strength. Since his efforts are meaningless, he simply gives up. He and Ping Gang's pursuits are simply different.

Hiraoka believes that no matter how degenerate the society is and how poor Japan is, he will forget about it when he is working. It is precisely because of the leisure time when he looks in the mirror that he has time to think about these things, and he I have long forgotten my voice and appearance because I still have work to do.

Argument about ideals and reality

When Natsume Soseki portrays the two characters of Daisuke and Hiroka, he is not only discussing the embodiment of the value of life, but also subconsciously debating ideals and reality. between the pros and cons.

Daizhu symbolizes an ideal lifestyle. He has no goals in life and spends his days in a muddle. But it is also the wealthy family and status that provide nutrients for Daishu's laziness, which makes Daisuke qualified to be a parasite and not have to worry about daily necessities.

He only had to live in the world he created. When faced with the accusations of others, Daisuke had already tactfully thought of a response. It seemed that he was also moved by this rhetoric, which made his idle attitude less annoying. Even complacent.

Ping Gang symbolizes reality. Ping Gang does not have a wealthy father as a backer and does not have a prominent position. Not only does he have to support himself, but he also has a sick wife who needs treatment. His wife, Michiyo, was once a good friend of Daisuke and Hiraoka, and at Daisuke's instigation, she married Hiraoka. Ping Gang has no ability to resist reality. He can only transform his inner indignation into the motivation of life and move forward step by step.

Perhaps it was the reappearance of Machiyo that gave Daisuke an opportunity to step out of his own world. Daisuke only felt the belated love after Michiyo and Hiraoka got married. However, Michiyo had already been handed over to Hiraoka. After this reunion, Daisuke decided not to have any regrets. He refused to accept the marriage arranged by his father. Even if his financial resources were cut off, he was not willing to lose three thousand generations.

After showing off to Hiraoka, Hiraoka angrily demanded to break off the relationship with him, but this time Daisuke chose to bow his head for love and started running around for life.

What happened later was that Daisuke probably joined the flow. Whether it was flowing to the vast ocean or a quiet and lonely stream, Daisuke probably gained some motivation to move forward.

Be it Daisuke or Ping Gang, they are all microcosms of society.

It’s just that compared to Daisuke, Hiraoka always seems a little more aboveboard, while Daisuke seems hypocritical and selfish. On weekdays, the financial support Daisuke receives is always transferred to him by his sister-in-law. His sister-in-law has a forthright nature and is unambiguous about right and wrong. Although Daisuke's brother is always busy socializing and often helps his father consolidate the family's status and interpersonal relationships. He neglects his family, but his sister-in-law understands this and manages the household affairs in an orderly manner.

Compared with Hiraoka, Daisuke seems lazy, arrogant and unenterprising;

Compared with his sister-in-law, Daisuke seems hypocritical and duplicitous;

Compared with his sister-in-law, Daishu seems to be hypocritical and duplicitous; Compared with his elder brother, Daisuke seems to be timid and ineffective;

Compared with Sanchiyo, Daisuke also had hesitation and withdrawal...

The whole book describes Daisuke's attitude towards work and love. , views on life, and also compared with the personalities of other characters in the book, accurately analyzing the inner world of the characters. Daishu likes to escape when things happen, he has an arrogant personality, and is a bit hypocritical in his dealings with others. He lives his life under the theories he made up, achieving nothing but being complacent.

Reality is the answer

Natsume Soseki's writing style is distinctively critical, satirizing the various shortcomings brought about by society, and ruthlessly exposing human nature. He especially hates egoism, which is reflected in the character's character and inner world. He always believes that we should pay attention to people's spiritual morality, social responsibility, and strengthen the constraints of the inner world. If he just escapes blindly, he will eventually be abandoned by the whole world. .

There are also many people in life who have the shadow of Daizhu. They have an inexplicable fear of society, and their anxiety is like a flood that bursts a bank and drowns them. It seems that once they take a step, they will be... Darkness swallows. Or after failure, you worry about being knocked down again next time. Faced with financial pressure and inner pressure, you are surrounded by anxiety and panic, and you are in panic all day long.

Some people, after making an inner decision, will bravely take that step and discover that society is not actually that scary, and that some pressures are just self-suggestion; some people will make up a set of Sleek rhetoric, but in fact this flimsy rhetoric is nothing more than a solution to self-aggrandizement.

In psychology, there is an "ostrich effect". When an ostrich encounters danger, it will bury its head in the soil as soon as possible to escape the immediate danger. However, when the danger approaches step by step, it will only be cornered and unable to do anything. This negative mentality is not the solution. Only learning to face it and learning to take that step is the so-called growth.

In this world, everyone’s existence has its own value, and no one is born mediocre. In that dark night sky, it was the presence of those stars that illuminated the entire night sky. It's just that some stars are extremely dazzling, and some stars have a weak light, but as long as they exist, they must shine with their own light, right?

As Mr. Lao She said: "The only comfort for a fool is self-deception."

People often use self-deception to comfort themselves, as if the rules of this society should be tailored to them. Build. But reality also reminds us that if everyone follows their own trajectory, society will only be parallel lines, losing communication and progress.

How things will happen later is in everyone's own hands. Perhaps as long as you move forward optimistically, you will find the path that suits you best.

Even though the light is weak, it will always illuminate the night sky.

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