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- The way that domination and control feed into systems of power is a central theme of “Diary of a Madman” that is explored through the symbolic eating of human flesh. Groups and individuals show their dominance by eating others whom they view as subservient and belonging lower down the social hierarchy.
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“Diary of a Madman” was written in 1835, during the reign of the autocratic tsar Nicholas I. Corrupt bureaucracy and militarism marked this time period in Russian history, with Nicholas I relying on military men to circumvent the normal administration of a kingdom.
- Plot Summary Plot
Poprishchin is at first “very surprised” to hear the dogs...
- Summary & Analysis
Aksenty Ivanovich Poprishchin, a low-level clerk, describes...
- Themes
In Nikolai Gogol’s “Diary of a Madman,” the middling civil...
- Quotes
Find the quotes you need in Nikolai Gogol's The Diary of a...
- Characters
Poprishchin, the protagonist of “Diary of a Madman,” is a...
- Symbols
The Diary of a Madman Symbols Next. Ferdinand VIII ....
- November 6
Poprishchin’s responds to the section chief’s criticism in...
- December 3
Poprishchin does not want to believe that Sophie will marry...
- Plot Summary Plot
Nov 21, 2023 · "Diary of a Madman" is about a man who goes mad and believes his fellow towns-people and his brother are cannibals who want to eat him. A narrator...
- "Diary of a Madman" by Lu Xun is a political commentary. Lu Xun criticizes the Confucian-based society, calling for a more humanistic culture. To m...
- Cannibalism in "Diary of a Madman" represents Confucian traditionalism in the early 1900s in China. The culture was conservative to the point of vi...
- The main character in "Diary of a Madman" is an unnamed man who goes mad with paranoia. He is the old school friend of the narrator.
- At the beginning of "Diary of a Madman", the older brother tells the narrator that the madman has gotten better and is away for work. He now works...
- Introduction
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A Chinese intellectual working in Japan, Lu Xun is both representative of and critical of the rich centuries of Chinese literary tradition. Writing at a time when Chinese culture found itself in upheaval as the Maoist regime replaced traditional government, Lu Xun is bitingly critical of Chinese society which he represents as self-destructive and s...
Tonight there is no moon at all, I know that this bodes ill. This morning when I went out cautiously, Mr. Chao had a strange look in his eyes, as if he were afraid of me, as if he wanted to murder me. There were seven or eight others, who discussed me in a whisper. And they were afraid of my seeing them. All the people I passed were like that. The ...
I can’t sleep at night. Everything requires careful consideration if one is to understand it. Those people, some of whom have been pilloried by the magistrate, slapped in the face by the local gentry, had their wives taken away by bailiffs, or their parents driven to suicide by creditors, never looked as frightened and as fierce then as they did ye...
In the morning I sat quietly for some time. Old Chen brought lunch in: one bowl of vegetables, one bowl of steamed fish. The eyes of the fish were white and hard, and its mouth was open just like those people who want to eat human beings. After a few mouthfuls I could not tell whether the slippery morsels were fish or human flesh, so I brought it a...
Pitch dark. I don’t know whether it is day or night. The Chao family dog has started barking again. The fierceness of a lion, the timidity of a rabbit, the craftiness of a fox. . . .
I know their way; they are not willing to kill anyone outright, nor do they dare, for fear of the consequences. Instead they have banded together and set traps everywhere, to force me to kill myself. The behavior of the men and women in the street a few days ago, and my elder brother’s attitude these last few days, make it quite obvious. What they ...
Actually, such arguments should have convinced them long ago. . . . Suddenly someone came in. He was only about twenty years old and I did not see his features very clearly. His face was wreathed in smiles, but when he nodded to me his smile did not seem genuine. I asked him “Is it right to eat human beings?” Still smiling, he replied, “When there ...
Wanting to eat men, at the same time afraid of being eaten themselves, they all look at each other with the deepest suspicion. . . . How comfortable life would be for them if they could rid themselves of such obsessions and go to work, walk, eat and sleep at ease. They have only this one step to take. Yet fathers and sons, husbands and wives, broth...
The sun does not shine, the door is not opened, every day two meals. I took up my chopsticks, then thought of my elder brother; I know now how my little sister died: it was all through him. My sister was only five at the time. I can still remember how lovable and pathetic she looked. Mother cried and cried, but he begged her not to cry, probably be...
I can’t bear to think of it. I have only just realized that I have been living all these years in a place where for four thousand years they have been eating human flesh. My brother had just taken over the charge of the house when our sister died, and he may well have used her flesh in our rice and dishes, making us eat it unwittingly. It is possib...
Nikolai Gogol’s 1835 short story “Diary of a Madman” utilizes a series of diary entries by its protagonist, Aksenty Ivanovich Poprishchin, to track his descent into “madness.”
In "Diary of a Madman," Lu Xun engages with literary traditions that rely on poetic (i.e., unscientific) models of the mind to present a concept of “madness” that is stigmatizing and inappropriate for describing psychiatric conditions.
“Diary of a Madman” is an absurdist comedy about its protagonist’s descent into “madness,” as he is increasingly unable to reconcile his own inflated opinion of himself with his real social position and other people’s understanding of the place he occupies in the world.
“The Diary of a Madman” was an overnight sensation in China largely because of its revelation of cannibalism. The diarist’s surrender makes clear Lu Xun’s deliberate warning to the reader...
