Society: 1 Individuality: 0

Lu Xun’s Diary of a Madman does an excellent job of conveying the fear that must have gone along with acting outside of the social norm in the restrictive Chinese culture of the early 1900’s. In a lot of ways I think this piece actually mirrors Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler in that it is about conformity, and the suppression of individuality. Where Hedda was at odds with her gender’s accepted place in society, and her desire to break away from that place, The Madman is at odds with how society eats individuals; unlike Hedda however, The Madman makes a dramatic transition through the story. Early on in his diary The Madman writes, “Even though I don’t eat human flesh, I still have a lot more courage than those who do.” (Xun 1923), as he fights to assert his independence from society and it’s customs. I think that this passage is important because by it’s tone it is putting down society for ‘eating people’, but at the same time his tone indicates some level of acceptance of the way society works. I think that represents the turning point for The Madman, as he begins to realize that despite his individuality he is still a part of society whether he likes it or not. Towards the end of the story, The Madman writes “Although I wasn’t aware of it in the beginning, now that I know I’m someone with four thousand years’ experience of cannibalism behind me, how hard it is to look real human beings in the eye” (Xun 1929), indicating his acceptance that while he disliked society, he was still a part of it, and indeed still responsible for his own part in it. Diary of a Madman seems to bridge the gap between Romanticism and Enlightenment, presenting a compromise of sorts between Society and Individuality, and recognizing both as having merit.