The Passer-by

The Passer-by

The Passer-by is a one act play written by Lu Shun, one of the greatest Chinese writers. It is a short one act play. There are only three characters- an old man, a girl, and a passer-by. It is late afternoon, in a desolate place, near a hut the action takes place. There is no action as such. The old man wants help from the girl to get inside the hut;  in the mean while a passer-by is seen coming near. He arrives and they have a short dialogue. He is like a hermit or a jogi, thirsty and may be hungry, old and with wounded foot bleeding. He does not know where he came from nor does he know where he goes. There is no finality of journey, only continuation. The girl offers him a cup of water and again he is ready to go ahead but does not know the destination. Life is lonely and no destination to go it seems.

The theme of this play is the picture of a decaying corrupt society in Lu Shun’s time. The passer-by expresses his tired feeling of this materialistic world. He says he must go because if he goes back there’s not a place without celebrities, land lords, expulsion, cages, show smiles, and hypocritical tears. He hates them. He has no wish to see the tears that spring from their hearts. He does not want the compassion of such bad people. He promises to continue his journey to avoid the wicked world. The girl gives a piece of clothe for bandaging his bleeding feet but he does not like to take it. He thanks the girl for her compassion. He does not take alms too. He limps on towards the wilderness of the west.

The gist of this drama is that there is tyranny in the society everywhere. The old man likes to avoid it. There are celebrities and landlords. There is wealth and luxury for them but there are expulsions and cages of all sorts for the poor. This portrays the fate of the poor during pre-revolution of poor who reject the materialistic life of rich, in China.

1)What is the gist of the play?

Ans. The gist of the play is that there is tyranny in the society everywhere. The old man likes to avoid it. There are celebrities and landlords. There is wealth and luxury for them but there are expulsions and cages of all sorts for the poor. This portrays the fate of the poor during pre-revolution of poor who reject the materialistic life of rich, in China. The passer-by expresses his tired feeling of this materialistic world.

2)How does the Passer-by portray the pre-revolution Chinese society? Discuss.

Ans. In pre-revolution Chinese society, poor people had no luxurious life. There were celebrities in the society who enjoyed their life. This play shows how difficult the life was for the poor before the revolution. The passer-by ( character) wants to escape this tyranny and go ahead to the world where all are equal. The girl, old man, and the passer-by all are the victim of poverty. This play shows their painful life and the luxury of landlord so it portrays the pre-revolution Chinese society.