Sinking by Yu Dafu: Analysis of the Protagonist

Published in 1921, Sinking is a well-known story written by Yu Dafu. This work of literature is recognized as one of the initial psychological narrations in the history of contemporary Chinese fiction as it explores the experiences and the thoughts of a single individual. Its importance in the Chinese fictional history is perceived in its fundamentally new focus on the individual and intensely subjective psyche of an individual character. Clearly, the story focuses on the internal conflicts of the character and how he feels about the external environment including the government. Essentially, the main theme in this story is nationalism since it focuses more on how the character feels about the society by highlighting the incompetence of the government. In this regard, this paper shall analyze the character of the protagonist and how his character influences the whole story as well as how it defines the theme of the story. Particularly, the focus shall be on the scene at the school where the protagonist isolates himself from the other students.
First, the protagonist in this story is not named. He remains merely an unnamed “He.” Most importantly, this character seems totally alienated both from the society and women. The story begins with the protagonist alienation prompted by profound feeling loneliness which overwhelms his person. His alienation is manifested when the author says, “Lately he had been feeling pitiful lonesome…his emotional precocity had placed him at close odds with fellow men…” (Yu 44).

Here, the author introduces us to the protagonist’s world. In this world, he is isolated from the society and is completely in a world of his own. With this introduction, one can tell that the protagonist is disturbed over something which makes us curious about what exactly disturbs the protagonist.
As the story goes, we are able to understand that the protagonist is depressed. In fact, he manifests signs of depression by the way he develops unusual eating habits, over sleeping, mood swings as well as self-pity: “…he would have liked to chat with his classmates but, perhaps discouraged by his sorrowful countenance” (Yu 47). We can see that the protagonist is completely isolated and cannot even relate with his classmates. The main question, however, is why he is so isolated and depressed. This comes back to the theme of the story which is nationality. Perhaps we should look at the background of the author since he is known to write stories based on his personal experience. In fact, most writers base stories on their life experiences. For instance, Lin Hai-Yin’s story about memories of peking is based on her life experiences while living in Taiwan. Lin discusses her family’s origin and background and the works they engaged in (Hai-Yin 12). Similarly, Yu takes the same approach to narrating his life story. Being a Chinese, he was anti-Japanese and criticized the way they spread their propaganda during the Second Sino-Japan war. As a result, he hated the Japanese for the injustices and the treatment they gave the non-Japanese. Known to be a critic of governments, he criticized Japan for most of the time he was in China and Japan. Expressing his frustration and hatred for the Japanese, the protagonist in the story is very much comfortable being isolated and does not mind them walking away from him when he says, “They are all Japanese, all my enemies…I’ll have my revenge one day” (Yu 47). In essence, the protagonist is angry with Japan. The depression and isolation come as a result of the treatment of Japanese and this makes him hate and stay away from the Japanese students. Essentially, the depression and isolation of the protagonist are mainly as a result of nationalism. His psychological deterioration is as a result of the hatred he has against Japan and his patriotism and loyalty to China. Therefore, the theme of nationalism has a great bearing in the psychological deterioration of the protagonist.
Finally, this story is based on the life experiences of the author and using the anonymous protagonist to narrate his experiences; the reader should be able to understand the real story behind this narration. As such, the hatred he has against Japan is one of the main reasons he prefers to be isolated, and even plans revenge on Japan. Thus, this story serves as a recounting of the individual experiences of the author during his time in Japan and a writer in China.
Works cited
Hai-Yin, Lin. Memories of Peking: South Side Stories. Chines University Press, 2002. Print
Yu, Dafu. Sinking. 1971. Print