Masculine Responcibility: To Essay, Research Paper

In his undeserving arrogance he looses everything that defines him as a man. In the film To Live we view as a young man transverses life and experiences male responsibility in a time of social delinquency. With Fugui s life we see that it is possible that we are simply a participant in life, a life which will pass us by in a second if we look away. In To Live along with Tiger Killers, A Moment of Romance, and Butcher s Wife we see men struggling to define and assemble their masculine responsibility. While the antiheros of these stories are finding themselves they are all assisted in some way or another by a strong feminine influence. In this essay we will examine the masculine responsibility in To Live and how it is also found in the other stories. Also we will look at how each of these men has a woman by his side that helps to define him.

In To Live we have a man who in the beginning takes everything he has completely for granted. His masculinity was handed to him by his ancestors but not assured. In his undeserving arrogance he looses everything that defines him as a man. His lover leaves him, his father dies knowing his heir is a failure to the family. Throughout the story we see that it is not the choices your make necessarily but how you handle them. How responsible you act with what you are given. Fugui gambles his family fortune away and looses everything for a time, but in the end he would have died for being a bourgeoisie. His friend kills his only son, but with that life debt Fugui is able to save his friends life. As the story goes we watch as Fugui grows and catalyses his masculine responsibility.

A question poses itself regarding this masculinity: To what or whom is this responsibility directed? Is it himself, his loved ones, the other men, or his values? What do men do to prove they are responsible, and does this make them complete and happy? Fugui begins with no sense of responsibility as he gambles away his family fortune not even knowing he has done so until it s too late. Once everything is stripped from him he can begin to realize what he had and try to gain it all back. It seems it is most important for him to live, thus, his first responsibility is to himself. Then, as Fugui demonstrates, once a man has a woman his only reason to live is for her and his family. His responsibility as a man is to provide for and help to carry on their existence.

The story To Live also demonstrates how values change because of other men. The unstable times that Fugui went through dictated his values. There was a time when he cherished the high style of living that he was accustomed to, and then there was a time when that high style would have meant death for him so he abandoned it. In all these stories there is one constant and that is the woman. She is always there reminding the man of what his true values and responsibilities are. At times she will even take over the role as the masculine character when the man is incapacitated.

In A Moment of Romance Wah Dee can also be seen carrying out these examples of masculine responsibility and following the same path to attain masculine values. In Wah Dees case he never had anything so he had nothing to loose. Until, that is, he met Jojo and he had reason. In this chaotic world of gangs and gangsters Wah Dee also has difficulty realizing his masculine responsibility until the very end. Throughout the story he is torn between family and his lover.

The responsibility that Wah Dee takes on is more obvious that that of Fugui. He is obviously involved in two very different worlds, neither of which he will willingly part from. He loves Jojo and knows that she must go to Canada in order to live a good life. He also owes Big Brother his life and will do anything for Rambo. In the end, in an ultimate act of responsibility Wah Dee gives his own life for both causes. He kills Trumpet, and ends his own life. Thus his brother s death is avenged and Jojo can go on to live a good life.

Again in A Moment of Romance there is the central figure of a woman that is the masculine value base. Jojo is a consistent part of Wah Dee helping to define him as man by being a feminine character to compare him too. Also she is someone whom can witness his acts of responsibility.

In The Butcher s Wife Chen gives off the appearance of fulfilling his masculine responsibilities and to everyone except that audience this veneer may never have been lifted to reveal the truth. Providing a roof, food, and what seemed like a caring home, to those not living in it, was Chen s attempt at fulfilling his masculine responsibility. In providing he has succeeded but in seeing that she has love, and that her future is secure he has failed miserably. In abusing her Chen exceeds the boundaries of masculinity and becomes a villain. In doing so Chen also submits his masculine responsibilities to Lin Shi. This submission is the ultimate failure in responsibility. Chen fails himself by not having a proper heir, he fails his spouse by not providing love for her, and he fails society by helping to breakdown what is good and righteous, and thus again fails himself by not accepting his masculine responsibility.

I see Fugui as more of a hero than our present day Arnold Swarzonagers because he has only the powers of everyday life to draw from to defeat his foes, and conquer his fears. There is no inner chi but what he can muster up to face the death of his son, or the oncoming revolutionary army. The pain felt by the emotional wounds dealt to Fugui is felt with empathy from the audience since the situations are so close to home. It can t be anyone s fault that Fugui made his son go to school on that fateful day but as the audience we find blame in Fugui. Fugui quietly accepts this responsibility and knows that he must go on for his family, with his wife by his side to relieve him when he takes time to break down.