Bizhu and Zhu: Freedom - Essay Example

Bizhu and Zhu: Freedom. Chen Ruoxi’s “Bizhu’s Choice,” and Tie Ning’s “Octday” are two short stories by Chinese women writers which explore gender-related ethical perspectives. The stories are told from the point of view of the female protagonists, Bizhu and Zhu Xiaofen. Both the narratives deal with the women’s decision to divorce their respective spouses, and the repercussions of this act. Bizhu divorces her old husband and turns down the offer of marriage from her childhood sweetheart. Zhu Xiaofen divorces her young husband and is puzzled by society’s reaction to her position. Bizhu and Zhu Xiaofen differ in age and personality. Bizhu is 52, while Zhu Xiaofen is just 34. Bizhu is rather timid. She is content with her home and restaurant, and is willing to put the needs of her family above her personal emotions. Bizhu tolerates her husband’s bigamy for several years: she “swallowed it for the sake of the children” (Ruoxi, 31). Zhu Xiaofen is more of a ‘new woman,’ who is dedicated to her career as a fiction editor, and places it above her child’s welfare: “She loved her work, loved it so much that she stopped breast-feeding after only two months” (Ning, 50). However, the tales are strikingly similar in the gender-specific cultural roles allotted to the protagonists, and their reactions to this confinement. Bizhu and Zhu Xiaofen differ in their reasons for divorce, and in their reactions to the gender-specific roles assigned to them, but are united in their search for personal freedom. Although Bizhu and Zhu Xiaofen both opt for divorce, their reasons for this extreme step differ markedly. Bizhu is married to a man who is old enough to be her father. After twenty-two years of marriage, she discovers that her husband, Weizhong, has a family in mainland China. Bizhu is furious with Weizhong’s deception. In private, she “let her fists fly in a fit of indignation, calling her husband the most shameful cheat under heaven” (Ruoxi, 30). However, in public she lets herself submit to the role prescribed for her by society. Accepting that “Divorce would mean the home would be split apart, and the children’s education would be interrupted” (Ruoxi, 30), Zhu continues to play her wifely role. She justifies Weizhong’s bigamy as the result of unfortunate circumstances, and accepts her Buddhist mentor’s advice to endure her situation as her “destiny” (Ruoxi, 31). It is only after her children are independently settled, and she realizes that Weizhong’s “soul is still over there” (Ruoxi, 31) with his first family, that she decides to dissolve her marriage. Weizhong moves with alacrity out of their bedroom, extends the length of his annual stay with his mainland family, constantly phones them, pines for Hunanese cuisine, and is willing to return to Hunan rather than go to their sons in the USA. Bizhu is forced to acknowledge that her marriage is over: “Her efforts to be a good wife amounted to nothing more than a stale joke” (Ruoxi, 33). She finally decides on a divorce. In the case of Zhu Xiaofen, divorce is something she actively welcomes. She is in a marriage to which she is absolutely indifferent, and is just marking time waiting for an opportunity to dissolve the relationship. She is so uninterested in her husband that she “didn’t care enough to fight” with him (Ning, 50). When she catches her husband indulging in an affair, she is relieved that she has finally been given grounds for divorce. Her husband accurately indicates her attitude: “I knew you were waiting all along” (Ning, 51). Zhu Xiaofen decides on a divorce with alacrity. Unlike Bizhu, who tolerates her situation for the sake of her children, Zhu Xiaofen does not accept her parent’s advice “about the baby as a reason to keep the marriage together (Ning, 50). She unequivocally decides on divorce and has no second thoughts about ending her marriage. Bizhu and Zhu Xiaofen adopt different attitudes towards the gender-specific roles assigned to them. Bizhu, perhaps on account of her age, is more submissive in bowing to the dictates of society, and the tenets of religion. She continues in her role of obedient wife for twelve years after her husband’s confession of bigamy. She attempts to “let bygones be bygones” (Ruoxi, 31), consents to Weizhong’s annual visits to his first family, permits him to support them financially, and continues to “look after him as a father” (Ruoxi, 33). When she realizes that her marriage is irretrievably over, she is aware that Weizhong “was waiting for her to say it first to save his own face” (Ruoxi, 30). Continuing to play the role of the good wife, Bizhu rises up to his expectations on this matter, and obliges him by publicly announcing her decision to ask for a divorce in front of all their relatives and friends. She continues to maintain “the wifely countenance-forthright and poised- through to the end of the party” (Ruoxi, 30). She is willing to shoulder the blame for the break-up of their marriage, even telling her childhood sweetheart, Zhong Tianyou, “Don’t blame him. I’m the one who asked for a divorce” (Ruoxi, 35). When she considers her coming divorce, she is saddened by the knowledge that all her sacrifices over the years of marriage have been in vain, and thinks that “her life was doomed” (Ruoxi, 30). She admits that her reason for staying in her marriage was either “for saving face or due to inertia from the numbness that accrued over the years” (Ruoxi, 36). Zhu concedes to society’s emphasis on ‘saving face’ and bases her actions on this. Even when Tianyou declares his intention of divorcing his wife and marrying her, Zhu cautions him against any hasty action, and advises him to put up with his marriage “for the sake of your family” (Ruoxi, 36). Zhu conforms to the gender-specific role of wife, and accepts that personal feelings should be suppressed, and individuality sacrificed, on the altar of the institution of marriage. She is ambivalent towards her divorce: “She was afraid of divorce ---That would be to admit that one’s life was a failure” (Ruoxi, 36). To a large extent, Bizhu conforms to the role society assigns her as a wife and mother. On the other hand, Zhu Xiaofen demonstrates her defiance against the gender stereotypes of society. She does not adhere to the expected ideal of womanly beauty through the use of heavy makeup: she is “above all that” (Ning, 49). She is a career woman who is committed to her professional life. Although she loves her child, she is content to let her parents take care of him, while she focuses on her career. She travels extensively and is fiercely independent. She is willing to overlook the ticket checker’s assumption that her husband has “dumped” (Ning, 57) her, but is furious that the woman assumes that “she, Zhu Xiaofen, Associate Senior Editor at a regional level publication,” (Ning, 57), would need a lift to her hotel. Unlike Bizhu’s ambivalent attitude towards her divorce, Zhu Xiaofen is openly joyous that her marriage is at an end: “She felt so happy” (Ning, 49). She is completely flabbergasted when she realizes that gender expectations require her to take on the role of a slighted, depressed woman, who has been jilted by her husband. Zhu Xiaofen is “Seized by a bewildering anxiety, couldn’t figure out how she was supposed to act” (Ning, 57). She is not prepared for the pity and sympathy directed towards her by her colleagues, particularly as it is so far removed from her own high spirits in the matter. Her assertion that it was she who initiated the divorce is construed to mean that she has submitted to the need “to save face” and “stooped so low” (Ning, 52) as to tolerate the injustice of her husband’s actions. Zhu Xiaofen is inundated with condolence calls; she is warned that “women over thirty have a hard time getting remarried” (Ning, 54); her clients defer to her appetite and flood her with sympathy, assuming her to be in a “realm of secret anguish and solitude” (Ning, 59); her old principal criticizes her and urges her to “straighten up your life” (Ning, 60). Zhu Xiaofen’s desire to jump rope, which to her is symbolic of freedom, is misconstrued by others. Instead of showing them “how happy she was, how relaxed she felt” (Ning, 55), it is taken to be a subterfuge to hide her feelings of upset and sorrow. She is openly accused of “Trying to hide your depression by jumping rope” (Ning, 61). Zhu Xiaofen finds is absolutely impossible to convince anyone that she is happy to divorce her husband. It is assumed that she is putting on a bold front. Gender-related cultural practices expect her to be broken in spirit by her husband’s rejection: “Why can’t you admit your husband didn’t want you anymore?” (Ning, 61) she is asked. She is expected to don the role of a broken-hearted woman in need of comfort. In a humorous twist, public expectation is satisfied only when Zhu Xiaofen’s full bladder makes her eyes water, satisfying the requirement that the divorced woman sheds tears of sorrow! In truth, Zhu Xiaofen refuses to comply with gender-specific expectations of society. Despite the differences in their personalities and circumstances, Bizhu and Zhu Xiaofen are both determined to succeed in their bids for personal freedom. Bizhu stands on the threshold of her divorced life, filled with fear and indecision. She is afraid of divorce. At the same time, she is relieved that her “sham of a marriage” (Ruoxi, 35) is finally done with. Her children are unwilling to let her live alone, and Bizhu herself is aware that “She really did feel quite lonely” (Ruoxi, 39). However, when Tianyou makes his offer of marriage, Bizhu is clear in what she wants. She persuades Tianyou to stick to his present marriage, and chooses to live with him as his lover. Finally, Bizhu breaks through the walls of gender-stereotyping which have confined her all these years. She summons up the courage to reject the institution of marriage which is held up to be sacrosanct in society- particularly for a woman. “Marriage is a shell,” she declares (Ruoxi, 40). Her daughter cautions her: “At your age, you need the security of marriage even more” (Ruoxi, 40). But Bizhu has moved beyond the ties of conformity. After a life spent in subservience to marriage and family, she finally “hoped to go out in big strides as a woman to enjoy some unrestrained freedom” (Ruoxi, 39). She is clear that freedom is the most important thing which remains to her in life. She is willing to accept the unorthodox position of Tianyou’s mistress, and even subordinates her love and passion for him to her desire for freedom. Contrary to Bizhu’s ambivalent feelings on divorce, Zhu Xiaofen celebrates the day of the dissolution of her marriage: “At last came the day when --- she knew she was about to break away, be freed” (Ning, 50). She is absolutely unmoved by anxiety as to her future, and her old friend’s concern, “What’ll become of you?” (Ning, 54). She is puzzled by society’s inability to accept that she is happy with her divorce. To Zhu Xiaofen, divorce is synonymous with freedom. Her deep desire to jump rope is symbolic of her desire for freedom, to fly away from the confinement of gender-specific societal expectations. So restrictive are the bonds of these expectations that she is unable to indulge in her yearning to jump rope, which is decreed to be a pretense to cover up her hidden sorrow. Zhu Xiaofen makes up her mind “to escape this confounding, smothering appeasement” (Ruoxi, 56). She makes a decisive bid for freedom, by designating an ‘Octday’: the eighth day of the week which would be “a day I can call my own” (Ning, 60). She climbs on to the brand new bike she finds and rides away to enjoy her freedom. Bizhu and Zhu Xiaofen choose personal freedom above all other things in life. “Bizhu’s Choice,” and “Octday” argue that personal freedom can be found by women only when they break free from the gender-specific roles assigned to them by society. Bizhu and Zhu Xiaofen choose freedom and discard the institution of marriage. In the case of “Bizhu’s Choice,” the protagonist chooses to live as Tianyou’s mistress. While her choice is in line with her decision to remain free, it raises an ethical question as to whether this is fair on Tianyou’s wife. Bizhu tells Tianyou, “let her keep her marriage, and let me have this love” (Ruoxi, 40). This is patently unfair in the light of Bizhu’s admission that marriage is only a “shell.” Having gone through the pain of her husband preferring to return to the wife and family of his youth, Bizhu is still willing to let Tianyou’s wife endure the same indignities of an empty marriage. Bizhu claims to understand the hold of old ties of love, and excuses her husband for not being able to hold on to his promise not to “divide my heart” (Ruoxi, 31). Now, she is willing to let Tianyou divide his heart between her and his wife. It is difficult to reconcile Bizhu’s choice ethically from the perspective of another woman: Tianyou’s wife. In the case of Zhu Xiaofen, her wholehearted embrace of freedom does not take into consideration the needs of her infant child. Her extended business trips, her early weaning of the child for this purpose, and her abdication of its care to her parents are not justified from an ethical perspective. She claims to love the baby, but this claim appears to be rather weak in the light of her single-minded pursuit of career and freedom. It can be argued that the baby is the casualty in Zhu Xiaofen’s choice of freedom as the leitmotif of her life. Bizhu and Zhu Xiaofen are women trapped in loveless marriages, and roles ordained for them by a society which institutionalizes gender-specific expectations. Both the protagonists break free from the confines of these expectations through divorce, and choose to strike a new path based on personal freedom. However, it can be argued that their choice of freedom comes at an ethical cost: Tianyou’s wife and Zhu Xiaofen’s baby bear the brunt of injury. Chen Ruoxi’s “Bizhu’s Choice,” and Tie Ning’s “Octday” are thought-provoking narratives on the roles prescribed by society for women, and their quest for freedom. Works Cited. Ning, Tie. “Octday” Name of Book. Name of Translator. Name of Editor. City of publication. Name of Publisher. Year of publication. Print. 49-63. Ruoxi, Chen. “Bizhu’s Choice.” Name of Book. Trans. Christopher Lupke. Name of Editor. City of publication. Name of Publisher. Date of publication. Print. 29-41. Read More