Father

Mu ShiyingJun 2025

Rating 3.8
Word count
8.9K words
Chapters
6

Tags

Family Stories Social Fiction Human Warmth and ColdnessFamily BondsEnd-of-life CareSorrowful TonePsychological InsightFirst PersonChanging Times

Summary

《父亲》is a short story the author wrote in 1933. Narrated in the first person, it depicts scene after scene before and after the death of a father in a feudal family. Once a man of status and standing in high society, the father on his sickbed undergoes decline and fall from authority to the margins; where once the house was crowded with visitors, now no one comes. The children worry about their father's health and are filled with self-reproach, yet an underlying estrangement shows between the lines. It is a man's twilight, the doorbell no longer ringing incessantly, the old man's last days of delirious lapses. It is an elegy, a sharp knife that cuts open family ethics and the fickleness of the world for you to see. "Father" is one of the author's finest short stories—moving and thought-provoking.

Editor's review

"Father" is about the moment a person enters old age and a family loses its balance. Once a man of status and standing in high society, the father on his sickbed slides from authority to the margins; where once the house was crowded with visitors, now no one comes—the doorbell no longer rings incessantly—and the old man's last days of delirious lapses are recorded one by one by a first-person narrator. The work's power lies not in plot but in estrangement: the children worry about their father's health and feel self-reproach, yet between the lines there is clearly a distance; family ethics and the fickleness of the world are cut open at once. Mu Shiying's 1933 short story is restrained in tone, sorrowful without being sentimental, like an unassuming knife. It suits careful reading in quiet moments, noting the contradictions in the narrator's tone—care and estrangement coexisting; it also suits as a text for discussing family relationships, class change, and expressions of family affection. After reading, consider what you would say aloud and what you would swallow if you were in that position.

Who it's for

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Reading tips

  1. Read the children's inner monologues closely, noting how care and estrangement coexist in the same passage.
  2. Compare the changes in household visitors before and after the father's illness, to appreciate the portrayal of the fickleness of the world.
  3. After finishing, recall details of your own time with elders and write a few lines in response, to help process the emotions.

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5

FAQ

How does the novel narrate the father's death? The work is narrated in the first person, depicting scene after scene before and after the death of a father in a feudal family: the father on his sickbed sliding from authority to the margins, the house going from crowded with visitors to no one coming, the children filled with self-reproach yet with estrangement showing between the lines, and the old man's last days of delirious lapses recorded.
What is the emotional tone of this story? The tone is sorrowful yet restrained. It is like an elegy, and also like a sharp knife that cuts open family ethics and the fickleness of the world for you to see. The narrator does not deliberately play on sentiment, but self-reproach, estrangement, and loss intertwine, making it thought-provoking to read.
Is it suitable for readers not interested in family themes? If a reader only enjoys strong plot, this may seem somewhat quiet; but if willing to appreciate the subtleties of human relationships, the work's portrayal of family estrangement and the fickleness of the world still carries considerable force, and it can serve as a sample for close reading of modern short stories.

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About the author

Mu Shiying Author · Chinese · 1912–1940

Mu Shiying (1912–1940) was a native of Cixi, Zhejiang, and a modern Chinese novelist as well as a leading figure of the New Sensationist school. Writing under the pen names Fayang and Anonymous, he graduated from Guanghua University and became known for his depictions of urban life in Shanghai, earning the title of "master of Chinese New Sensationism." His works often focus on the emotional and existential conditions of urban men and women, with a跳跃, image-dense style that uses sound, color, and light to capture the rhythm and sense of disillusionment in the modern city. His representative works include North and South, The Cemetery, The Bust of the Platinum Woman, and The Virgin's Feelings, along with celebrated pieces such as "Shanghai Foxtrot," "Five Men in a Nightclub," and "Pierrot." The collection here contains twenty-nine of his works, spanning social fiction, fine fiction, classic works, and prose miscellany.