"Back to the Past" (Middle School Version)

Author: Lu Xun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-01-01
Features: The Flowers Are Plucked at Dusk recounts the author's childhood life and his academic journey in youth, recalling unforgettable people and events, and expressing nostalgia for his former friends, relatives, and teachers. The work, interwoven with narration and commentary, criticizes and satirizes the reactionary and conservative forces. The essay The Dog, the Cat, and the Rat targets the attacks by "gentlemen of high moral character," satirizing the "rumors" they spread and expressing hatred for the cat's tendency to "extensively torment the weak," "yelling everywhere," and sometimes "putting on a charming facade." It recalls the experience and feelings of rescuing a lovely hidden mouse in childhood, which was cruelly destroyed, showing sympathy for the weak and hatred for the cruel.