Social mobility and Moral Character in “The Barber’s Tale” and “The Biography of Lu Pu-wei” PDF

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In this literary analysis paper, I analyze how social mobility appears in a story from the Arabian Nights and an biography from classic Chinese literature....

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Mendoza Sosa 1 Alan Mendoza Sosa COLT0810I Professor Dore Levy Saturday, March 17, 2018 Social mobility and Moral Character in “The Barber’s Tale” and “The Biography of Lu Pu-wei” The theme of social mobility appears in both The Arabian Nights and The Records of the Historian as a key component of the Barber’s and Lu Pu-wei’s story. In both texts, a man of low rank ascends social hierarchy by gaining royal favor. On the one hand, the Barber tells entertaining stories that grant him a place in the court of the king of China. His stories – narrated by the tailor – aim not only to entertain the caliph, but also to present him as tempered, reasonable, intelligent, and eloquent. On the other hand, Lu Pu-wei befriends Tzu-Chu – a prince of Ch’in who the king sent to Chao as a hostage – and plots to help him get the throne. His scheme works, and he enters the court until his sexual rendezvous with the queen dowager become public. While both men succeed in their social climbing ambitions, the texts treat them in different ways: The Arabian Nights rewards the Barber, but Records of the Historian punishes Lu Pu-wei. Moreover, the narrative characteristic of these stories reflects their different aims. Although both are meant to teach a moral lesson, The Arabian Nights focuses more on the entertaining value of the Barber’s tale, while Records of the Historian comments on the moral value of Lu Pu-wei’s actions. Thus, social mobility is central in both the tale of the Barber and the biography of Lu Pu-wei, one that reflects the moral values and narrative expectations of Arabic and Chinese cultures.

Mendoza Sosa 2 The Barber’s tale reveals both his storytelling ability and the dynamics of people’s interactions. The tailor narrates how the barber convinced the caliph of Baghdad of his worth as a “man of great generosity and few words” (267). For this, he tells the stories of his six brothers, each with a physical dysfunction; “One is one-eyed, another, paraplegic, a third hunchbacked, a fourth blind, a fifth cropped of the ears, and a sixth cropped of the lips” (267). The six stories have a similar plot: people abuse a poor man with a visible physical problem, who, in the end, the barber succors. These stories entertain because (1) they introduce characters defined by a specific character trait, which leads them to trouble, (2) they build up to a climax that usually involves violence, and (3) they have an unexpected twist towards the end. Take the tale of the sixth brother, the Cropped of Lips, which highlights the peril of recklessness. In this tale, the barber’s poor brother meets a rich host and becomes his administrator for twenty years; when the man dies, the king seizes all the brother’s properties and leaves him in poverty; finally, a bedouin wounds brother in the lips and castrates him (289 292). First, the host humiliates the brother by pretending to put together a dinner; however, the brother turns this trick around, and hits the host “so hard that the place resounded” (291), also coming up with a witty retort: “My lord you have admitted your slave into your house, fed him, and given him wine to drink until he became drunk and unmannerly. You should be the first to tolerate his foolishness and pardon his offense” (291). This gains him the sympathy of the host, who “[has] been making fun of people for a long time, but never … [has] he met one who has the wit and ability to humor [him]” (291). However witty, the brother’s quip is also daring, for he was in disadvantage vis-a-vis the host; he was lucky that his retort worked, but this foolhardiness is the one trait that leads to his fatal end. When the bedouins capture the brother – who is poor

Mendoza Sosa 3 again – he falls for the bedouin’s wife suggestions (292), but the bedouin finds out and castrates him. Again, the brother, whose situation is completely disadvantageous, dares a reckless act, ending mutilated and miserable. The story of the sixth brother, with its morale about the perils of recklessness, exemplifies the didactic and entertaining aims of the Barber’s tales. Furthermore, this story – along with the other five – also serves the Barber to define his own character in opposition to that of his brothers, getting the caliph’s and the king’s sympathy. The first tale (268) – a gullible hunchback, with whom an abusive couple toy – suggests that the barber can be cool-headed; the second tale (272) – a paraplegic man who a lady humiliates in public – implies that the barber cannot be easily deceived; the third (275) – the blind brother who is unjustly imprisoned – shows that the barber’s sight affords him not only privilege, but also safety, for the police is prejudiced against blind people; the fourth (278) – the one-eyed butcher who an old man besieges until the prince punishes and sentences him – suggests that his physical appearance makes him trustworthy; finally, the fifth tale (282) – the dreamy and ambitious brother, who a lady lures for sex and money – aims to present the barber as tempered, realistic and cautious. Thus, all tales, like that of the sixth brother serve the Barber to demonstrate his eloquence, while defining his character in opposition to that of his brothers. Highlight how the vices of his brothers led them to their ruin, the Barber makes himself eloquent, reasonable, intelligent, cool-headed, and capable. Similarly, the Biography of Lu Pu-wei aims to highlight Lu Pu-wei’s moral traits, paying less attention, however, to the entertaining value of his story. The first part of Lu Pu-wei’s biography, focusing on the influence and impact of a merchant who manages to get a spot in the Chinese court, but dies tragically, portrays Lu Pu-wei as clever and ambitious. First, the text characterizes him as a persuasive and engaging fellow; his success as “a great merchant … who had accumulated a fortune” (36), suggests that he is good at

Mendoza Sosa 4 making deals and at convincing people. Moreover, the fact that he has “travel here and there (36)” implies a go-getting, ambitious, and quick attitude; he chases opportunities, instead of waiting for them to come. He uses these traits to befriend Tzu-ch’u and to convince Lady Huayang – favorite of the crown prince Lord An-kuo, but childless – of treating him as though he was his son. This plot succeeds and Tzu-ch’u becomes king, making Lu Pu-wei prime minister and marquis. However, Tzu-ch’u dies after three years and Cheng – Lu Pu-wei’s former lover’s son – ascends. Even though Lu Pu-wei manages to make a name for himself, his imprudence and anxiety lead to his decay. Having entered the court, Lu Pu-wei continues to show his ambition, but he also shows unsophistication in politics, buying allegiances, and “[attracting] gentlemen to his service with offers of generous rewards and treatment” (40). His ambition begins to appear more as arrogance when he produces a collection of documents that “[embraced] all the affairs of Heaven, earth … yesterday, and today” (41), titled “The Spring and Autumn of Mr. Lu”, and performs the showy challenge of “[posting] the text on the market gate with a thousand pieces of gold suspended above it [that] would be awarded to anyone who could add or subtract a single character from it” (41). These tasteless pretenses save Lu Pu-wei – the “followers and men of eloquence” (42), whose allegiance he bought, prevent his assassination, and the king simply exiles him. However, his anxiety drives him to suicide, because he is “fearful that there might be some plot afoot” (43). Finally, Ssu-ma Ch'in analyzes Lu Pu-wei’s rise and fall from a Confucian perspective. The last paragraph of Lu Pu-wei’s biography makes explicit the moral condemnation of his character. It references Confucius’s definition of a man of fame to highlight and characterize Lu Pu-wei for his deeds. The text asks: “What Confucius says about ‘the man of fame’ might

Mendoza Sosa 5 well apply to this Master Lu, might it not?” (44). With this, the text makes explicit the stand that it developed through narration and characterization: behind appearances, actions reveal the true character of people. Thus, the text condemns the crafty and unsophisticated actions of Lu Pu-wei, adducing Confucian philosophy. Both the barber’s tale and Lu Pu-wei’s biography present characters whose personalities help them ascend their social position. At the same time, these stories reveal common traits that Arabic and Chinese cultures value, assertiveness, eloquence, and temperance. While the Barber embodied all these, Lu Pu-wei fails to be a decent politician, and brings chaos to the court and misery on to him. On the other hand, the narrative of these stories highlights their aims. The barber’s tale stresses the entertainment value, while the biography of Lu Pu-wei underscores the actions that lead him to failure and misery, even if he enjoys fame for a while. Both stories explore the theme of social mobility to reflect on the actions of the characters and how they reflect social values....