Virginia E. Woolf, an American writer, has won many awards for her "Lemon Series" novels written with blank poems, including the American Golden Kite Award, the American Library Association's Best Young Reading Award and so on.
Blank poetry is a kind of English metrical poetry. Blank verse is different from free verse. Although blank verse does not rhyme, it has a fixed rhythm, and the promotion and suppression of pentameter is the most common.
"There is no orange, only a lemon" is a unique and profound work. Not many words, but thought-provoking.
This work tells the story of 14-year-old Fang La and 17-year-old Julie working together to get out of the gloom of life. If we go one step further, this is the story of Fang La helping Julie turn sour lemon into sweet orange.
Fang La and Julie are about the same age. These two girls, one is a poor middle school student who can't afford to go to college, and the other is a girl who became the mother of two children at the age of sixteen. Two people who didn't meet originally met because of Julie's recruitment notice posted on the bulletin board of Fang La school.
Li Qiao wrote in the notice: There is an urgent need for someone to look after these children.
Fang La has lived with his parents in an apartment building with 64 families since he was born. After Fang La's father died in an accident, Fang La's mother supported her mother and daughter on her meager salary. The people who live in this apartment building are all marginal people in this city. They were born and raised here, and then they got married and had children here.
Of the 64 families in the building, no one has ever been to college, and no one wants to go to college.
However, Fang La wants to go to college! I like it very much!
Fang La's mother said to Fang La on her tenth birthday, "Fang La, you are going to college." . Although, going to college is not an easy task, and no one in our building has gone to college. However, it is my proudest thing in my life that you can go to college, and it is really my proudest thing.
Encouraged by his mother, Fang La began to yearn for college life. However, Fang La's mother continued to say to Fang La:
Then, 14-year-old Fang La dialed the number written by Li Qiao on the school bulletin board.
At this time, Fang La could not foresee that 14 years old himself would bring great changes to Li Qiao's life.
Before I met Chang, I always thought that she was the girl standing on the edge of despair. Seeing Li Qiao, Fang La realized that she was very lucky compared with Li Qiao who slipped down the hillside. At least, I can study at school, and Julie can't even spell simple words.
Li Qiao has been traveling at a low level, but she doesn't know it.
Julie's family gave Fang La the first impression that the apartment was a mess and smelled strange.
Li Qiao told Fang La that she had no parents and that she needed to earn money to buy milk powder for her children. Fang La's job is to look after two children-Jeremy, who is less than three years old, and Gilly, who is an infant.
Fang La wants to go away. Fang La really needs to work to make money, but everything in front of him makes Fang La feel powerless. Fang La wants to leave. She doesn't want to make money from Julie.
However, Julie told Fang La over and over again: I can't handle all this alone.
Fang La was confused. She can't imagine anyone making herself so embarrassed. After Jeremy's father left them, why did Julie get pregnant again and why was she abandoned by Geely's father?
Two men left two children, and Li Qiao's life was unimaginable for Fang La.
Fang La seems to see the shadow of his future in Li Qiao:
Fang La knows that if she wants to have a future on campus, she must start making money at once. So Fang La decided to stay.
If this situation continues, Fang La can accumulate some college expenses for herself, and Julie can also go to work with peace of mind to support her mother and son.
However, for Fang La and Julie, the real test has not yet begun.
Julie's situation strengthened Fang La's determination to go to college. Fang La said to himself: Wiener Fang La wants to go to college and have a good job. Don't live a life full of despair like what I see here.
During the days when Fang La and Julie took care of the children, Jeremy loved Fang La more and more, and Fang La became closer and closer to the two children. Therefore, when Li Qiao's boss tried to sexually assault Li Qiao and Li Qiao resisted and was beaten and fired, Fang La chose to take care of Li Qiao's children for free.
In Fang La's view, Julie's life is simply terrible. Although Fang La doesn't know how much she can help Julie, she hopes that she can see the life of Julie and the children improved.
Therefore, Fang La suggested that Julie go back to school. Fang La believes that learning is the most direct way to help Julie live a better life.
Li Qiao heard Fang La's advice, and her eyes were filled with fear. According to Li Qiao's limited knowledge, if she goes to school, she must accept social welfare. In that case, she will be considered as a mother who is not qualified to be a parent, Jeremy and Geely will be taken away by social welfare agencies, and she will lose the qualification to live with her two children.
Fang La didn't understand social welfare, but she finally persuaded Julie to take a "steam class".
It was this "steam class", also called "self-esteem class", that prompted Li Qiao to make up his mind to return to school.
Here, I want to talk about the "steam class" in detail. The theme of the "steam class" in the book is described as follows:
From this lesson, we can deeply feel the differences between eastern and western education.
Virginia Woolf, born in Portland, Oregon, USA, 1937. Although it is impossible to know the specific creation time of this book in detail, it can be clearly confirmed that the creation time of this work is far from today.
Julie finally didn't speak in Steam Class. Fang La touched Li Qiao's shoulder with her shoulder, trying to convey a kind of confidence through her clothes and muscles, but Li Qiao couldn't get a signal from Fang La.
Fang La was disappointed. She felt that "Steam Class" didn't impress Julie.
It is a witness and an invisible contract. Say what we want and what we want to achieve, and say it out loud so that everyone can hear it. We can't break our word, and we can't urge us to realize it.
How charming it is to shout "I can" for a firm belief! Julie is unattractive because Julie didn't say "I can".
Fang La couldn't hear the voice in Li Qiao's heart. In fact, Li Qiao shouted "I can" in his heart.
Julie felt the enthusiasm of Fang La to help her change. Julie wants to give herself a chance, a chance to be promoted in the middle or even the high end.
After a brief intersection, Fang La and Julie returned to their respective lives. It's hard to say whether Fang La led Julie to a new life or whether Julie's situation strengthened Fang La's choice. To be sure, Julie's sour lemon eventually turned into a sweet orange.
The parallel time of two young girls on the track of life is the warmest and happiest time in their lives.
Putting down this book has given me some insight into the lives of two girls.
The first is the touch brought by the steam class.
In the process of reading this chapter, I seem to hear the children's inner firmness shouting "I can" in class.
At one time, gradual and regular education cultivated children with knowledge, talent and perhaps self-confidence, but it was slightly insufficient in cultivating children who dared to face and express.
However, the story that Guo Yue, a Wuhan university student infected with COVID-19 virus, isolated himself for 38 days without infecting anyone, let us see the growth of the younger generation, and also let us feel the harvest of diversified education. Whether it's educators or parents who accompany their children to grow up, everyone is trying to create a better growth environment for their children.
We don't have a "steam class", but we have a warmer educational atmosphere than a "steam class".
Secondly, Julie kept repeating "Nobody told me".
Julie's parents didn't show up in this story. The only time Fang La asked, Julie's answer was: I have no parents.
Lack of company kept Li Qiao at a loss. Julie has no parents, no teachers and no friends. She didn't know that the child would get chicken pox, let alone that chicken pox was contagious, and of course she didn't know that the child needed regular physical examination.
This is also the most direct reason for Julie's chaotic life.
Each of us needs to be told when we grow up.
"Being told" lets us know what we haven't touched but need to know; Being told to let us know that someone is loving us in their own way; "Being told" made Li Qiao calmly and firmly save the life of Gilly who ate the toy by mistake.
Fortunately, the emergence of Fang La made up for the shortage of Li Qiao.
Finally, it was the crisp laughter of two girls.
Fang La and Li Qiao met by chance in each other's lives, and their ordinary meeting brought them great changes.
In their stories, one thing is very touching: when someone is with them, it is so sunny; It turns out that looking up at the starry sky in the abyss can make you laugh.
Lao She wrote in the article "Master Zong Yue": "He is busy, he is poor, but his laughter is so loud." "He" here refers to Uncle Liu who helped Lao She go to school, that is, Master Zong Yue.
Lao She was a child sponsored by Master Zong Yue by accident, just as Fang La helped Li Qiao find his own accident.
This reminds me of that poem by Xu Zhimo-
Fang La and Julie became the bright spots of each other. They laugh heartily, and no one in this world can hurt them.
May each of us be willing to stop moving forward for a while, applaud others and cheer for others. Please believe that clapping for others is also cheering for your own life.
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