Wu Dawang’s Moral Self-Image

Wu Dawang’s confidence in discipline and service erodes as desire, resentment, and self-interest expose contradictions in his identity as a model soldier.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

The Model Soldier

Virtue Through Labor A trained identity Wu Dawang earns praise by working hard, studying political texts, and making his actions match his words. He believes that careful discipline will secure advancement. Service as ambition His commitment is sincere but also tied to promotion and family obligations. The ideal soldier’s public identity already contains practical self-interest.

The First Refusal

Duty Against Desire Fear takes command Seeing Liu Lian nearly naked, Wu Dawang reminds himself that she is the Commander’s wife and that he is only her orderly. He refuses to act on his attraction. Rectitude rewarded poorly He initially takes pride in resisting temptation. The Political Instructor’s criticism then reveals that the institution expects him to serve Liu Lian in ways he had not anticipated.

A Voluntary Return

Principle Reinterpreted Ambition enters the choice Fear of losing his position and hope for promotion help bring Wu Dawang back to the house. He tells himself that he can repair the situation through effort. Consent through calculation His return is not merely a surrender to desire. It reflects a practical decision in which career advancement and emotional longing begin to reinforce each other.

Resentment Breaks Through

A Loss of Restraint Status challenged When Liu Lian points to the sign, Wu Dawang interprets it as a sexual summons and orders her to wash his clothes. His presumption briefly reverses their social roles. Anger made physical After a Mao quotation frame breaks, his resentment erupts into rough intimacy. He recognizes hatred within himself but cannot identify its target.

A Life Reconsidered

The Afterlife of Desire Middle-aged return Wu Dawang appears at Liu Lian’s new compound after years of urban life. The text describes a man whose face and outlook have been worn down by social change. Memory over achievement He watches the compound and eventually sends her the red-wrapped object. His old ambition achieved material results, but his attachment to the past remains unresolved.

Before his transfer to the Commander’s home

Three days before the affair begins

The morning after the first refusal

During the affair’s final week

Fifteen years after leaving the division