The world of characters in "Plum blossoms go downstream"

Vu Thi Thanh Hoa is a prolific writer. She writes in many genres, from essays to poems and short stories. Her works have appeared in many newspapers from central to local levels. Regardless of the genre, Vu Thi Thanh Hoa leaves an impression with her own voice, easily reaching the hearts of readers. In many of her writings, she has special feelings for working people with small status but always trying to rise up in life. With the short story collection "Plum Flowers Returning to the Downstream" (Literature Publishing House, 2022) - a work that won the 2022 Literature and Arts Award from the Vietnam Union of Literature and Arts Associations, she has gradually affirmed her own path in character building.

With only 12 short stories in nearly 200 pages, “Plum Blossoms Downstream” has brought readers to a world of very impressive characters. These are small lives, working people with miserable fates, especially women who have suffered many disadvantages and losses. Although the spatial context of the collection is mainly limited to poor working families in the countryside, it still has a general meaning about contemporary social life. Readers can easily see the author’s compassion through each life, each story.

The character of Ms. Tan in "Huong Che" has to work hard, selling vegetables to earn money to raise two children while her husband is working abroad in Taiwan. Tan not only has to struggle with the burden of making a living but also has to face the flirtations and advances of a man in the same neighborhood, but she has overcome temptation to keep herself while her husband is having an affair in a foreign country, wanting to abandon and divorce her. In the midst of her broken heart, having to wipe away her own tears for many nights, she meets her ex-lover, now a widower. The situation is awkward when her husband suddenly returns and declares that he has "lost everything". Faced with so many invisible constraints, how will Tan choose her path to happiness? The story ends open-ended, leaving many worries in the hearts of readers.

The character of the woman called "sister" in the story "Surrogacy" also had a miserable life and many twists and turns. She married a worthless husband. He had an affair, was caught by his lover's husband, so she had to sign a loan paper to be released. The interest compounded, and she had to hide every day because gangsters came to collect money and threatened her. He had no choice but to take his wife and children to the city to make a living, doing whatever job anyone hired him to do. When the family's finances were exhausted, he forced her to accept a "surrogacy" contract. He was still addicted to alcohol and womanizing, and even abused his own children. When she learned that the couple who hired her to give birth for them were involved in drug trafficking, she decided to take her children and leave him, not wanting the future of the child in her womb to grow up in a bad environment. The story ended open-ended when she went into labor, making the reader feel heartbroken.

Reading the story “Late Moon”, readers will sympathize with the character of teacher Hue, who has been married for several years but still has no children. Her husband is a border guard who is often away from home, so she has to endure the insinuations of her mother-in-law who longs to have grandchildren to hold. Hue buries herself in her work, devotes herself to her teaching career, always wholeheartedly helps students with special needs, and is responsible for the universal education work. Her medicine, treatment, and desire to become a mother are finally rewarded. Joy seems to burst when the story ends with unexpected good news for the woman who has difficulty having children.

Among the stories about women's fate, the story "Plum Blossoms Returning to the South" left a deep impression. The character May came from the mountains to the city to work as a worker, so she had to rent a room with many other workers. May was hard-working, gentle, and kind, but she married a clumsy, lazy man who was also a drug addict. Near Tet, he came to visit May and stole all her money and left. When the year ended and Tet came, everyone returned to reunite with their families, but May stayed alone in the room because there was no home left to return to. May's mean husband brought a girl to live with him, they were all drug addicts. She had to stay and celebrate Tet with her kind landlord. The image of a plum blossom branch blooming brightly in a corner of the room brought hope for the good things waiting for her ahead.

The collection of stories “Plum Blossoms Returning Downstream” also builds other female characters. They are An in “Predetermined Appointment”, Thuy and Thuy’s mother in “Lack of Rhythm”, Thuy Mai in “Starfruit Blossom Season”… Each character is a different life story, a different personality, but they all have in common the desire to reach a better, happier life. That is also the legitimate pursuit of every person, but the journey to happiness is still full of hardships and thorns.

The world of characters in Vu Thi Thanh Hoa's collection of stories, in addition to women with unfortunate fates, are also young people with rich ideals, always striving for a beautiful life. These are the characters in short stories about security and society: "Binh minh Bai Day", "Khuat sau bong doc"... Her stories have many unexpected and attractive situations. The characters are carefully built in relationships, through appearance and actions, language; especially the art of describing the inner development of the characters is quite subtle. She also sends many messages about life through the world of characters she created.

TRAN THUY LANH