2SassyLassy
Frog by Mo Yan translated from the Chinese by Howard Goldblatt (2014)
first published as Wa in 2009
Frog has Mo Yan readers back in the familiar territory of Northeast Gaomi Township. Wan Zu, also known as Xiaopao, relates his aunt Wan Xin's story through a series of letters to his sensei abroad, a man who had visited the village, met Wan's aunt, and expressed interest in her story.
Mo Yan has said population growth is China's biggest problem. The plight of girls is inextricably tied up in it. Relating Wan Xin's story in this way allows him to cover decades of women's stories in the PRC, for Wan Xin (Gugu) was a midwife. Graduating in 1953, when the Republic was full of hope, Gugu set out at the age of sixteen to bring revolutionary ideas in politics and birthing to the county. No more straddling a pregnant woman's abdomen and pushing; now midwives would work in sync with their patients.
Possessing a highly desirable class background, Gugu's career looked limitless until a major setback in love. No matter, she persevered. Imagine the role of a midwife through China's Great Famine, when no children were born in the commune's forty villages for two years. The end of famine in 1962 saw the population boom, so that by 1965 it was proposed "One {child} is good, two is just right, three is too many". Gugu became the Party's local Family Planning proponent and enforcer. Vasectomies for men with three children were decreed, with Gugu performing the procedure. The Cultural Revolution would not be easy for Gugu as the men extracted their revenge.
Throughout the novel, Xiaopao is also relating his own story, and the everyday life of the township. It is here that Mo's humour emerges, balancing the horror that was to come.
In 1978-79 the one child policy was introduced. Families in the township sought potions that would ensure a male child or twins. Nothing Gugu could say would convince them their quest was in vain.
In 1983, when Steven Mosher wrote in Broken Earth of the enforcement of the policy, he was vilified as being overly dramatic. As seen by Mo Yan though, the reality was even darker. Gugu, a true believer, along with her helper Little Lion, carried out the forced terminations creating turmoil across the township.
The era of state capitalism and rampant corruption coincided with this policy. A new frog breeding enterprise started in the village. The corruption behind it is a major focus of the storyline. It's no accident that there is the imagery of an awful swamp both here and in Ma Jian's Dark Road. There are no happy endings in either book. Nobody emerges unscathed over the decades. Gugu created her own unique way of coping and atoning to herself for her perfectly legal deeds. Xiaopao attained a certain peace through his writing.
Written before Mo Yan controversially won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2012, but not appearing in English until after, Frog appears to be the latest of his works in English. It doesn't seem to have the energy of his earlier writing. Perhaps the theme is just too awful. Nevertheless, for those who've been reading him all along, it's a worthwhile addition.
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