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Modernity and Tradition in “Truong Ba’s Soul in the Butcher’s Skin”

Until the renovation era, most Vietnamese were subsistent farmers. For this reason, their

livelihoods depended on freely available land in rural areas. In fact, this is the underlying idea

behind Luru Quan Vu’s play, “Truong Ba’s Soul in the Butcher’s Skin.” Notably, the onset of

“doi moi,” which marked economic reformation of the country, changed people’s overreliance on

land as the main means of sustenance and prompted them to shift into the money economy to

raise taxes for the country. Using this background as the setting, the author inadvertently portrays

the experiences of one poor but conservative extended family with another more modern but

equally underprivileged nuclear household. By taking this approach, Quang juxtaposes the

traditional life with the modern practices to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of both ways

of life in a changing world.

Plot

The plot in “Truong Ba’s Soul in the Butcher’s Skin” is inherently a comparison of the modern

and the traditional ways of life. From the onset, the settings of the dominant scenes are intended

to bring out the differences between these two philosophies. Heaven, which is the opening scene,

features a place that is tastefully furnished and very well provisioned that its occupants suffer

boredom from too much comfort. Interestingly, the scene following it is one of a traditional

family where the breadwinner tills the land to survive. Ironically, the deities in heaven abhor

work and prefer to sing and dance in the magical garden, whereas Truong Ba, the central

character in the play, prefers labor to relaxation. Truong Ba’s son, Ca, who perceives farm work
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as outdated and impoverishing, also manifests modernity’s detestation of work. Ca opts to do

business by cutting underhand deals that make him richer quicker than physical exertion would

make him. Ultimately, Quang passes the message that the comforts of modernity create an

aversion to work in a way that conflict with the traditional views of hard work as the principal

means to survive.

Another way through which the author uses plot to compare modernity and tradition is

when he emphasizes incidents that place these dominant worldviews at odds. In the second act,

Ca expresses his desire to sell the family land to start a business. In the same scene, Truong Ba’s

wife complains that Ba and his son have different personalities, with the latter considering the

former too old fashioned and complicated. In other incidences, Ba and Ca clash more as their

beliefs on the best ways of living differ, until Ba ultimately strikes Ca across the face to stop the

latter from convincing him of unfavorable opinions. Besides, the disparate ideals of the different

ages also manifest after Ba takes the Butcher’s body and falls victim to its needs. Even though the

central character is an upright person with an uncontaminated and gentle soul, he falls victim to

pleasures such as alcohol consumption and violence. Such incidences indicate the diverging

beliefs of the modernists and the traditionalists, which show that modernists prefer to indulge

while traditionalists opt for a reserved way of living. Moreover, the conversation between the

Butcher’s body and Ba’s soul reflects the preferences of two generations of people: one modern,

and the other traditional. In essence, Quang proves that modernism and tradition are always in

conflict and that for one to prevail, the other must fail.

The play also shows the change in the attitude of different generations across different

periods. Ba’s wife, who is of the same age as him, is more exposed to the lives of younger people

in their village than her husband acknowledges. In the second act, she confronts Truong Ba about

his decision to continue with farming despite the activity’s low returns. She cites the views of
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their son and other villages to persuade him, but Ba stubbornly holds on to his beliefs. Although

Ba’s wife also believes in the value of their traditions and their land, she notes that the

environment has changed and that the family would be better off pursuing other interests. This

intergenerational attitude shift is also apparent in the interactions between Ba and Ca who

disagree over their philosophies of living. Ultimately, the author supports the values of tradition

by showcasing how it benefits the younger generation when it avails resources to them.

Character

Quang predominantly uses Ca in “Truong Ba’s Soul in a Butcher's Skin” to convey a message on

modernism versus tradition. Ca’s first scene is of him leaving his family to go make money in the

province, which is far from their village. His love for money makes him appear selfish and

unconcerned about the welfare of his family. Ca’s wife laments that she fell in love with him

because he would bring her expensive gifts, but that he has since adopted an immoral way of life.

Moreover, Ca’s mother chastises his son over his alleged adultery and marital unfaithfulness, to

which the former responds that his soul is his to do with as he pleases. Even Ba complains about

his son’s love for unscrupulous businesses and warns him about becoming like his friends who

have an immoral approach to the activity. In most cases, Ca’s role is meant to display how

modernism places a higher value on money than in most other items that are equally important to

the society.

The other central figure that embodies Quang’s message is Truong Ba. He is the typical

traditionalist who believes in working hard and investing in the future of his people. This view is

illustrated by the character’s disagreement with his wife over the latter’s proposition that they sell

part of their land to avoid working too hard. In fact, Ba’s wife asks him why he plants custard

apple seeds that take a very long time to mature when he should be planting bananas that take a

shorter time to harvest, to which he replies that he does it for the enjoyment of their son and
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grandchildren in future. Ba is also very traditional in his approach to situations. When he meets

the butcher’s wife, his interaction with her is limited to the duties that are expected of him and

not those that would jeopardize his marriage. Ultimately, when he realizes that he can no longer

exercise control over his body, he implores De Thich to kill him and bring the butcher back to

life. In effect, Ba portrays a traditionalist as a person who is resistant to change and who fears

trying out new things.

Theme

Quang’s dominant theme in the play also centers on modernity and tradition. Fundamentally, the

author penned the play at a period when their society was going through significant economic

changes, from a centralized economy to a socialist republic. In essence, these transformations

juxtaposed old ways of doing things with foreign ideals that idolized money and business over

society and values. For this reason, the author explores these social changes by giving

perspectives on each of these divergent ways of life. For instance, Ly Truong represents the

contemporary leaders who exalt money, power, and indulgence, while the butcher signifies a

generation of traders that exploit other people for personal gain. In addition, Quang epitomizes

the theme of tradition in the play by his conclusion, in which Ca admits that he has been mistaken

in his pursuit of wealth and transforms into a family man. Through such viewpoints, the author

resolves the conflict between tradition and modernism by deeming the former superior to the

latter.

Language

Undeniably, the predominant way in which Quang handles the subject of modernism and

tradition is with language. In the opening scene, Bac Dau states, “at least they could try and

pretend to work! Just like you and me, it’s hard enough to wake up every morning and show up to

work, but we still do our job” (Quang 456). In effect, this statement supports the dominant
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modern view of work as a bad experience that people do out of necessity than preference. In

another scene, Ca states to his father:

Whether you wanted it or not, the reality is the same. When you want to survive through

any means necessary, then you shouldn’t complain about one means being fragrant and

one means being fishy (Quang 487).

Such word selections give modern business a negative connotation in stark comparison to

traditional views that the author describes more gently.

Indeed, Luru Quan Vuu uses the Aristotelian elements of tragedy to convey the message

in his play. Some of the elements the author uses are plot, character, theme, and language. From

the onset, the author compares traditional living with modern practices to examine these

divergent ways of life. He also uses the plot to explore the attitude shifts that have occurred in the

society and to showcase incidents that embody such differences. Moreover, the author uses Ba

and Ca to build the theme of the story and succeeds by contrasting their personalities. At the end

of the play, Quang’s preference for traditional life manifests, and it demonstrates that his work

sought to investigate that particular theme. Such preferences are also evident in the choice of

language, in which modern ideas are described using disapproving words while the traditional

views are presented positively. In general, “Truong Ba’s Soul in the Butcher’s Skin” successfully

captures the issues prevalent in Vietnam period during the reforming period, particularly, on how

the changing money economy affects the traditionally subsistent economy.

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Work Cited

Quang, Vuu Luu. “Truong Ba's Soul in the Butcher's Skin. “ The Methuen Drama Anthology of

Modern Asian Plays, edited by Patricia Nguyen and Kim Nguyen, translated by Kim

Nguyen Tran, Tam Van Tran, Nhung Walsh, and Patrician Nguyen, A&C Black, 2014, pp.

453 – 517.