Iron Child

铁孩

莫言

I said, I’m a human, so how can I eat iron? Iron Child asked why human can’t eat iron. I’m a human and I can eat it. (Page 95)

As I began to chew, the flavor filled my mouth, tasting better and better until, before I know it, I had greedily finished off the whole thing. (Page 95)

I muttered to myself, Iron rails, iron rails, don’t get cocky, because if you do, I’ll eat you up. (Page 96)

These three quotes from Mo Yan’s “Iron Child” demonstrate an interesting transition of the narrator from doubting, fearing to embracing “eating iron”. It is also where the story develops from a realistic one into a magic one. At first, the narrator is unfamiliar with, maybe afraid of, the iron. Then, encouraged by the Iron Child (a pioneer of eating iron), the narrator tries to take a bite, and start chewing the iron. Finally, he even dares to challenge iron rails, which in the story symbolizes the “great project” of the Great Leap Forward smelting campaign. I know that Mo Yan is a great magic-realism writer, but I can’t get the deep meaning of “Iron Child”. Does eating iron symbolize people’s resistance to the project? Or does it suggest that people are poisoned by the insane time to become iron-like non-human beings without sympathy?