Of villainy, causality and guns (or: what did Mo Dao Zu Shi do better than most novels?)
For some time now Iâm showing off my excitement for MDZS, both anime and novel version, but then I realized that so far I didnât share any actual thoughts. And I have a lot to say about this series. A lot. As lumping together too many subjects never works, now Iâm going to stick to just one topic. Or two, fundamental for MDZS: reasons and guns.Â
No, it wasnât a joke. Have you ever heard about Chekhovâs gun? If your answer is yes, good for you. If your answer is no, let me explain it very briefly. Anton Chekhov, a Russian play-writer, once wrote that âIf in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise donât put it thereâ, explaining that any detail included on the stage should be necessary for the play. Though the rule was first referred to theater, now itâs often used for writing, too. If a scene doesnât serve any meaning to the plot as a whole, donât include it. If you can cut a scene and your story doesnât change, your scene is unnecessary. Iâm a little sensitive about this matter (a quirk of my studies, I suppose) and I noticed that many NYT bestsellers struggle a lot with following the Chekhovâs gun rule. Character development or relationship should never develop outside of the story; the story should develop them. And you know what is one of the best, the greatest, the most stunning examples of the perfect gun rule? Of course, Mo Dao Zu Shi. Oh god⌠this novel is brilliant.Â
Unchronological narration of MDZS is both its biggest strength and weakness. But I donât want to share my âbutsâ, so Iâm gonna look at the bright side of this novel - the author didnât follow the chronological order of events, meaning that she perfectly knew what she was going to write. There was no place for improvisation, letting characters to take control and observing what would happen. No, this story is planned from the beginning to the end (and I was amazed by the amount of awareness that the author showed). Certain things did happen in the past. Certain things caused the situation we see in the first chapter. And we slowly learn how small decisions can lead to great consequences.
I can simplify it and say that Jiang YanLi was killed because Wei WuXian protected Mianmian. Am I right? Maybe no, because those two events have nothing to do with each other. But maybe yes, because if we cut the scene where WWX tries to help an unknown girl, Jiang YanLi would never die. Causes and effects are definitely one of the strongest parts of MDZS. Notice how every little scene gives something to the story: if WWX didnât stand up for Mianmian, he wouldnât incur Wen Chaoâs anger. If he didnât incur his anger, Wen Chao wouldnât try to harm him. If they werenât on bad terms, Wei WuXian would never offend Wen Chao and Wen Chao would never send Wang Lingjiao for Wei WuXianâs hand, what later resulted in Lotus Pier massacre and so and so. Every action has a beginning. Nothing happens without a reason. And even a small scene, seemingly unimportant, is a part of the bridge to Wei WuXianâs backstory. This is seriously one of the best and well-thought novels Iâve read in a while. A lot of stories - praised stories for younger audience - are long for the sake of being long, show scenes that in the long run bring nothing to the actual plot. Maybe some people donât pay attention and donât care (and this is fine, of course!), but if you read books with intention of checking if the plot is consistent, and if one event leads to another, many books⌠just fail. You wouldnât believe how often I come across a well-written book filled with pretty scenes, I must admit, but completely pointless. And now try to skip any scene in MDZS. It would be hard, right? Not always it has to be a big reveal, often itâs just a small element but it does come back later, and thereâs a reason the author described it. Every moment, big or small, leads to the tragedy and to the later adventures.Â
Causality is also one of the reasons why I love Wei WuXianâs character, and itâs a big thing as heâs a trope that I usually hate with burning passion - a villain that later turns out to be a good guy.
I love horrors. I love darker stories. And I love villains with some good reasons. But mind you - good reasons donât mean the same as good excuses. I think that a negative character should always have their own motivation and substantiation for their action, but it should be never reduced to suggesting that their crimes were justified. If an antagonist is supposed to be a good person, first they must realize their actions and atone for their sins, then become a positive character with actual development. So Iâm all for villains turning into good people (with hard work) and I despite villains turning out to be good people (from the beginning). The reason is that such trope is usually handled poorly, and uses one of two motives; either we get to know reasoning behind their actions and a tragic backstory is enough for characters to forgive their villain - to quote a popular meme, cool motive, still a murder - or suddenly we learn that all actions we took as evil were actually meant to help the main hero. We just didnât interpret it right! When authors use this trope, I often feel that Iâm either treated like an idiot and developments I was observing for two books were meaningless (so why describing them???), or canât believe that doing a bunch of undeniably shitty things is a justification just because the alternative also sucks.Â
So much about other stories, now letâs go back to Mo Dao Zu Shi aka the only story where I love the âhe was a good guyâ trope. I said that in MDZS, a small decision can result in big consequences. This is what happens to WWX. No matter how ridiculous it sounds without any context, heâs a type of character who turns into a villain because he is too good, and too altruistic, and loves people too much. Itâs not WWX who does bad things. Itâs the world. And somehow, the evil constantly ricochets and hits him. Now, appreciate how precisely the author weaved the plot to show her main character as a bad guy with simultaneous depriving him of bad intentions! Look how many elements had to be a) planned and b) correctly used to make the whole world another character, playing a role in the plot and affecting the main character. It all goes well together - WWX doesnât try to harm anyone, yet decisions of other characters, and circumstances, and coincidence, it all suddenly makes deaths WWXâs fault. One of the most tragic things about him is how every decision he makes is tragic in consequence, no matter if itâs morally good or bad. Take a look at WWX actions. He never, I repeat never, had a real choice. Because what could he do? Look at the innocent being assaulted or stand up for them. Let a helpless girl being killed as a bait or save her. Be killed himself or resist the Wen Clan and protect his family. Watch Jiang Cheng being murdered or listen to Madame Yuâs last wish. Die in a hole or take control overevil spirits and come back. Leave the Wen Clan alone, knowing well that they would target everyone he loved, or make the move and kill them (here we must remember about this world and how they didnât have a whole prison system and stuff, for the worst crimes people were killed, so WWXâs decision is not morally awful). See? He never has a choice. In fact, every time someone else makes a decision for him and WWXâs resolve is just a formality as he canât do anything else. And he can never imagine consequences. Causality is back in action - in the wildest dreams WWX could never predict effects of his behavior, as well as we wouldnât see it. Jiang Cheng is a little worried about WWX picking on the Wen Clan but he doesnât suspect that it can result in his parentsâ death because who would consider such an option? Madame Yu tells WWX that he would bring misfortune, but in the end chooses his side. Cause and effect are unimaginable and they are usually out of WWX control. Heâs just very unlucky. And so he is thrown in the middle of situation he can neither control nor predict, yet he is still forced to make decisions, making consequences growing bigger and bigger.Â
Itâs really easy to find clear reason for any situation that happened in MDZS, and causality shows that most tropes are not bad, theyâre just used badly. For example, another trope I usually hate is âeverything could be solved with communicationâ but in the famous âCome back to Gusuâ it just fits so perfectly! Because analyzing their relationship, another reaction would be out of character. But this is a topic for another post (only if you want). Now I just wanted to say that MDZS author holds the Chekhovâs gun and doesnât miss the target.
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