The Rejection of Tradition in "Diary of a Madman"

              The act of cannibalism is the driving conflict behind "Diary of a Madman". More specifically, it is the threat of metaphorical cannibalization by the society around the Madman. What he perceives as cannibalistic nature in the surrounding people, he also recognizes as an attempt to restrain him (physically as well as mentally) from transcending their obsolete traditions. As his delusions progress, his focus falls on cannibalism as an albatross of society, and is compelled to change it. In this way, we can see the "cannibals" of our own society: the people who cannot leave their archaic ideas behind, and so choose to "consume" those who would change their way of life, rather than change. As he notes, "But all they'd have to do is give up that way of thinking, and then they could travel about, work, eat, and sleep in perfect security. [...] But what do they do instead? [...] Why they all join together to hold each other back [...] They'd rather die than take that one little step" (Xun 250). With or without context, this statement can be made about many traditions of both the Madman's society, and our own.

             There is a duality to this idea, in that often we miss the fact that we are closely related, if not in some way complicit, to this insecure protection of our old ways. In the story, the Madman believes his own brother to be a cannibal, and the irony is not lost on him in that regard, "Even though I'm to be the victim of cannibalism, I'm brother to a cannibal all the same" (Xun 247). Often times when we join a cause or decide to make a change, we find that some of the people closest to us are entrenched in the very values we seek to change. And so we are torn between our duty as individuals to grow and advance society, and our unwillingness to leave behind those who may be close to us, but cling to outdated beliefs.