Chiang Kai-shek was a “Chinese statesman and military leader who was pivotal figure
in the history of modern China”. He joined the United Revolutionary League, a harbinger
of the Kuomintang, which opposed the Qing dynasty (Holznagel). When the 1911 uprising broke out in China, Chiang took part in the overthrow of the imperial government and the establishment of the Republic of China. Sung Chiao-jen organized the Kuomintang Party in 1912, which was then under the leadership of Sun Yat-sen, known as the father of modern China. Sun Yat-sen’s goals for China were national freedom, democratic government, and the people’s livelihood. This party was established as a predecessor to the Revolutionary Alliance. The original program called for parliamentary democracy and moderate Socialism. Man’s Fate historical backdrop begins shortly after Chaing Kai-shek’s succession takes place. In 1926 Chaing began his northern expedition against warlords that Sun Yat-sen had hoped to achieve before his death. Chiang was just outside of Shanghai in 1927 after the Kuomintang met with little resistance as it passed through lower Yangtze. This is where the Man’s Fate storyline begins.
The Communist Party suffered a series of setbacks between 1921, when the party was
Founded, and in 1927 (Grant). Chiang’s forces violently crushed the National Democratic
Revolution and an attempt by industrial workers, (constituted a very small portion of
the population), to ignite a revolution between 1925 and 1927. By 1928 the Kuomintang.
under Chiang, controlled nearly all of China and support for him came from everywhere.
At Shanghai in 1927, Chiang broke with the Communist party and massacred thousands
of militant workers (Cherian). Chaing made several attempts to defeat the Communists during the early 1930’s. After several attempts, he was successful and nearly 30,000 people were forced to settle in Northern China. When the Japanese invaded during World War II, the Chinese Communist Party triumphed over the Kuomintang and a People’s Republic was formed (Grant). Malraux depicted the advancement of the Communists in Shanghai by showing the campaigns of wealthy Chinamen and delegations funding Chaing Kai-shek in the hopes of saving Communism. Chaing accepts these “funds” and therefore re-affirms his belief that the Communists must be separated from the Kuomintang.
George Andre Malraux was born in Paris to Ferand-Georges Malraux, a wealthy
stockbroker, and Berthe Lamy Malraux. Malraux’s parents divorced when he was young,
and he moved in with his grandmother, who was responsible for influencing Malraux on
taking interest in and acting on social issues. After being denied admission to a French
school in Sydney, Australia, Malraux took a job in a bookstore in Paris and moved out to
a one-bedroom apartment. After a brief stint as dealer and procurer of books and other
works, Malraux married writer Clara Goldsmidt. His admiration for intelligent and strong women led to this relationship. In Man’s Fate, Malraux depicted Kyo’s wife May as a woman who was very much like his own wife. May had the characteristics of being a strong and sexually liberated woman who was a German doctor in the Chinese hospital (Man’s Fate 44) .
Two years later, falling on hard times, Malraux and Clara took a trip to Cambodia hoping to elevate their financial situation. During a tour of the Khmer temples, Malraux, his wife, and a friend named Louis Chevasson were caught stealing artifacts from the site. He and his friend were arrested and were sentenced to three years in prison (Raynouard). His wife was able to hire Paul Monin, a lawyer that rallied the French literary and art communities to petition their sentence. Once the sentence was commuted, Malraux decided to work for the Saigon newspaper L’Indochina as a Column editor. Later on, a failed attempt on the life of Paul Monin would set the basis for the opening scene in Malraux’s Man’s Fate.
It was believed that after Malraux spent time living in Saigon, he began working in
China for the Kuomintang. During the 1930’s Malraux backed many antifascist and
leftist causes (Simkin). During the Spanish Civil War, he fought for the Republicans from 1936-1939. He was a part of the Air Force of the International Brigades and was wounded twice while assisting in the defense against Franco’s advance on Madrid. While serving in the French Army as a tank Commander in 1940 the German Gestapo captured him during the Western Offensive. Members of his unit rescued him after a mock
execution was held. He was awarded one of the highest French honors, the Croix de
Guerre. He wrote L’Espoir, depicting the Republic of Spain in combat (Simkin). Malraux’s book gave an “eyewitness” view of the International Brigade front.
While Man’s Fate was a definite pinnacle in a literary career that spanned from the 1920’s well into the 1960’s, it is truly one of the brighter points among his multitude of
achievements that characterized his life. Organizing communists in Spain, becoming close friends of the President of France Charles de Gaulle, and eventually becoming the Minister of Information and later the Minister of Culture (Courcel 175). Throughout his life, Malraux created adventures and tasks that even he could not accomplish. World War I, the death of his grandfather and suicide of his father, the constant pressure from his grandmother, poverty in Indochina, the fall of Imperialism in Russia and the surge of Communism all contributed to the success of the writings of Andre Malraux. Man’s Fate seemed to be written for him as opposed to being written by him.
The story ended at the battle of Guadalajara in March of 1937, just one month after
the bombing of Guernica by the Germans. The end of this book marked another
significant day in Malraux’s life. He divorced his wife Clara, and began an relationship
with Josette Clotis, who later died in a train wreck (Liukkonen).
In 1948 Malraux met and married concert pianist Marie-Madeline Lioux. Marie was the widow of Malraux’s half brother. In the summer of 1961, Malraux’s two sons died in an accident. It was shortly before this time that Charles de Galle was elected as the President of France and mad Malraux the Minister of Information (Liukkonen). It was only a year later that he became the Minister of State for Cultural Affairs, holding this position for ten years. During his tenure, he committed what many critics called an act of vandalism, the cleaning of the Louvre. Malraux also arranged for a retrospective exhibition to honor Pablo Picasso. The exhibition was a great success and Malraux took the credit for it in Picasso’s Mask, saying “it was the retrospective show I had organized” (Liukkonen).
Malraux began writing his memoirs after he left office shortly after de Galle withdrew from public life. This is when he (Malraux) also wrote his autobiography. It was done in two parts, first in 1967 and then in 1971. It was in November of 1976 that Malraux past away in Paris, France.
Works Cited
Courcel, Martine de. Malraux: Life and Work. New York: Harcourt, 1976
Malraux, Andre. Man’s Fate. New York: Vintage, 1990
Raynouard, A. “Andre Malraux: Adventurer, Novelist and Aesthete.” Label France. Sep.
1996.
Grant, Ted. The Unbroken Thread. “The Chinese Revolution.” Jan. 1949.
Cherian, John. “The Architect of a New China.” 09-22 Oct. 99. Frontline.
Liukkonen, Petri. “Andre (Georges) Malraux (1901-1976).” Books and Writers. 2002.
Simkin, John. “Andre Malraux.” Spartacus Educational. Sep. 1997.
Holznagel, Fritz. “Chiang Kai-Shek.” Who2.com. 2003
Reese, Lori. “China’s Christian Warrior.” Time 100, Aug. 23-30, 1999 Vol. 154 No. 7/8.
Giermann, Katharena. “Quotations: Andre Malraux (1).” Dividing Line.com. 1997-2003.
