I once thought quietly in the dead of night, what exactly is “society”? Is it made up of living people, or is it controlled by some invisible force, forcing everyone to live within a certain framework and never escape?
I know a man, his name is Chen Zhi. He is a small person, born in an ordinary working-class family. The family lives in poverty. His parents struggle for a meal all year round, and the burden of life almost crushes them. However, Chen Zhi is not like others who plunge into the torrent of fate. He often looks a little dull, as if he is numb to all the injustices in this world. The conversation with him is often silent; his eyes are empty and lifeless, as if he is saying to me: “No matter what you do, you can’t escape the framework given to you by this world in the end.”
Once, we drank together and talked about the future and fate. I asked him, “Don’t you want to change your life?” He lowered his head, took a sip of wine slowly, and said, “I have given up the idea of change a long time ago. We have always lived in the arrangements of others, how can we change? Look at those successful people, they have been destined to have different destinies since childhood, and we are destined to struggle in this quagmire all the time.”
At that moment, I suddenly felt that Chen Zhi’s words were like a sharp knife, piercing my heart. Yes, he is right, we are destined to be swept away by the environment in this life, and we can’t make too many choices. Just like that flowing river, it can never go upstream, it is always forced to go downstream, and finally disappear in the vast sea.
We often say “freedom”, but what is freedom? Is it a state of being free from constraints? Or do what you want to do? I used to think that “freedom” is to get rid of all external constraints and be the most authentic self. However, as I grow older, I gradually realize that what we think of as “freedom” is actually just a false label given by society. Everyone in society is bound by different shackles and cannot jump out of the original trajectory. We live in the “rules” of society, and no one has ever asked us if we agree with these rules.
Chen Zhi is still struggling in the quagmire of life. His parents are still working on the construction site, and they have not changed their fate. Although he barely found a not-so-bad job, that job never brought him much joy and hope. Every day, he mechanically completed his work, and then returned to the small room and continued to live such a monotonous life. Perhaps in his heart, he had already given up his fantasy about the future. Even so, he still lived a stable life, because he knew clearly that this society had never given him any chance to change.
Once, Chen Zhi and I walked on the street together. The street was bustling with people coming and going. Suddenly, he stopped, looked at the colorful billboards, and muttered to himself: “Look, this world is really interesting. Every day, we are told what to pursue, what to buy, and what to do. However, in the end, we are just living in the rules set by others and will never get out of this circle.” He said without any excitement or anger, but more of a numbness and a sneer at reality.
I can’t refute his words. Life is really like this. Each of us lives in a different “framework”. From birth, we are restricted by social expectations and family expectations. No matter how you struggle or how hard you work, it seems that you can’t change the trajectory of your destiny. Those elites who point out the world in high-rise buildings and those of us who struggle in the low places seem to be in two completely different worlds forever. Even those who think they can jump out of the framework are eventually restricted by the rules of society.
Chen Zhi’s life, like the lives of many ordinary people, has no earth-shaking events, only repetitions day after day. Everyone is like a chess piece on a chessboard, moving according to some unknown force, and eventually disappearing in endless years.
In this society, there are only a handful of people who can really change their fate. And ordinary people like us cannot escape the shackles of this society throughout our lives. I wondered if one day we could break free from this bondage and gain true freedom? However, I thought again that perhaps it was these invisible shackles that allowed us to find our place in this society. The reason why we are alive is perhaps because we have found some reliable sense of security in these invisible shackles.
Chen Zhi’s days have not changed. He is still walking on that invisible track and continues to fulfill his social role. Life may not be perfect, but he has never thought of challenging it. Life cannot be changed, and he has accepted his fate.
However, I know that one day, he and I will disappear in this ruthless era like many people and become stories in people’s mouths. We will be forgotten and become the inevitable price of this society.
So I asked myself again: Who can escape these invisible shackles? Who can break through these seemingly unsolvable frameworks? What can I do? The answer may only be clear at the moment of death, but by then, everything will be too late.