“Old Hac” is one of the typical short stories by writer Nam Cao about the fate of farmers before the revolution. The image of Old Hac that stands out in the story has become one of the symbols of Vietnamese farmers.

First, Old Hac also lived in the same situation as many other farmers before the revolution - having to face a life of poverty and misery. But he also had his own situation. His wife died early. His son left for the rubber plantation because he did not have enough money to marry a wife. He only had Vang as a keepsake from his son. Not only that, natural disasters also pushed him into poverty. He had to face: hunger, poverty, and loneliness. In the end, he had to sell the dog in extreme pain: “His face shriveled up, the wrinkles pushed together, forcing tears to flow, his head tilted to one side, his toothless mouth pouting like a child’s”, “he cried and cried”…

Living in that situation, but old Hac still had good qualities. Old Hac was a father who loved his son very much. Because he loved his son, he accepted facing loneliness and old age so that his son could go away to his heart’s content. When his son left, he poured all his love into the dog Vang. Because the dog was the only keepsake his son left behind. Looking at the dog, he thought he could see his son. He loved his son so much that he accepted hunger, and even death, but refused to sell the garden that was his son’s dowry. If he sold the garden, he would have enough to live on to get through the difficult times. But he was worried that when his son returned, he would have no land to live and work.

Despite such poverty and suffering, he did not lose his dignity. He decided not to accept the teacher's help, because he thought the teacher's situation was no better than his own. At first, "for several days he only ate potatoes", "the potatoes were gone, so he ate whatever he could make. One day he ate banana roots, another day he ate boiled figs, another day he ate pennywort, with occasionally a few taro roots or one day he ate clams, one day he ate snails". Then it got to the point where there was nothing left to eat, to live. In this situation, people easily lose their innocence. But old Hac was not like that. He decided to seek death. He went to ask Binh Tu for some dog poison. Binh Tu suspected him. So did the teacher. But no, old Hac still kept intact the soul full of love, precious and respectable of a farmer and his noble self-respect.

Old Hac's self-respect shone brightest when his body was in the most pain. Old Hac chose death, a cruel death, to purify his soul, to be completely devoted to everyone - including the poor dog Vang.

With a unique character building pen, through the character of Old Hac, readers can deeply understand the unfortunate fate of Vietnamese farmers before the revolution, as well as highlight their good qualities.